The Boston Conservatory is an arts conservatory located in the Fenway-Kenmore region of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It has undergraduate and graduate programs in music, dance, theater, and music education. The Conservatory offers the Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Music, and Master of Music degrees. The Boston Conservatory was founded in 1867. The Boston Conservatory was the first Conservatory founded in the United States. It was founded on February 11, 1867 by Julius Eichberg, a violinist and composer. Eichberg founded the Conservatory as a professional training academy and a community music school. From its inception, the Conservatory welcomed women and African Americans. Mr. Eichberg's death in 1893 lead to the direction of R. Marriner Floyd with Herman P. Chelius, organist and composer serving as the musical director. Under their direction, the school was first incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1896. After the turn of the century, the Conservatory merged with the National Associated Studios of Music, and created the first "grand opera" department in the United States.