The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

music conservatory in New York City. The school offers

bachelor's A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ye ...

, master's, and

doctoral A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

. Founded in 1917, the school is located on Claremont Avenue in the

Morningside Heights Morningside Heights is a neighborhood on the West Side of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Morningside Drive to the east, 125th Street to the north, 110th Street to the south, and Riverside Drive to the west. Morningside ...

neighborhood of New York City, adjacent to Broadway and West 122nd Street (Seminary Row). The MSM campus was originally the home to The Institute of Musical Art (which later became Juilliard) until Juilliard migrated to the Lincoln Center area of

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...

. The property was originally owned by the Bloomingdale Insane Asylum until The Institute of Musical Art purchased it in 1910. The campus of Columbia University is close by, where it has been since 1895. Many of the students live in the school's residence hall, Andersen Hall.

History

Manhattan School of Music was founded between 1917 and 1918 by the pianist and philanthropist Janet D. Schenck. It was initially known as the "Neighborhood Music School". Initially located at the Union Settlement Association on East 104th St in Manhattan's

East Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem or and historically known as Italian Harlem, is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, roughly encompassing the area north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, F ...

neighborhood, the school moved into a brownstone building at East 105th St.

Pablo Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), usually known in English by his Castilian Spanish name Pablo Casals,

and Harold Bauer were among the first of many distinguished artists who offered guidance to the school. Eventually, its name was changed to Manhattan School of Music. In 1943, the artistic and academic growth of the school resulted in a charter amendment to grant the bachelor of music degree. Two subsequent amendments authorized the offering in 1947 of the master of music degree and, in 1974, the degree of doctor of musical arts. In 1956, Dr. Schenck retired and Metropolitan Opera

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

John Brownlee was appointed director, a title later revised to president. President Brownlee initiated the idea of relocating the school to the

neighborhood; his death occurred only months before his efforts were realized. In 1969, George Schick, Metropolitan Opera conductor, accompanist, and opera coach, succeeded Brownlee as president and led the school's move to its present location. He created the opera program, while all other major school functions were managed by Senior Director Stanley Bednar.

John O. Crosby John Oliver Crosby was an American educator and the first University President, President of what is now North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, North Carolina. Early life and education John O. Crosby was born a S ...

, founder and general director of the Santa Fe Opera, was appointed president in 1976. He was followed by Gideon W. Waldrop, who was appointed in 1986, and Peter C. Simon in 1989. On July 1, 1992,

Marta Casals Istomin Marta Casals Istomin (born November 2, 1936), who uses the surnames of her first husband, Pablo Casals, and her second husband, Eugene Istomin, is a musician from Puerto Rico, and the former president of the Manhattan School of Music. She served ...

was named president, a position which she held until October 2005 when she retired. Dr. Robert Sirota, former director of the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, took over the presidency in 2005. He was succeeded by James Gandre, formerly of Roosevelt University, effective May 2013.

Academics

Manhattan School of Music offers undergraduate, masters, and doctoral programs. Classical majors, jazz majors, Pinchas Zukerman Performance Program majors, cross majors from Barnard College at Columbia, and most recently musical theater majors all take part at the conservatory. MSM offers classical, jazz, and musical theatre training. It grants the Bachelor of Music, Master of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees. It also offers a Professional Studies Certificate and Artist Diploma.

Instrumental performing ensembles

ASCAP and Manhattan School of Music summer campers

Manhattan School of Music offers a wide variety of live audience performance experiences for its students. It contains 132 practice rooms and eight performance spaces. There are three major orchestras: The MSM Symphony, the Philharmonia, and the Chamber Sinfonia. In addition, many smaller ensembles are assembled for orchestral chamber music. The MSM Wind Ensemble also performs throughout the year. The Jazz Arts program contains various ensembles, such as the Jazz Philharmonic (full jazz big band with full orchestra), the Jazz Orchestra, Concert Jazz Band, Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, and Chamber Jazz Ensemble. Tactus, the ensemble for contemporary chamber music, is made up of graduate students in the school's Contemporary Performance Program (CPP). The school also holds an annual concerto competition with which the winner is offered the opportunity to perform with the Symphony Orchestra.

