Anniversary 150 years HKU Utrechts Conservatorium

The 2025/26 academic year will be a festive one, as HKU Utrecht Conservatory will be celebrating its 150th anniversary. We will be celebrating this milestone from the end of November 2025 through June 2026 with a festive anniversary programme for the entire city of Utrecht.

During this anniversary year, we will showcase the wonderful achievements of 150 years of HKU Utrecht Conservatory. Of course, there will be lots of beautiful music, but also many special stories and encounters.

The following events are planned:

Opening concert on Friday 28 November

We will kick off our anniversary year with an opening concert by HKU Large Ensemble – featuring musicians from all departments and alumni of HKU Utrecht Conservatory – in the Fentener van Vlissingenzaal, our large concert hall in the Arts and Sciences Building at Mariaplaats 27.

Alumni Day XL on Sunday 30 November

We invite everyone who has ever studied at HKU Utrecht Conservatory to Alumni Day XL on Sunday 30 November. Whether you graduated in 1987, 2025 or any other year, this day will give you the opportunity to meet familiar and unfamiliar fellow students, make music, enjoy the music of others and immerse yourself in the unique atmosphere of Utrechts Conservatorium.

Keys of Light

In honour of the 150th anniversary of HKU Utrechts Conservatorium, you can enjoy the interactive light and music artwork Keys of Light at Janskerkhof from 11 December to 4 January. Take a seat at the piano and see how what you play is transformed into the most spectacular light projections on the facades of the HKU and Utrecht University buildings on Janskerkhof.

Various anniversary concerts during project weeks

Every year in January and April, HKU Utrechts Conservatorium organises project weeks, during which students are given the opportunity to gain new experience in disciplines unfamiliar to them, outside the existing curriculum. In the 2025/2026 academic year, the project weeks will be dedicated to the 150th anniversary of HKU Utrechts Conservatorium. More information about the programme will follow.

Closing event on Sunday 28 June

On the last Sunday of Exposure 2026, we will conclude the anniversary year with a spectacular closing event. A large orchestra of students, alumni and pupils from primary and secondary schools in Utrecht will march in a musical procession from Domplein to Mariaplaats. Upon arrival at Mariaplaats, the world premiere of a composition written by the famous Utrecht composer Louis Andriessen in 1970 for the city of Utrecht will take place: De Schat van Scharlaken Rackham (The Treasure of Scarlet Rackham). The carillon of the Dom Tower will accompany the entire event, both during the procession and the concert at Mariaplaats.

A brief historical overview

The starting point of 150 years of HKU Utrecht Conservatory is the signing of the deed of foundation of the Toonkunst Music School on 1 December 1875.
Since 1971, the Utrecht Conservatory has been located in the Building for Arts and Sciences and the former St. Joannes de Deo hospital, both on Mariaplaats.
In 1987, the Utrecht Conservatory merged with the Carillon School in Amersfoort, the Netherlands Institute for Church Music, the Academy of Visual Arts and the Academy for Expression through Word and Gesture to form HKU.
In 2011, HKU Utrecht Conservatory launched a new bachelor's programme: Musician 3.0, a programme that trains musicians regardless of genre or instrument.

Would you like to know more about our history? Read more about our two buildings: the Main Building and the Arts and Sciences Building.

Stay informed

Over the coming months, we will be further developing our plans for the anniversary year. All updates can be found on this page. Would you like to be the first to know about all our anniversary activities? Then sign up for our newsletter.