Alfred Music is an American music publishing company. Founded in New York in 1922, it is headquartered in
Van Nuys, California
Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley.
History
In 1909, ...
, with additional branches in
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
, and the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
.
History
In New York City's Tin Pan Alley in 1922, Sam Manus, a violinist and importer of mood music for silent films, started a music publishing company and named it Manus Music. The company published primarily popular sheet music. In 1930, Sam acquired the music publisher, Alfred & Company, founded by Alfred Haase. Sam decided to combine the names and shortened it to Alfred Music, which the company is still known as today. Sam's son, Morty ''(né'' Morton Manus; 1926–2016),
clarinetist
This article lists notable musicians who have played the clarinet.
Classical clarinetists
* Laver Bariu
* Ernest Ačkun
* Luís Afonso
* Cristiano Alves
* Michel Arrignon
* Dimitri Ashkenazy
* Kinan Azmeh
* Alexander Bader
* Carl Baermann
* ...
and
pianist
A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...
, began working for Alfred Music in the late 1940s and met his wife Iris at the company when the bookkeeper, Rose Kopelman, brought her daughter to work one day. Inspired by the need for quality music educational products.
Morty, a clarinetist and pianist, oversaw the development of an instructional series for accordion, followed by books for guitar, piano, and recorder. Alfred Music was now more than just a sheet music publisher; the company was taking its first steps to becoming the leader in music education. In 1975, the firm moved to larger offices in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. In 1980, with growing sales, the company went international.
In 2002, the company partnered with
Daisy Rock Girl Guitars
Daisy Rock Girl Guitars is a guitar company founded in 2000 by Tish Ciravolo. The company, currently a subsidiary of KMCMusicorp, KMC Music, produces electric guitar, electric and steel-string acoustic guitar, acoustic guitars, bass guitars and u ...
, and in 2005 it acquired Warner Bros. Publications (including the Warner Bros. subsidiary company Belwin-Mills) from
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...
.
In April 2016, Alfred Music joined Peaksware Holdings LLC, parent company of MakeMusic. Gear Fisher became CEO, and Ron Manus moved from CEO to Business Development Manager.
Product offerings
Alfred's portfolio of music teaching products include:
* Sound Innovations
** SI Online: Access streaming video MasterClasses and audio accompaniments for SI Strings and SI Band Books 1 & 2, and Sound Percussion.
** Sound Innovations for String Orchestra: emphasizes playing with a characteristic sound.
** Ensemble Development for Concert Band: provides exercises to help students develop concepts needed to build the foundational qualities of concert band performance.
** Sound Percussion: four books plus a Teacher's Score for snare drum / bass drum, mallet percussion, timpani, and accessory instruments.
* Accent on Achievement course: a 3-book band-music course written by
John O'Reilly and Mark Williams.
* Premier Piano course: includes a lesson book, theory books, performance books, technique books, and supplementary books.
* Behind the Player: a series of
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
s consisting of conversations with, and song instruction from,
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...
guitarists.
References
External links
Alfred acquired by Peaksware Holdings, LLC Alfred Music, an educational music publisher, has announced that it is joining the Peaksware Holdings, LLC portfolio of companies
Alfred Music joins Peaksware, parent company of MakeMusicAlfred PublishingMorton and Iris ManusNAMM Oral History Program (2003)
Ron Manus InterviewNAMM Oral History Program (2014)
Steven Raft InterviewNAMM Oral History Program (2014)
Music publishing companies of the United States
Sheet music publishing companies
Publishing companies based in California
Companies based in Los Angeles
Van Nuys, Los Angeles
Publishing companies established in 1922
1922 establishments in New York City
Behind the Player
Documentary films about music and musicians
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