The Conservatory is an active participant in mid-America's most important cultural center, Kansas City. This geographical setting provides students with the opportunity to hear and work with the Conservatory's own talented artist-faculty and internationally known artists who perform in the area.

The Conservatory of Music and Dance traces its lineage to a merger of two early Kansas City conservatories, the Kansas City Conservatory of Music and the Horner Institute of Fine Arts. A second merger in 1959 joined the Conservatory with the University of Kansas City. In 1963, the private University of Kansas City became a part of the state university system as UMKC, with the Conservatory as a component college.