Originally established in 1956 as the Việt Nam School of Music (Trường Âm nhạc Việt Nam) and conferred university status in 1982, the Conservatory is Việt Nam’s premier music training, research and performance institute. It offers seven-year Elementary and Secondary Certificate programmes, four-year Secondary Certificate programmes and four-year Bachelor of Music programmes, plus two-year Master of Music programmes and Doctoral research. The Conservatory currently has over 1,000 students at various levels. The majority of its 200-plus teaching staff (which include 17 Nghệ sĩ Ưu tú or Excellent Artists) are graduates of overseas conservatories in the former Soviet Union, Western Europe, North America and Japan. To date the institution has trained over 7,500 students, including overseas students from Russia, France, Japan, Germany, China, the United States, Cambodia and Laos. The Conservatory also functions as an important music performance centre, staging numerous concerts throughout the year in the Hà Nội Conservatory of Music Concert Hall. It also participates in many exchange programmes with overseas conservatories, sending its musical ensembles abroad to perform and teach and in turn hosting performance and teaching visits by many internationally-acclaimed orchestras and soloists.