On August 1, 1937, the conductor and director of music of the Central Military Band of the People's Commissariat of National Defense Major General Semyon Cherneysky founded the college, which was built as a boarding school for potential military musicians in the Red Army.

[1] Shortly before its 80th anniversary the "Valery Khalilov" honorific title was bestowed on the college on December 26, 2016, by Ministry of Defence General of the Army Sergey Shoygu - a day after the aircrash that killed Valery Khalilov and 91 others off Sochi while the Alexandrov Ensemble was on its way to perform for Russian troops deployed in Syria.

[3] The central training band wing of the college plays not only in Russia, but also in military tattoo events in Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy, England, Poland, and the Czech Republic.

[5] The Fiesta Drummers' Ensemble (Russian: Ансамбль барабанщиков «Фиеста») of the school was created in 2005.

Over the years of its existence, the ensemble has been a participant in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 and the International Festival of Military Orchestras "Tattoo on Stage" in Lucerne, Switzerland.