The Conservatorium was established by the
state government and opened on 18 February 1957, with English composer
William Lovelock as director. The school was originally located in
South Brisbane Town Hall. In 1971 the Conservatorium became autonomous from the state government as a
College of Advanced Education, and in 1975 relocated to a new complex at
Gardens Point. In 1999, the Conservatorium launched its Bachelor of Popular Music program and its new Gold Coast campus, both of which were established under the direction of Associate Professor Garry Tamlyn. From 2000 this course has been taught from an information technology facility in the Gold Coast Campus of Griffith University. In 2003 the Conservatorium Research Centre (QCRC) was opened as part of the 30 innovative research centres in the University. The Research Centre aims to investigate the dynamics of contemporary musical environments. In 2019, the Bachelor of Popular Music moved to the South Bank campus and became a subject major within the Bachelor of Music course. ==Facilities==