Music School Established in Mexico — HistoryCentral

In colonial Mexico the convent of Santa Rosa de Santa Maria in Valladolid, the city later renamed Morelia, established a music school known as Las Rosas. Founded in the eighteenth century, it was created to provide a musical education for orphaned girls under the care of the religious community.

Music held an important place in the cultural and religious life of New Spain, and conservatories and choirs attached to churches and convents trained singers and instrumentalists for worship and ceremony. Las Rosas became renowned for the quality of its instruction and the performances of its pupils.

Over time the institution came to be regarded as the most celebrated music conservatory in the colony of Mexico. Its long history reflects the central role that religious institutions played in nurturing musical education in the Spanish colonial world, a legacy that endured well beyond the colonial period.