In Kokkola, the opportunities to both study music and have music as a hobby are excellent. Central Ostrobothnia Conservatory in Kokkola is a versatile music school which is in charge of comprehensive teaching of music (basic level and music institute level) and of the secondary vocational music education. Since 1999 Central Ostrobothnia Polytechnic has taken care of the music studies at higher degree. The Department of Music in Polytechnic and the Conservatory work in close co-operation. Especially in pedagogy and all kind of orchestral and choral activities, the know-how of each institute is taken into account. 

The Conservatory is renown as a diverse centre for folk music. These studies are further developed together with the Central Ostrobothnia Polytechnic, the Kaustinen Folk Art Centre and Sibelius-Academy. The Conservatory has also a good reputation in orchestral music. The studies include plenty of practical exercises with chamber and symphony orchestras. Conservatory co-operates regularly with the Ostobothnian Chamber Orchestra.

The students are provided with opportunities to carry out interesting projects with music professionals. During the past years these projects have been carried out for example with the City Theatre of Kokkola and with the Folk Arts Centre of Kaustinen.

The conservatory's pre-school level consists of early childhood music education in different kind of music play school groups. In the music school's basic level pupils start instrumental tuition and besides this they have theory and ear training (solfege) lessons and depending on main instrument they also participate in various ensemble activities. After the basic level degree in music school the pupils have two options. One choice is to continue and deepen the hobby-based studies in the music school's music institute level together with the general upper secondary school.

The other solution is mainly for students that want to continue professionally goal-orientated in the musicians degree programme of Vocational Qualification in Music at the upper secondary level.

The duration of studies in the vocational education is 3-4 years and the general school subjects are mostly done in joint vocational college groups. The curriculum is gathered around high quality individual instrumental tuition, the amount of weekly tuition in the classical main instrument is 90 minutes. The students have also at least one side instrument, orchestral/chamber music/choral studies, wider variation of compulsory and optional vocational studies and free-choise studies. In the vocational education students have an opportunity to orientate their studies either to classical- pop/jazz- or folk music. 

In the international affairs Central Ostrobothnia Conservatory has bilateral co-operation contracts with vocational music schools in St. Petersburg (Russia), Trossingen (Germany), Copenhagen (Denmark), Akureyri (Iceland), Wroclaw (Poland) and Debrecen (Hungary). Besides these direct contracts conservatory is actively working in the EU:s Leonardo student mobility programme "Concert Circle" together with finnish Helsinki-, Lahti- and Joensuu -conservatories, the conservatories in Tallinn Estonia, Warsaw Poland, Feldkirch Austria, Funchal/Madeira Portugal and a college in Glasgow Scotland. The conservatory from Zurich closely cooperates with Concert Circle partners. The four finnish conservatories  have formed an own national "Triangle" network. The Central Ostrobothnia Conservatory is a partner in the large international cooperation network (www.kpedu.majakka.fi) that is run by the Federation of Vocational Education in the Central Ostrobothnia area.  This includes also MobiTutor-programme where the object is to create an international tutoring system for exchange students.