The Conservatorio Superior de Música Manuel Castillo occupies the former Convento del Carmen, a building whose history in Seville dates back to the fifteenth century. Originally a Carmelite convent, it was subsequently used as a military barracks before being restored and adapted for music education, becoming the conservatory’s principal home in 2001. The building’s history remain present in its architecture, from the cloistered courtyards and long corridors to the quieter spaces where students now gather to study and practise. Founded in 1933, the conservatory is named after the Sevillian composer Manuel Castillo.
When travelling, I often find myself looking for a music school to visit and photograph. I have long had a dream of being a music student, and have recently begun learning the cello in London. Perhaps this growing connection to music has made me more attentive to the particular atmosphere of these places: the way students inhabit the building, the clothes they choose to wear, the instruments they carry, and the small rituals that make up a life devoted to learning. I am interested in the spaces between performances, in the concentration of individual practice and in the quiet, sometimes almost quiet, presence of music.There is a particular sensibility to a music school, a balance between discipline and uncertainty, solitude and shared purpose.