Performance venues

Manhattan School contains multiple performance spaces, each dedicated to separate ensemble requirements. The largest is Neidorff-Karpati Hall, where all orchestral and large jazz ensemble concerts are held. Major renovation of the Hall was completed in November 2018. Greenfield Recital Hall and Miller Recital Hall are used for solo and small ensemble recitals, especially for graduation-required recitals. The Ades Performance Space presents everything from fully staged operas to contemporary chamber music. The Carla Bossi-Comelli Studio on the seventh floor is a multipurpose rehearsal and performance space; other performance spaces include the Myers Recital Hall, Mikowsky Recital Hall, Rahm Hall, and Pforzheimer Hall.

Notable people

Faculty and administrators

* Harold Bauer * Raymond Beegle *

Gabriela Beňačková Gabriela Beňačková also Gabriela Beňačková-Čápová (born 25 March 1947) is a Slovak lyric soprano. Life and career Beňačková was born in Bratislava. Her father Antonín was a lawyer, and her mother Elena was a housewife. She is the ...

* John CarisiMcClellan, Lawrence (2004).
The Later Swing Era, 1942 - 1955
'. Westport, CN: Greenwood Press. p. 176. . * Paul Cohen * Judith Clurman * Richard Danielpour * Mignon Dunn *

Andrew Gerle Andrew Gerle is an American composer and pianist known for his musical adaptation of "Meet John Doe" with librettist Eddie Sugarman which premiered at the Ford's Theater in Washington. He is the recipient of four Richard Rodgers Awards admini ...

* Midori Gotō * Randy Graff *

Horacio Gutiérrez Horacio Gutiérrez (born 1948) is a Cuban-American classical pianist known for his performances of works in the Romantic Repertoire. Early life and education When Fidel Castro gained control of Cuba in 1959, the family decided to leave the count ...

* Thomas Hampson *

Stefon Harris Stefon DeLeon Harris (born March 23, 1973) is an American jazz vibraphonist. Biography A native of Albany, New York, Harris intended to work for the New York Philharmonic until he heard the music of Charlie Parker. During the 1990s he recorded ...

Yehuda Hyman Yehuda Hyman is an American playwright, dancer, choreographer, actor, and poet. Life and Work Yehuda Hyman was born and raised in Los Angeles to immigrant parents from Poland and Russia. Hyman got his start in theater at age 17 in the chorus of ...

* Olga Kern * David Krakauer * Dave Liebman * Joe Locke * David Loud *

Spiro Malas Spiro Samuel Malas (January 28, 1933 – June 23, 2019) was a Greece, Greek-United States, American bass-baritone opera singer and actor. The son of Greek immigrants Sam and Lillian Malas, he was born in Baltimore, MD January 28, 1933. The fam ...

* Catherine Malfitano * James Morris * Philippe Muller * Ashley Putnam *

Bob Mintzer Robert Alan Mintzer (born January 27, 1953) is an American jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and big band leader. Early life Mintzer was born and raised in a Jewish family in New Rochelle, New York, on January 27, 1953. He attended the Inter ...

* Jason Moran * Jonel Perlea *

Neil Rosenshein Neil Rosenshein (born November 27, 1947 in New York City) is an American operatic tenor, who sang leading tenor roles in the major American and European opera houses. He created the roles of Aspern in Dominick Argento's '' The Aspern Papers'' and ...

* Tazewell Thompson * Pinchas Zukerman *

Jim McNeely Jim McNeely (born May 18, 1949) is a jazz pianist, composer, arranger and faculty. Biography Jim McNeely was born in Chicago, Illinois. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Illinois, and moved to New York City in 1975. ...

