Chicago Musical College is a division of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at

Roosevelt University Roosevelt University is a private university with campuses in Chicago and Schaumburg, Illinois. Founded in 1945, the university was named in honor of United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The unive ...

History

Founding

Dr. Florenz Ziegfeld Sr (1841–1923), founded the college in 1867 as the Chicago Academy of Music. The institution has endured without interruption for years. Ziegfeld was the father of Florenz Jr., the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

impresario. The Academy was credited as being the fourth conservatory in America. In 1871, the conservatory moved to a new building which was destroyed only a few weeks later by the

Great Chicago Fire The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 10 ...

; despite the

conflagration A conflagration is a large fire. Conflagrations often damage human life, animal life, health, and/or property. A conflagration can begin accidentally, be naturally caused (wildfire), or intentionally created (arson). A very large fire can produc ...

, the college was again up and running by the end of the year.

Name change

In 1872, the school changed its name to Chicago Musical College (CMC); over 900 students were enrolled in that year. A Normal Teachers' Institute was added to the school's offerings. Tuition in those was an average of one dollar per lesson. Four years later, the State of Illinois accredited the college as a degree granting institution of higher learning. A Preparatory Division was opened which established branches throughout the city.

Rudolph Ganz Rudolph Ganz (24 February 1877 – 2 August 1972) was a Swiss-born American pianist, conductor, composer, and music educator. Career Early career as a pianist and conductor Born in Zurich, Ganz studied cello with Friedrich Hegar and piano w ...

joined CMC's faculty in 1900 and, except for a brief hiatus in the 1920s, remained associated with the school until his death in 1972. In 1917, CMC offered a Master of Music Degree, and seven years later the school became a charter member of the

National Association of Schools of Music The National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) is an association of post-secondary music schools in the United States and the principal U.S. accreditor for higher education in music. It was founded on October 20, 1924, and is based in Reston ...

. By 1925, the college moved into its own eleven-story building,

Steinway Hall Steinway Hall (German: ) is the name of buildings housing concert halls, showrooms and sales departments for Steinway & Sons pianos. The first Steinway Hall was opened in 1866 in New York City. Today, Steinway Halls and are located in cities such ...

at 64 E. Van Buren Street. One hundred and twenty-five names appeared on the faculty roster for that year, and the school opened three dormitory floors for students. In 1936, CMC was admitted as a full member to the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, the only independent music college in the Midwest to enjoy such status. By 1947, the college was offering doctorates in Fine Arts and Music Education.

Merger with Roosevelt University

In 1954, CMC merged with

's School of Music which had been founded in 1945. The name "Chicago Musical College" was retained for the new united college. All operations moved to join the university in the now national landmark

Auditorium Building The Auditorium Building in Chicago is one of the best-known designs of Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler. Completed in 1889, the building is located at the northwest corner of South Michigan Avenue and Ida B. Wells Drive. The building was des ...

at 430 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago's Loop. The building houses one of the finest auditoriums in the world, in addition to the Rudolph Ganz Memorial Recital Hall.

Reorganization as a conservatory

In the fall of 1997, Roosevelt established a College of Performing Arts, which joined Chicago Musical College and the Theater Program under one administrative unit led by founding dean

Donald Steven Donald Steven (born 26 May 1945) is a Canadian-American composer, music educator, and academic administrator. An associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre, he won a BMI Student Composer Award in 1970, the Canadian Federation of Univer ...

. In 2000, under the leadership of new dean James Gandre, the name was changed to Chicago College of Performing Arts. The college has two divisions: the Music Conservatory and the Theatre Conservatory.

Notable students and faculty

Alumni

* Filip Mitrovic (1979–present), composer * Grace Angelau (1899–1958), opera singer *

Clarice Assad Clarice Assad (born February 9, 1978) is a Brazilian-American composer, pianist, arranger, singer, and educator from Rio de Janeiro. She is influenced by popular Brazilian culture, Romanticism, world music, and jazz. She comes from a musical fami ...

(1978–present), composer, pianist * Storm Bull (1913–2007), composer, music educator * Steve Coleman (1956), jazz saxophonist, composer * Florence Cole Talbert (1890-1961), opera singer, music educator * Theodore C. Diers, (1880-1942) Wyoming state representative and senator *

Irene Dunne Irene Dunne (born Irene Marie Dunn; December 20, 1898 – September 4, 1990) was an American actress who appeared in films during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She is best known for her comedic roles, though she performed in films of other gen ...

(1898–1990), film actress *

Walter Dyett Walter Henri Dyett (also known as Captain Walter Henri Dyett; January 11, 1901 – November 17, 1969) was an American violinist and music educator in the Chicago Public Schools system. He served as music director and assistant music director ...

