Dr. Florenz Ziegfeld , Sr ( 1841 – 1923 ) , founded the college in 1867 as the Chicago Academy of Music . The institution has endured without interruption for years . Ziegfeld was the father of Florenz Jr. , the Broadway impresario . The Academy was credited as being the fourth conservatory in America . In 1871 , the conservatory moved to a new building which was destroyed only a few weeks later by the Great Chicago Fire ; despite the conflagration , the college was again up and running by the end of the year
Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
Chicago Musical College