Mary Watson Weaver Mary Eliza Watson Weaver (January 16, 1903 – November 16, 1990) was an American composer, pianist, and poet who was born in Kansas City, Missouri. Life Mary received B.A. and B. M. degrees from Smith College (Massachusetts) and Ottawa Universit ...

Students and alumni

* Annette A. Aguilar *

Ambrose Akinmusire Ambrose Akinmusire ( born May 1, 1982) is an American avant-garde jazz composer and trumpeter. Biography Born and raised in Oakland, California, Akinmusire was a member of the Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble, where he caught the attention of ...

* Franck Amsallem *

Aris Antoniades Aris Antoniades (Greek alphabet, Greek: Άρης Αντωνιάδης; born December 2, 1991) is a Greek Cypriots, Greek-Cypriot composer, arranger, and orchestrator. Antoniades has composed and arranged music for concert, film, and theater. Some ...

* Robert Ashley *

Angelo Badalamenti Angelo Daniel Badalamenti (March 22, 1937 – December 11, 2022) was an American composer, best known for his work scoring films for director David Lynch, notably '' Blue Velvet'', the ''Twin Peaks'' saga (1990–1992, 2017), ''The Straight St ...

* Jared Bernstein *

Judith Bettina Judith Bettina is an American soprano and music educator, particularly noted for her performances and recordings of contemporary classical music. Life and career Bettina was born in Manhattan to a violinist mother, Lilo Kantorowicz Glick, and a ...

* Angela Bofill *

Luis Bonilla Luis Diego Bonilla (October 12, 1965) is an American jazz trombonist of Costa Rican descent. He is also a producer, composer, and educator. Biography Early life, musical education and influences Luis Bonilla was born and raised in Eagle Rock, C ...

Liam Bonner Liam Bonner (born March 18, 1981) is a retired professional opera singer (baritone) from Pittsburgh, PA. In his former career as an artist, Bonner was praised by Opera News for his "rich, versatile voice" and "beautiful instrument". Highlights ...

* Linda Bouchard *

Sara Davis Buechner Sara Davis Buechner (born David Buechner; 1959)" Allmusic: David Buechner > overview, retrieved February 25, 2007. is an American concert pianist and educator currently based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Career Buechner was born in Baltimore ...

Donald Byrd Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few hard bop m ...

* John-Michael Caprio *

Andrea Carroll Andrea Lee DeCapite (born October 3, 1946), known by her stage name Andrea Carroll, is an American former pop singer and actress, who had a ''Billboard'' top 50 hit in 1963 with "It Hurts To Be Sixteen", and has subsequently worked as a therapis ...

Ron Carter Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937) is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy awards, and is also a cellist who has recorded nu ...

* Marko Ciciliani * Paul Cohen *

Harry Connick Jr. Joseph Harry Fowler Connick Jr. (born September 11, 1967) is an American singer, pianist, composer, actor, and television host. He has sold over 28million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top60 best-selling male artists in the Uni ...

* Anton Coppola *

John Corigliano John Paul Corigliano Jr. (born February 16, 1938) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. His scores, now numbering over one hundred, have won him the Pulitzer Prize, five Grammy Awards, Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, an ...

* Anthony Roth Costanzo *

Jon Cowherd Jon Cowherd is an American pianist, composer, arranger, and record producer born to a trombone player (father) and classically trained violinist (mother), both of whom were also educators. Jon began piano lessons at the age of five and trumpet an ...

* Joshua Coyne * Kim Crosby * Jovianney Emmanuel Cruz * Sebastian Currier *

Marlon Daniel American conductor Marlon Daniel is one of the foremost exponents of music by composers of African and African American descent in the world. He has been described as "one of the youngest and most prominent pianist/conductors in New York today" (' ...

Mark Delpriora Mark Delpriora (born 1959) is an American classical guitarist and composer. Delpriora is currently Chair of the Guitar Department at the Manhattan School of Music, where he has been on the faculty since 1989. Mark is also on the faculty of The ...