(1901–1969), violinist, music educator *

Henry Eichheim Henry Eichheim (January 3, 1870 – August 22, 1942) was an American composer, conductor, violinist, organologist, and ethnomusicologist. He is best known as one of the first American composers to combine the sound of indigenous Asian instruments ...

(1870–1942) * Vivian Fine (1913–2000), composer * Floyd Graham (1902–1974), violin, music school educator *

Frances Wilson Grayson Frances Wilson Grayson (c. 1892 – c. December 23, 1927) was an American woman who disappeared flying to Newfoundland just before her attempt to cross the Atlantic Ocean. She was a niece of President Woodrow Wilson.Vernice "Bunky" Green (b.1935), jazz saxophonist, jazz educator *

Johnny Hartman John Maurice Hartman (July 3, 1923 – September 15, 1983) was an American jazz singer who specialized in ballads. He sang and recorded with Earl Hines' and Dizzy Gillespie's big bands and with Erroll Garner. Hartman is best remembered for his ...

(1923-1983), singer *

Willis Laurence James Willis Laurence James (September 18, 1900 – December 27, 1966) was an American musician, composer and educator. He was on the faculty of Spelman College for more than three decades.Megan Hill"Willis Laurence James – MBC visits the Spelman Colle ...

(1900–1966), violinist * Harriet Lee, radio singer (1920s–1930s) and Hollywood voice teacher *

Ramsey Lewis Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. (May 27, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality. Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five gold records and three Grammy Awards in his career. His album '' The ...

(1935–2022), jazz pianist, composer *

Lloyd Loar Lloyd Allayre Loar (1886–1943) was an American musician, instrument designer and sound engineer. He is best known for his design work with the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co. Ltd. in the early 20th century, including the F-5 model mandolin an ...

mandolin, violin, viola, singing, composer, acoustics engineer, luthier * Christine McIntyre (1911-1984), actress and soprano *

Robert McFerrin Robert Keith McFerrin Sr. (March 19, 1921 – November 24, 2006) was an American operatic baritone and the first African-American man to sing at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. His voice was described by critic Albert Goldberg in the '' ...

(1921–2006), operatic baritone *

Ernestine Myers Ernestine Myers Morrissey (January 7, 1900 – June 29, 1991), sometimes credited as Ernestine Meyers, was an American dancer, Ziegfeld girl, and dance educator. Early life Myers was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, the daughter of professional b ...

(1900–1991), dancer, dance educator *

Prudence Neff Prudence Maria Neff (June 9, 1887 – December 23, 1949) was an American pianist and music teacher, based in Alabama as a young woman, and in Chicago for the rest of her career. Early life Prudence Neff was born in Nebraska City, Nebraska, and ...

(1887–1949), pianist and music teacher *

Florence Price Florence Beatrice Price (née Smith; April 9, 1887 – June 3, 1953) was an American classical composer, pianist, organist and music teacher. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Price was educated at the New England Conservatory of Music, and was ac ...

(1887–1953), composer * Julia Rebeil (1891–1973), pianist, professor at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

William Revelli William D. Revelli (February 12, 1902 – July 16, 1994) was an American music educator and conductor best known for his association with the University of Michigan, where he directed the university's bands including the Michigan Marching Ba ...

(1902–1994), wind ensemble director, educator * La Julia Rhea (1898-1992), opera singer *

Silvestre Revueltas Silvestre Revueltas Sánchez (December 31, 1899 – October 5, 1940) was a Mexican composer of classical music, a violinist and a conductor. Life Revueltas was born in Santiago Papasquiaro in Durango, and studied at the National Conservatory ...

(1918-1920) (1922-1924) mexican violinist and composer *

Jim Schwall Jim Schwall (November 12, 1942 – June 19, 2022) was an American musician, singer-songwriter, and photographer. He was best known as a co-founder and member of the Siegel-Schwall Band. Musical career Jim Schwall was born in Evanston, Illinois ...

(b.1942), blues, blues-rock musician, singer/songwriter, Siegel-Schwall Band, Jim Schwall Band *

Corky Siegel Mark Paul "Corky" Siegel (born October 24, 1943) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and composer. He plays harmonica and piano. He plays and writes blues and blues-rock music, and has also worked extensively on combining blues and c ...

(b.1943), blues, blues-rock musician, singer, composer, Siegel-Schwall Band *

Tracy Silverman Tracy Silverman (born April 7, 1960) is an American violinist, composer, and producer. Biography Born in Peekskill, New York and raised in Beloit, Wisconsin, he attended Beloit Memorial High School but left after two years when he was sixteen ...

, violinist, composer * Frank Skinner (1897–1968) *

Eddie South Edward Otha South (November 27, 1904 – April 25, 1962) was an American jazz violinist. Biography South studied classical music in Budapest, Paris, and Chicago. He turned to jazz because, as a Black musician, there was no room for him in class ...

