The conservatoire was founded in 1917. In 1926 a new magnificent concert hall with 300 seats, extendable scene and a big organ was opened in the rue Faubourg de l’Hopital. The same year the conservatoire starts publishing its informational bulletin, «The Musical Pages».

After ten years of prosperity the institution met serious difficulties during the economical crisis of the 1930s.

In 1934 the conservatoire was closed. 20 professors of the faculty formed an association named Conservatoire de musique de Neuchatel. In 1935 they were forced to leave the building and the concert hall and seek refuge in an apartment in the rue des Beaux-Arts.

The conservatoire returned to life after the World War II and moved back into its building in the rue Faubourg de l’Hopital in 1948. It recieved the status of a cantonal institution and its success became more and more evident and so did the problem of the premises.

Eventually, in 1987 the Great Counsil accepted the proposition of the State Council and issued the credit necessary to renovation and construction of the premises in the avenue de Clos-Brochet.

Nowadays the conservatoire counts about 1500 students taught by 97 professors and associate professors in all theoretical and instrumental branches.

The Conservatoire de musique de Neuchatel is under patronnage of the Public Education department and, since 1932, of the city of Neuchatel. This double sign of trust from the political authorities is a recognition of its contibution to the life of the region.