In this thesis I explain how Western art music gained a political, social and cultural role in Colombia during the decades that spanned from 1848 to 1910. This analysis engages the different attributes that Colombian political and cultural leaders of the time ascribed to art music in order to integrate it as part of their projects of Nation and confronts them with what is known about traditional music practices. In doing so, I explain discourses and social practices that developed around and because of the integration of art music to urban life in Colombia during the period of research. The purpose of this analysis is to elucidate the processes and contradictions that characterized the social practice of art music in Colombia as well as the limitations of the implementation of art music as an inclusive practice during the second half of the nineteenth century. This last notion underlies cultural policies implemented during present times and highlights the contradiction between art music as an exclusive social practice and the political discourse about art music as a space for learning democratic republican values.