The Milan Conservatory (Conservatorio di musica “Giuseppe Verdi” di Milano) is a college of music which was established by a royal decree of 1807 in Milan, capital of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. It opened the following year with premises in the cloisters of the Baroque church of Santa Maria della Passione. There were initially 18 boarders, including students of both sexes. Today it is the largest institute of musical education in Italy.
During these two centuries, it has educated many of Italy's most important musicians, including Marco Stroppa, Luca Francesconi, Stefano Gervasoni, Giacomo Puccini, Arrigo Boito, Giovanni Bottesini, Alfredo Catalani, Riccardo Chailly, Amelita Galli-Curci, Vittorio Giannini, Bruno Maderna, Pietro Mascagni, Gian Carlo Menotti, Francisco Mignone, Riccardo Muti, Kurken Alemshah, Italo Montemezzi, Alceo Galliera, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Mario Nascimbene, Maurizio Pollini, Ludovico Einaudi, Antonino Fogliani, Vittorio Parisi, Riccardo Sinigaglia and Claudio Abbado. Among its past professors are the well-known voice teachers Francesco Lamperti and his son Giovanni Battista Lamperti. Ranking among eminent professors who have taught at the Milan conservatory are Giorgio Battistelli, Franco Donatoni, Lorenzo Ferrero, Riccardo Muti, Enrico Polo, Amilcare Ponchielli, and Salvatore Quasimodo.