Gilbert Combs’ success and popularity as a teacher, and his desire to provide pupils with these advantages, led him to found the Combs Broad Street Conservatory of Music in Philadelphia. Combs founded the Conservatory in 1885 and remained its head for many years. The Conservatory was considered successful from the outset. Its teaching-force numbered about 80, and the number of pupils over 2,300. The Conservatory occupied five buildings on South Broad Street. It was highly organized for efficiency and offered a wide range of opportunity for instruction from elementary to advanced grades. Its students had certain privileges at the University of Pennsylvania. Two orchestras were maintained, one of 85 members, the other of 60.Waldo Selden Pratt, ed., Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians, vol. 6 (New York: MacMillan Company, 1920), 175.
