About Us

The Conservatory strongly believes that music and all other art disciplines provide children with different and alternative ways to develop skills, process information, and express and organize their own knowledge. Immediate intrinsic benefits of engaging in the music program are aesthetic pleasure and captivation, which motivates students to seek more such experiences, and social bonds created among students when they share their arts experiences through reflection and discourse.

A long term benefit of early experiences is that they provide a gateway to future involvement and/or appreciation in the arts. The Conservatory proves to provide not only intrinsic benefits to our program participants but also instrumental benefits to our community, such as long term transforming effects of the arts on the quality of education, on student achievement and motivation, on development of higher order thinking skills, on increase in student attendance, and decrease is school drop-out rates. The Conservatory ensures the exposure to the arts as a critical part of a complete education.

Organizationally, we are structured around a small administrative core, Executive Director and Chief Fundraiser, Director of Operations, Administrative Coordinator, Development Coordinator, and Certified Public Accountant. The Barthelmes Conservatory Board provides oversight to all administrative functions and financial management. Thirty-one distinguished faculty members teach and mentor the students in both the Music School and Music Center, along with musician/educators in the Tulsa Public Schools. The Conservatory is especially proud of its faculty who represent the finest performing and teaching musicians in the Tulsa area. Many are faculty members at the University of Tulsa and Oral Roberts University and featured players in the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, Signature Symphony, and Tulsa Ballet Orchestra.