Shenandoah Conservatory, the oldest of Shenandoah University’s five schools, was founded in 1875, in Dayton, Virginia, as Shenandoah Seminary by Dr. Abraham Paul Funkhouser and Professor Jay Newton Fries. The name of the institution and the valley where it is situated derives from the Indian legend of Zynodoa, an Indian brave whose life of strength and courage and his appreciation of beauty resulted in having a river and a valley named for him.

In 1879, publishers of bibles and song books, the Joseph Funk family, moved to Dayton; their interest in composing and reaching music led to an alliance with Funkhouser and Fries. Descendants of Funk included 1. H. Ruebush, a music teacher, who taught at Shenandoah from 1886 to 1936, and his brother, Will H. Ruebush, also a musician and composer.

The institution has gone through many changes since then. In the 1940's, it became two entities: Shenandoah College, a junior college, and the four-year Shenandoah Conservatory of Music.

During the 1950's the school’s fortunes took a turn for the worse, and when it became clear that Shenandoah would either have to leave Dayton or close its door, the school moved to its presents location in Winchester. One of the first two buildings on the new campus, Armstrong Hall, became the Conservatory’s new home.

In the mid-1970s, the college became a four-year institution, and the newly rejoined Shenandoah College and Conservatory of Music added studies in theatre and dance to the curriculum. By 1980, Shingleton Studio Theatre and Goodson Chapel/Recital Hall were built to accommodate the growing number of performances. In the past 25 years, the Conservatory has produced nearly 300 theatrical productions, some 75 dance performances, and more than 2,000 concerts and recitals. Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre opened its premiere season in 1984 with Shenandoah, and has produced four musicals every summer since that time.

Today, Shenandoah Conservatory offers more than 60 degree programs at the baccalaureate, masters and doctoral levels, and produces more than 300 performances each year. With the 1998 opening of the Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre, Glaize Studio Theatre and Ruebush Hall, the Conservatory honors its origins as it secures into the next century its commitment to quality education and the highest level of performance in music, theatre and dance.