Mannes School of Music is a

music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

in The New School, a private

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kno ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. In the fall of 2015, Mannes moved from its previous location on Manhattan's Upper West Side to join the rest of the New School campus in Arnhold Hall at 55 W. 13th Street.

History

Originally called The David Mannes Music School, it was founded in 1916 by David Mannes, concertmaster of the

New York Symphony Orchestra The New York Symphony Orchestra was founded as the New York Symphony Society in New York City by Leopold Damrosch in 1878. For many years it was a rival to the older Philharmonic Symphony Society of New York. It was supported by Andrew Carnegie, ...

, and his wife

Clara Damrosch Clara Mannes (born Clara Damrosch; 12 December 1869, Breslau, Silesia – 16 March 1948, New York City) was a German-born American musician and music educator. She and her brother Frank Damrosch also taught at the Veltin School for Girls in Manha ...

, sister of Walter Damrosch, then conductor of that orchestra, and Frank Damrosch. The Damrosch and Mannes families were perhaps the most important music families in America at that time, with David Mannes emerging as one of the first American born violin recitalists to achieve significant status. David Mannes was the director of the Third Street Music School Settlement as well as founder of

Colored Music Settlement School The Music School Settlement for Colored People was a New York City school established and operated to provide music education for African-American children, who were generally excluded from other music schools. The school was founded in the memor ...

, all prior to founding the Mannes School. The school was originally housed on East 70th Street (later occupied by the Dalcroze School). A larger campus was created out of four converted brownstones beginning at 157 East 74th Street, in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street (Man ...

. After 1938, the school was known as the Mannes Music School in recognition of the broader course of study that expanded the school well beyond that of a community music school, including the three-year Artist Diploma. When Clara died in 1948, their son Leopold Mannes became president, endowing the school with his fortune from co-inventing Kodachrome film. In 1953 the school began offering a bachelor of science degree and changed its name to the Mannes College of Music. In 1960 it merged with the Chatham Square Music School. In 1984 the school moved to larger quarters on West 85th Street. In 1989 Mannes joined The New School. In 2005, the New School administration changed the name to Mannes College: the New School for Music. In 2015, the university renamed it Mannes School of Music, and moved it to Arnhold Hall in the West Village. It is now part of the College of Performing Arts at The New School, which also includes the School of Drama and the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music. The College of Performing Arts, including Mannes Prep, has a total of 1,450 students. The students in any of the three schools of the College of Performing Arts can take courses in the three schools (Drama, Jazz, Mannes), no matter which school they are directly enrolled in, expanding the opportunities for self-directed study.

Academics

Two academic divisions constitute the conservatory: * College: the academic spine of the school, conferring undergraduate and graduate degrees and diplomas * Preparatory: pre-college training for children and adolescents The Techniques of Music program is the foundation for academic musical study in the two divisions at Mannes, encompassing the range of elementary to advanced music theory and aural skills and analysis classes. Music theory was taught at Mannes from its inception, with David Mannes hiring important figures such as Ernest Bloch and Rosario Scalero to teach theory and composition. in 1931 Hans Weisse was hired, one of the leading students of Heinrich Schenker. Over the following nine years, Weisse promoted not just the study of Schenkerian analysis but the incorporation of it into the musical life of the school, including performance and composition. Because of his association with the school, Schenker's publication ''Five Graphic Music Analyses'' (''Fünf Urlinie-Tafeln'') was published jointly by his regular publisher, Universal Edition and the David Mannes School in 1932. In 1940, Weisse died unexpectedly and was replaced by Felix Salzer. Salzer, also a student of Schenker, built upon Weisse's foundation by reorganizing the theory program into the Techniques of Music department. The philosophy behind this move was and is to integrate musicianship, theory, and performance, which was based on Schenker's concept of the role of theory in tonal music. Salzer's leading student, Carl Schachter, as well as his students, continued and strengthened the department. Today the Mannes program is rapidly evolving and expanding in both the study of performance and theory. Mannes has revised its curriculum to include the incorporation of music technology classes, improvisation ensembles, teaching artistry, arts journalism, film music composition, creative entrepreneurship and more, all tied to a new commitment to contemporary music well beyond the tonal-based approach of Schenker. The Mannes of today includes an ever-increasing number of programs in partnership with its sister conservatory, School of Jazz.

