Until the summer of 2010, the name, "Conservatoire de Lausanne", referred to two schools with different objectives and faculties.

The Music School was public institution for educating children and young adults.

The Institute of Advanced Musical Studies, based in Lausanne, Sion, and Fribourg, offered a comprehensive higher education for aspiring professional musicians.

In 1909, the institution launched an acting school — Section professionnelle d'art dramatique du Conservatoire de Lausanne (SPAD).

The HEMU bachelor's and master's degrees are accredited by the Swiss government and the Music and Performing Arts division of the University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland (HES-SO), Switzerland's largest institution of constituent schools and colleges involved in research, higher education, and professional training.