Elite music and dance conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, founded 1857 in Baltimore.
Peabody Institute offers comprehensive music and dance education at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, including a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree (one of 156 in the US). The conservatory features specialized departments in composition, conducting, performance, and electronic music. Its electronic music department, founded in 1967 by Jean Eichelberger Ivey, was the first in any American conservatory and remains home to historic Moog modular synthesizers. The institute also operates a preparatory school serving school-age children across multiple Baltimore-area locations.
Founded in 1857 by merchant and philanthropist George Peabody, the institute opened in 1866 with an $800,000 bequest. The main building, designed by Edmund George Lind, features white marble Grecian-Italianate architecture dedicated in 1866. The 1878 east wing houses the renowned George Peabody Library, featuring five tiers of wrought iron balconies and a beveled glass skylight. The campus occupies an entire city block in the Mount Vernon Place Historic District, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1971.
Peabody has cultivated internationally renowned musicians and composers, with alumni including Tori Amos (youngest student ever admitted), Philip Glass, Jessye Norman, and André Watts. The institute awards annual 'Peabody Prizes' (gold, silver, and bronze medals with cash) to top high school graduates, a tradition maintained for 122 years. Faculty have included Elliott Carter, Leon Fleisher, and numerous Grammy-winning artists.