The organization of the conservatory was spearheaded by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Alexander Glazunov.

In 1925, the junior classes were separated from the conservatory to form a Music College, while the senior classes were merged into the formerly private Music and Drama Institute of Mykola Lysenko (today the Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Kary Theatre, Cinema and Television University).

In 1940, the conservatory was named after the Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

In 2022, after Russian invasion, the removal of Tchaikovsky's name was proposed and largely disputed.

The building was destroyed during World War II, but was rebuilt in 1955, when a concert hall was added (architects L. Katok and Ya.