The Athens Conservatoire (Greek: Ωδείον Αθηνών, romanized: Odeíon Athinón) is the oldest educational institution for the performing arts in modern Greece.

Initially, the musical instruments that were taught there were limited to the violin and the flute, representative of the ancient Greek Apollonian and Dionysian aesthetic principles.

In 1881 its new German-taught director Georgios Nazos, in a move that was controversial at the time, expanded the conservatoire's program by introducing modern Western European-style instruments and theory material.

According to Despotopoulos' archives on file at the Modern Greek Architecture section of the Benaki Museum, in addition to the Athens Conservatoire, his plan foresaw the construction of an 1,800-seat opera house, a circular theatre stage, an extension to the National Gallery, a new Byzantine Museum, a Byzantine-style church, a hotel, a hall for classical dance performances and the state orchestra, a playhouse for experimental theater, underground garages and more.

In 2016, a particular space, located in the first basement area of the building, was fully refurbished and used for the first time since construction, thanks to a generous donation from NEON Organisation, a cultural non-profit institution founded by the art collector and businessman Dimitris Daskalopoulos.

In December 2017 the Aris Garoufalis Concert Hall, situated on the upper level of the building, was also completely renovated,[21][22] architecturally and acoustically, thanks to a donation by the Friends of Aliki Vatikioti for Music and the Arts Foundation.