Тhe opening ceremony of the Tallinn Higher School of Music took place on September 28, 1919. In 1923 its name was hanged into Tallinn Conservatoire. First students graduated from it in 1925. Originally a private institution, the Conservatoire was nationalized in 1935.

Since 1940 musical education in Estonia was brought into line with Soviet ideological dogmas. This meant elimination of church music as a major, teaching of political subjects. The war interrupted the school’s work and an air raid on March 9, 1944 left its building almost completely destroyed. The Conservatoire was reopened In November 1944, following another change of power.

The Conservatoire’s revival began in mid-50s. In the 1970s the organ class, eliminated in 1950, was restored. Number of students considerably increased. In 1989 the school received back its old name: Tallinn Conservatoire. Four years later it was changed to Estonian Academy of Music.

In 1999, after 55 years, the Academy got back its own building in the centre of Tallinn. Now it is one of the best and most modern conservatoire buildings in the world.

Among its most prominent graduates the Academy boasts Arvo Pyart and Eri Klas.