History

Date	Timeline of events
1874	University of Adelaide founded
1883	Adelaide College of Music  is founded by the pianist Immanuel Reimann, a pupil of Kullak and Scharwenka.
1883	Sir Thomas Elder, the Scottish-Australian pastoralist and philanthropist, establishes the Elder Overseas Scholarship with matching endowment funds given to the Royal College of Music, London, and the University of Adelaide.
1884	The Governor of South Australia, Sir William Robinson, collects subscriptions from prominent citizens (including Sir Thomas Elder) towards a Chair of Music.  This was the first such Chair in Australia.
1884	Joshua Ives is appointed as the first Elder Professor of Music.
1886	The University of Adelaide, on the initiative of Professor Ives, establishes the system of public examinations in music which later (in partnership with the University of Melbourne) develops into the Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB).
1889	Cecil Sharp, later to achieve fame as a collector of English folk songs, becomes co-director of the Adelaide College of Music
1897	Sir Thomas Elder dies leaving a major bequest to endow the Chair (which was subsequently named the Elder Chair of Music) and to establish a Shcool of Music with its own building for the teaching of performance.
1898	The Elder Conservatorium of Music is established for the purpose of providing a complete system of instruction in the Art and Science of Music, and merges with the Adelaide College of Music. Professor Ives becomes the first Director of the Elder Conservatorium, with Immanuel Reimann heading the teaching staff.
1900	Elder Hall is officially opened by Lord Tennyson, Governor of South Australia, on 26 September.
1902	The Elder Conservatorium awards the first Doctor of Music degree in Australia (to E. Harold Davies, later to become Elder Professor of Music).
1904	Faculty of Music established at the University of Adelaide, the first such faculty in Australia.
1907	Adelaide and Melbourne universities jointly conduct public examinations in music (later joined by Tasmania in 1911, Queensland in 1913, Western Australia in 1914, and finally the NSW Conservatorium in 1918 when the AMEB was established).
1914	Faculty of Music and Board of Musical Studies are combined.
1918	Ruby Davy becomes the first woman to be awarded the degree of Doctor of Music from an Australian university. AMEB is established.
1948	Professor John Bishop established a resident String Quartet and a resident Wind Quartet.
1960	Adelaide Festival of the Arts established on the initiative of Professor John Bishop who served as the Artistic Director.
1962	John Bishop's second Adelaide Festival of the Arts as Artistic Director.
1964	John Bishop's third Adelaide Festival of the Arts as Artistic Director.
1970	School of Music established by the Adelaide Institute of TAFE (known as the Flinders Street School of Music).
1985	Australian String Quartet established as ensemble-in-residence at the South Australian College of Advanced Education (SACAE).
1990	The South Australian College of Advanced Education School of Performing Arts joins with the Elder Conservatorium of Music to form a Faculty (later School) of Performing Arts.
1998	Centenary of the establishment of the Elder Conservatorium of Music.
2002	The then School of Performing Arts becomes the Elder School of Music, incorporating the Flinders Street School of Music and the Elder Conservatorium.
2005	Reversion to the historic name of 'Elder Conservatorium of Music'. New facilities officially opened on 6 May by the Hon. Mike Rann, M.P., Premier of South Australia.