South Bay Conservatory History
The South Bay Conservatory is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to bringing aspiring artists of all ages and levels of ability into the rewarding environment of the performing arts. Founded in 1964 to provide music instruction to students residing in the South Bay and surrounding communities, over a period of years the Conservatory expanded to include dance and musical theatre with a faculty of more than 30 accomplished professional musicians, dancers, and educators who teach and perform throughout the greater Los Angeles area.
Due to the sale and demolition of our previous facility, all private and group classes were terminated effective January 1, 2006. To keep the Conservatory in existence, the Board of Directors decided to change our method of teaching from singing, dancing and acting classes to teaching only musical theatre, using the stage as our "classroom." With the assistance of the Torrance Performing Arts Consortium (TPAC) in the restructuring needed for our new format, and the Torrance Unified School District/Torrance High School and the First Baptist Church of Palos Verdes, both of which have generously allowed us to use their facilities for our rehearsals and some performances, our musical theatre instruction has continued successfully.
We have two different Musical Theatre Companies, our Premier Musical Theatre Company, generally for ages 8 through 18, and our Youth Musical Theatre Company, for grades K through 8, each of which offers three productions each year, Spring, Summer, and Fall. More information about each Company can be found on their "About" pages.
In 2006, TPAC in partnership with The Daily Breeze newspaper, began sponsoring the Making A Difference Award, which recognizes highly talented young people in the performing arts and the contributions that their talents make to our community.
In addition to our Musical Theatre productions, and in partnership with TPAC and the new Mercury Stage and Theatre Company, we have sponsored and produced numerous programs not strictly limited to children, partly to demonstrate to our students different venues possibly open to them after they become adults, and partly to provide a wider range of theatrical experiences to the general public here in the South Bay.
In 2008 we added sponsorship of the Annual SBC-TPAC Shakespeare Competition, which is also shared now by The Mercury Stage and Theatre Company. The Shakespeare Award is a friendly competition to encourage and inspire poets who live in Los Angeles County, California.
In 2011 we began the Emerging Artists Concert Series, to showcase young adult performers who have a good start on their professional careers. We are particularly proud of one of the first Emerging Artists performers, Shanon Mills, a former SBC student who in 2011 received the role of Curly in the 2011 National Touring Company of Peter Pan starring Cathy Rigby. We hope you enjoy our productions!