* Alondra de la Parra * Josu de Solaun Soto *

Salvatore Di Vittorio Salvatore Di Vittorio (born 22 October 1967 in Palermo) is an Italian composer and conductor. He is music director and Conductor of the Chamber Orchestra of New York. He has been recognized by Luigi Verdi (Philharmonic Academy of Bologna) as ...

* Edward Downes *

Steven Feifke Steven Feifke (born June 21, 1991) is an American jazz pianist, composer, orchestrator, and arranger. Early life and education Feifke was born in Lexington, Massachusetts. He attended Lexington High School and the New England Conservatory of ...

* Ezio Flagello *

Nicolas Flagello Nicolas Oreste Flagello (March 15, 1928 – March 16, 1994) was an American composer and conductor of classical music. He was one of the last American composers to develop a distinctive mode of expression based wholly on the principles and techniq ...

Sullivan Fortner Sullivan Joseph Fortner (born December 29, 1986) is an American jazz pianist. He was the regular pianist in trumpeter Roy Hargrove's band from 2010 to 2017, and has released two albums on Impulse! Records. Early life Fortner was born and grew up ...

* Steve Gadd * Kirill Gerstein * Elliot Goldenthal * Susan Graham * Dave Grusin * Page Hamilton *

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...

Edward W. Hardy Edward W. Hardy (born January 12, 1992) is an American composer, music director, violinist and violist. He is known as the composer, co-conceiver, music director, and violinist of the Off-Broadway show '' The Woodsman'' and is the owner of '' ...

* Megan Marie Hart * Miho Hazama * Ian Hendrickson-Smith * Shuler Hensley *

Sara Hershkowitz Sara Hershkowitz is an American coloratura soprano, who made an international career based in Germany. She is known for roles in Mozart and Strauss operas, such as Konstanze, the Queen of the Night, Sophie and Zerbinetta, but also for contempor ...

* Margaret Hillis * Larry Hochman *

Daniel Hoffman (violinist) Daniel Warren Hoffman is an American-Israeli klezmer violinist, composer, and documentary film producer. He first heard klezmer music played on the piano by his father. Hoffman is the founder of the klezmer-jazz fusion ensemble, the Klez-X an ...

Jennifer Holloway Jennifer Holloway is an American operatic mezzo-soprano and soprano who has made an international career performing at leading opera houses and festivals. She began as a mezzo-soprano singing roles such as Adalgisa in Bellini's ''Norma'', and mov ...

* Rupert Holmes * Lisa Hopkins * Paul Horn * Helen Huang *

Lauren Jelencovich Lauren Jelencovich is an American singer. While in high school, Jelencovich won the grand prize on Ed McMahon's ''Next Big Star,'' McMahon's successor program to ''Star Search.'' A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, Jelencovich has per ...

Aaron M. Johnson Aaron Michael Johnson (born June 9, 1991) is an American jazz saxophonist and bandleader. Early life Aaron Johnson began expressing interest in music at a young age. While he could play music fluently by the age of 13, he still could not read n ...

Scott Joiner Scott Joiner is an American operatic tenor, composer, teacher and conductor. He created the role of Dickon in the world premiere of Nolan Gasser's opera ''The Secret Garden'' with the San Francisco Opera and Cal Performances in 2013. Among the ...

* Hyung-ki Joo *

Margaret Juntwait Margaret Ann Juntwait (March 18, 1957 – June 3, 2015) was an American radio broadcaster, best known as the announcer of the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts. After thirteen years on the air at WNYC-Radio, she debuted as the Met's announcer ...

Marina Kamen Marina Kamen (aka Marina), is an American musician. She was nominated for a Grammy Award and recorded audio workouts, including 60 albums, 450 original songs, and 1,200 online musical audio programs. Marina released an eBook titled ''I'm Steppin' ...

* Aaron Jay Kernis *

Dawn Kotoski Dawn Kotoski (born 1966) is an American operatic soprano who has a substantial international opera career. She began her career at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City during the late 1980s singing lighter lyric soprano and soubrette roles. She ...

