 The Melba was established as a private Conservatorium in 1901 after breaking away from the control of the University of Melbourne, where it had been founded in 1895.George William Louis Marshall Hall, its first proprietor, named his institution The Conservatorium of Music, Melbourne, and operated it initially within the Victorian Artists' Society Building in Albert Street, East Melbourne.The Conservatorium continued to function as a private Conservatorium with a Sole Proprietor through its second Director, Fritz Hart and on to its third Director, Harold Elvins.