In the fall of 1867, a 31-year-old piano and voice teacher began offering classes in a one-room studio in Walnut Hills, thereby establishing one of the first music conservatories in the United States. From those humble beginnings, Clara Baur grew the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music into one of the most renowned conservatories of its time, attracting artists from the around the world to observe, to teach guest classes and to become permanent faculty members.