Notable people

College faculty

* Michael Bacon – film composition * Ernest Bloch – composition * Howard Brockway – piano * William Burden – voice * Semyon Bychkov – conducting *

Joseph Colaneri Joseph Colaneri is an American conducting, conductor. Career From 1987 to 1998, he was a conductor with the New York City Opera. He has been a member of the conducting staff at the Metropolitan Opera since 1998, and as of 2014 has conducted more t ...

– Director of Opera Program * Anthony Coleman – improvisation * Valerie Coleman – flute, composition * Alfred Cortot – piano * Robert Cuckson – composition, theory, analysis * Mario Davidovsky – composition * Jeremy Denk – piano * Elaine Douvas – oboe * George Enescu – interpretation * Ruth Falcon – voice * Vladimir Feltsman – piano *

Lillian Fuchs Lillian Fuchs (November 18, 1901 – October 5, 1995) was an American violist, teacher and composer. She is considered to be among the finest instrumentalists of her time. She came from a musical family, and her brothers, Joseph Fuchs, a viol ...

– violin, chamber music * Felix Galimir – violin, chamber music * Richard Goode – piano * David Hayes – conducting (present Director of Orchestral and Conducting Studies) *

Anna Jacobs Anna Jacobs (born 1941 in Rochdale, Lancashire) is an English novelist. She graduated from the University of Leeds in 1962, before emigrating to Australia in 1973. She has written more than 80 novels, the majority of which are historical sagas ( ...

– Art of Engagement * Charles Kaufman – history, theory, President * Yakov Kreizberg – conducting * William Kroll – violin * Lowell Liebermann – composition, director of the Mannes American Composers Ensemble *

Clara Mannes Clara Mannes (born Clara Damrosch; 12 December 1869, Breslau, Silesia – 16 March 1948, New York City) was a German-born American musician and music educator. She and her brother Frank Damrosch also taught at the Veltin School for Girls in ...

– chamber music * David Mannes – conducting, violin * Leopold Mannes – theory * Bohuslav Martinů – composition * Missy Mazzoli – composition * Frank Miller – cello * Mitch Miller – oboe, English horn *

Jessie Montgomery Jessie Montgomery (born December 8, 1981, New York City) is an American composer, chamber musician, and music educator. Her compositions focus on the vernacular, improvisation, language, and social justice. Early life and education Jessie Mont ...

– violinist and composer * David Nadien – violinist * Charles Neidich – clarinet * Paul Neubauer – viola * Orin O'Brien – double bass * Cynthia Phelps – viola *

Erik Ralske Erik Ralske is an American classical horn player. He has been principal horn of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra since 2010, following seventeen seasons as third horn of the New York Philharmonic. He was featured horn soloist of the MET's productio ...

– horn *

Nadia Reisenberg Nadia Reisenberg Sherman (14 July 1904 – 10 June 1983) was an American pianist of Lithuanian birth. Biography Nadia Reisenberg was born in Vilnius to a Jewish family. Her parents were Aaron and Rachel Reisenberg., adapted from Dr. Anne K. Gray' ...

– piano *

Lucie Robert Lucie Robert is a Canadian-American violinist, composer, and college professor. Personal life and career Robert was born in Montreal. When Robert was five years old, she taught her older sister how to play the violin. Robert was the youngest mus ...

– violin * Jerome Rose – piano *

Jerome Rothenberg Jerome Rothenberg (born December 11, 1931) is an American poet, translator and anthologist, noted for his work in the fields of ethnopoetics and performance poetry. Early life and education Jerome Rothenberg was born and raised in New Yor ...

– visual art * Richard Rychtarik – stagecraft * Felix Salzer – theory * Rosario Scalero – solfege, theory, composition * Carl Schachter – theory * George Szell – composition, instrumentation, theory * Terry Teachout – arts journalism * Ronald Thomas – cello, chamber music * Sally Thomas – violin * Roman Totenberg – violin * Rosalyn Tureck – piano *

Ronald Turini Ronald Turini (born 30 September 1934) is a Canadian pianist, and the first Canadian artist to win a prize at the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition, the Queen Elisabeth Competition, and the Geneva International Music Competition. E ...

