The latter was also installed in the facilities of the former Menus-Plaisirs on the rue Bergère[2] and was responsible for the training of musicians for the National Guard bands, which were in great demand for the enormous, popular outdoor gatherings put on by the revolutionary government after the Reign of Terror.

[6] The school was closed in the first two years of the Bourbon Restoration, during the reign of Louis XVIII, but reopened in April 1816 as the École Royale de Musique, with François-Louis Perne as its director.

Cherubini maintained high standards and his staff included teachers such as François-Joseph Fétis, Habeneck, Fromental Halévy, Le Sueur, Ferdinando Paer, and Anton Reicha.

His classes were attended by several students who were later to become important composers, including Ernest Chausson, Guy Ropartz, Guillaume Lekeu, Charles Bordes, and Vincent d'Indy.

Professors included Charles-Marie Widor, Gabriel Fauré, and Charles Lenepveu for composition, Alexandre Guilmant for organ, Paul Taffanel for flute, and Louis Diémer for piano.

Le Courrier Musical (15 June 1905) wrote: "Gabriel Fauré is an independent thinker: that is to say, there is much we can expect from him, and it is with joy that we welcome his nomination.

"[9] Fauré appointed forward-thinking representatives (such as Debussy, Paul Dukas, and André Messager) to the governing council, loosened restrictions on repertoire, and added conducting and music history to the courses of study.

[3] In 1911 the Conservatory moved to 14 rue de Madrid,[3] into facilities that were formerly the collège of the École Saint-Ignace of the Jesuits, whose building had been purchased by the French state in 1905.

Henri Rabaud succeeded Fauré in 1920 and served until April 1941. Notable students were Olivier Messiaen, Jean Langlais, and Jehan Alain.

[3] Like all institutions in Paris, the Conservatoire was ruled by Nazi Germany and the collaborationist Vichy government during the Occupation of France of 1940–1944.

[11] In 1946, the dramatic arts were transferred to a separate institution, the Conservatoire National Supérieur d'Art Dramatique (CNSAD).

Plans to move CNSMDP to more modern facilities in the Parc de la Villette were initiated under Bleuse and completed under Louvier.

The tradition of the final or exit examination, the concours, has required students, at the end of their course of study, to perform in public a prepared set of musical pieces for a jury consisting of the professors and internationally renowned professionals on the particular instrument, the composer of the solo de concours, and the Director.

In the 20th century, the candidates were judged against a standard, and those who demonstrated outstanding mastery and artistry receive the Premier Prix, the equivalent of a diploma with high honor.

[20] In 1828 François Habeneck, a professor of violin and head of the conservatory's orchestra, founded the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire (forerunner of the Orchestre de Paris).

[21] The French composer Hector Berlioz premiered his Symphonie Fantastique in the conservatory's hall on 5 December 1830 with an orchestra of more than a hundred players.

A larger organ of over 7,000 pipes with 91 stops was made in 2015 by the same company for the symphony hall of the nearby Philharmonie de Paris.