(1904–1962) *

Eileen Southern Eileen Jackson Southern (February 19, 1920 – October 13, 2002) was an American musicologist, researcher, author, and teacher. Southern's research focused on black American musical styles, musicians, and composers; she also published on ea ...

(1920–2002), musicologist *

Louise Cooper Spindle May Louise Cooper Spindle (January 1, 1885 - October 1968) was an American composer and teacher who wrote many pedagogical pieces for piano. Spindle was born in Muskegon, Michigan, to Rosina H. Winters and Charles Bicknell Cooper. She married Lee ...

(1885-1968), composer *

Jule Styne Jule Styne (; born Julius Kerwin Stein; December 31, 1905 – September 20, 1994) was an English-American songwriter and composer best known for a series of Broadway musicals, including several famous frequently-revived shows that also became s ...

(1905–1994), songwriter *

Jingjing Wang Wang Jingjing ; born 1981 in Hefei, Anhui is a pianist born and raised in China. Biography Wang Jingjing started piano at age 10, and began to make a career of it at age 17. A Piano Performance graduate of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Wa ...

, pianist * Walter Wenzel, violinist * Allan Arthur Willman (1909–1989) MM 1930, classical pianist, 20th-century composer, music department chairman *

Ivah Wills Coburn Ivah Mae Wills Coburn (August 19, 1878 – April 27, 1937) was an American actress and Broadway producer. Early life Ivah Wills was from Appleton City, Missouri, the daughter of George Browning Wills and Anna Kunz Wills. She was raised in Bro ...

(d. 1937), stage actress and producer * Aube Tzerko (1909-1995), pianist and mentor, Bachelor's in 1927 from Chicago Musical College under tutelage of Moisseye Boguslawski

Faculty

Petrowitsch Bissing Peter "Petrowitsch" Bissing (1871 in Russia – 30 November 1961 in Wisconsin, United States) was the founder and president of Bissing's Conservatory of Music in Hays, Kansas and later in Topeka. He was known as an instructor of music and specia ...

(1871–1961) *

(1877–1972), pianist, composer * Goldie Golub (1909-2000), pianist, CMC piano educator for more than 50 years *

Louis Gruenberg Louis Gruenberg ( ; June 10, 1964) was a Russian-born American pianist and prolific composer, especially of operas. An early champion of Schoenberg and other contemporary composers, he was also a highly respected Oscar-nominated film composer in Ho ...

(1884–1964), composer *

Wesley LaViolette Wallace Wesley LaViolette (4 Jan 1894 Saint James, Minnesota - 29 Jul 1978 Escondido, California) was an American musician who composed, conducted, lectured, and wrote about music. He was also a poet and music theorist. As an educator, he mentor ...

, influential early jazz educator (1894–1978) *

Fannie B. Linderman Fannie B. Linderman (, Fry; after first marriage, Linderman; after second marriage, Harling; pen name, Lady Lind; August 1875 – October 9, 1960) was a British-born American teacher of dramatic arts, an entertainer, and a writer. She was a member ...

(1875-1960), teacher of dramatic arts, entertainer, writer *

Herbert Witherspoon Herbert Witherspoon (July 21, 1873 – May 10, 1935) was an American bass singer and opera manager. Biography He was born on July 21, 1873, in Buffalo, New York. He graduated from Yale University in 1895 where he had performed as a member o ...

(1873–1935), music history *

Carl Valentin Wunderle Carl Valentin Wunderle (April 13, 1866 - February 16, 1944) was a German-American musician and composer. He was a child prodigy in music, and spent his entire adult life playing violin and viola in major U.S. orchestras in Chicago, Pittsburgh, a ...

(1866–1944), violinist

Historic boards of directors and executive staff

1896 directors''Music and Musicians,'' DAily Inter Ocean (Chicago newspaper),'' August 16, 1896, Vol. 25, Issue 145, part 3, pg. 33 * Augustus Eugene Bournique (1842–1926) * William Melancton Hoyt (1837–1926) * Alexander Hamilton Revell Sr. (1858–1931) * The Reverend Hiram Washington Thomas,

D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...

(1832–1909) * Hon. Richard S. Tuthill (1841–1920) * Carl O. Ziegfeld (1869–1921) * Dr. Florenz Ziegfeld (1841–1923) * William Kimball Ziegfeld (1872–1927) 1896 executive staff * Alfred M. Snydacker (1858–1929), corporate secretary * Carl O. Ziegfeld (1869–1921), business manager * Dr. Florenz Ziegfeld (1841–1923), president * William K. Ziegfeld (1872–1927), associate manager

References

{{Authority control Educational institutions established in 1867 Music schools in Illinois Roosevelt University 1867 establishments in Illinois