– piano * William Vacchiano – trumpet *

Vladimir Valjarevic Vladimir may refer to: Names * Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name * Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name * Volodymyr for the Ukr ...

– piano * David Van Tieghem – sound design, experimental music * Glen Velez – percussion * Isabelle Vengerova – piano * Stefan Wolpe – composition * Jeffrey Zeigler – cello, chamber music * John Zorn – Curator, The Stone and The Stone Workshops at The New School

Alumni

* Nomi Abadi – composer * Edward Aldwell – pianist and theorist *

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gr ...

– composer and pianist * Robert Bass – conductor * Jeremy Beck – composer * Johanna Beyer – composer * Semyon Bychkov – conductor * Michel Camilo – pianist and composer * Myung-whun Chung – conductor and pianist * Kvitka Cisyk – opera singer, coloratura soprano * Valerie Coleman – flutist and composer, Imani Winds * Larry Coryell – guitarist * Lee Curreri – film and television composer * Danielle de Niese – lyric soprano * Ezinma – violinist *

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...

– pianist and composer * JoAnn Falletta – conductor * Richard Goode – pianist * Mary Rodgers Guettel – composer and philanthropist * Rebekah Harkness – founder of the Harkness Ballet * Eugene Istomin – pianist * Marta Casals Istomin – arts administrator *

Jeannette Knoll Alicia Jeannette Theriot Knoll (born January 23, 1943) is a former member of the Louisiana Supreme Court. Knoll announced that she would retire at the end of 2016 rather than seek re-election. She was succeeded by James T. Genovese (born August 1 ...

– opera singer * Yakov Kreizberg – conductor * Gail Kubik – composer *

Yonghoon Lee Yonghoon Lee (born 22 November 1973) is a South Korean operatic tenor. He has performed at many of the most prestigious theaters in the world, including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Metropolitan Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Vienna State ...

– tenor * Ursula Mamlok – composer *

Douglas McLennan Douglas Maclennan (born 2 November 1939) is an Australian gymnast. He competed in eight events at the 1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event h ...

– arts journalist, founder of Artsjournal.com * Peter Mendelsund – graphic designer * Charlie Morrow – composer and sound artist * David Nadien – violinist * Hafez Nazeri – composer * Patricia Neway – operatic soprano and musical theatre actress * Anthony Newman – keyboardist * Tim Page – music critic * Charlemagne Palestine – composer * Murray Perahia – pianist * Maurice Peress – conductor * Eve Queler – conductor * Shulamit Ran – composer * Kevin Riepl – composer * Michael Riesman – conductor, composer, keyboardist, Music Director of Philip Glass Ensemble * George Rochberg – composer * Adam Rogers – jazz guitarist * Jerome Rose – piano *

Alexandros Kapelis Alexandros Kapelis is a classical pianist of Greek and Peruvian background. Early life and education Alexandros Kapelis was born in Lima, Peru, the son of a Greek father and Peruvian mother. His father's background is from the Ionian Island ...

– piano * Donald Rosenberg – arts journalist * Julius Rudel – conductor * Carl Schachter – musicologist and theorist * Nadine Sierra – soprano *

Lawrence Leighton Smith Lawrence Leighton Smith (April 8, 1936 - October 25, 2013), was an American conductor and pianist. Smith was born in Portland, Oregon. He studied piano with Ariel Rubstein in Portland and Leonard Shure in New York. He earned bachelor's degrees fr ...

– conductor * Lara St. John – violinist *

Jonathan Tetelman Jonathan Tetelman (born 1988) is an American operatic tenor who has established an international career, especially in Europe, in such roles as Verdi's La traviata, Alfredo, Massenet's Werther, Puccini's La bohème, Rodolfo, Tosca, Cavaradossi and ...

– tenor * Jory Vinikour – harpsichordist * Frederica von Stade – mezzo-soprano * Craig Walsh – composer * Ivan Yanakov – pianist * Jennifer Zetlan – soprano

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mannes College of Music Educational institutions established in 1916 Music schools in New York City The New School 1916 establishments in New York City