* Dominic Lalli * Ben Lanzarone * Yusef Lateef * John Lewis * Catherine Malfitano * Ursula Mamlok * Herbie Mann * Kit McClure * Bob McGrath * Nellie McKay *

Johanna Meier Johanna Meier (born February 13, 1938) is an American operatic soprano. She has been described as "one of the foremost Wagnerian sopranos of her era".

* Jane Monheit * Rob Moose *

Carmen Moral Carmen Moral is an Conductor (music), orchestra conductor and also teaches conducting at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. She holds master's degrees from the Manhattan School of Music and Columbia University (New York) and a mast ...

* Jason Moran * Walter Murphy * Max Neuhaus * Elmar Oliveira *

Simon O'Neill Simon John O'Neill (born 1971) is a New Zealand-born operatic tenor. In 1998, his image appeared on the New Zealand one-dollar performing arts postage stamp. Biography O'Neill was born in Ashburton, New Zealand, and received his musical tra ...

* Marcus Paus *

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Leo Pellegrino Leonardo Pellegrino, also known as Leo P, is a baritone saxophonist based in New York City. He was born June 3, 1991, in the city of Pittsburgh. He is the youngest son of accordionist and composer Stephen Pellegrino. Education Pellegrino gradu ...

Meghan Picerno Meghan Picerno is an American theatre actress and singer. She is best known for her five-year history of playing the role of Christine Daaé in several productions, including the US Premiere and 1st National Tour of ''Love Never Dies (musical), L ...

* Tobias Picker * Chris Potter * Charlie Puth * John Bernard Riley * Max Roach * Larry Rosen * Don Sebesky * Richard Tee *

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 ...

* Natalie Toro * Joseph Trapanese *

Sarah Traubel Sarah Traubel (born 12 July 1986) is a German soprano in opera and concert who has performed leading roles at major opera houses and festivals. While focused on Mozart's operas, she has also performed in contemporary opera, such as Inanna in J� ...

Art Tripp Arthur Dyer Tripp III (born September 10, 1944) is an American retired musician who is best known for his work as a percussionist with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention and Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band during the 1960s and 1970s. ...

Gordon Turk Gordon Turk (born 1949) is an American concert organist. He has played throughout the United States, made two concert tours in Japan, and performed frequently in Europe, including Ukraine and Russia, both as solo organist and with orchestra. Ea ...

Marilyn Tyler Marilyn Tyler (born Marilyn Teitler; 5 December 1926 – 20 December 2017) was an American soprano and music pedagogue. Of Romanian Jewish descent, Tyler was born in Brooklyn, New York to a family that contained many performers, including singer ...

* Dawn Upshaw * David Van Tieghem *

Dirk Weiler Dirk Weiler is a Germans, German actor and singer. Biography Dirk Weiler is a German-born actor/singer. He showed an interest in the performing arts from a very early age on. He participated in school and community theatre productions. Dir ...

* Joe Wilder * Bernie Williams * Carol Williams * Richard Williams * Phil Woods *

Yung Wook Yoo Yung Wook Yoo (born December 27, 1977) is a South Korean pianist, winner of the Paloma O'Shea Santander International Piano Competition. Biography Born in Seoul on December 27, 1977, Yoo started studying piano in South Korea and then moved to ...

Rolande Maxwell Young Rolande Maxwell Young Schrade (1927–2015) was born in Washington, D.C. She was a composer, pianist, teacher, and the matriarch of a musical family with five children. After studying at Catholic University, she became a pupil of Harold Bauer at th ...

Dolora Zajick Dolora Zajick (born 24 March 1952) is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer who specializes in the Verdian repertoire. Zajick has been described as having "one of the greatest voices in the history of opera". Early life Born in Salem, Oregon, ...

* Miguel Zenón * Shahab Paranj

References

External links

* * {{authority control Educational institutions established in 1917 Universities and colleges in Manhattan Morningside Heights, Manhattan 1917 establishments in New York City Private universities and colleges in New York City Education in Harlem