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The Peabody Institute of
The Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
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 ...
conservatory and preparatory school in
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
,
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...
. It was founded in 1857 and opened in 1866 by merchant/financier and
philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...
George Peabody (1795–1869), and is the oldest conservatory in the United States. Its association with JHU in recent decades, begun in 1977, allows students to do research across disciplines.


History

George Peabody (1792–1869) founded the institute with a bequest of about $800,000 from his fortune made initially in Massachusetts and later augmented in Baltimore (where he lived and worked from 1815 to 1835) and vastly increased in banking and finance during following residences in New York City and London, where he became the wealthiest American of his time. Completion of the white marble
Grecian The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser exten ...
-
Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...
west wing/original building housing the institute, designed by Edmund George Lind, was delayed by the
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...
. It was dedicated in 1866, with Peabody himself, traveling across the
North Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
, speaking at the ceremonies on the front steps in front of landmark
Washington Monument The Washington Monument is an obelisk shaped building within the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (1775–1784) in the American Revolutionary War and ...
circle before a large audience of notaries and citizens including hundreds of assembled pupils from the Baltimore City Public Schools. Under the direction of well-known musicians, composers, conductors, and Peabody alumni, the conservatory, concerts, lecture series, library and art gallery, led by men of literary and intellectual lights along with an annual awarding of gold, silver and bronze medals with certificates and cash prizes to top graduates of the city, known as the "Peabody Prizes", attracted a considerable national attention to the Institute and the city's growing culture. Under strong academic leadership, the Peabody evolved into an internationally renowned cultural and literary center through the late 19th and the 20th centuries, especially after a major expansion in 1877–1878, with the completion of its eastern half housing the
George Peabody Library The George Peabody Library is a library connected to the Johns Hopkins University, focused on research into the 19th century. It was formerly the Library of the Peabody Institute of music in the City of Baltimore, and is located on the Peabody c ...
with iconic five stacked tiers of wrought iron balconies holding book stacks/shelves, surmounted by a beveled glass skylight, one of the most beautiful and distinctive libraries in the U.S. The institute building's 1878 east wing on East Mount Vernon Place containing the affiliated George Peabody Library, joined the other rows of architecturally significant structures of townhouses, mansions, art gallery, clubs, hotels, churches around the Nation's first memorial to its first President which developed into the Mount Vernon-Belvedere neighborhood, carved from the rolling hills north of Baltimore Town on the estate and nearby mansion of "Belviedere", home of Revolutionary War commander of famous "
Maryland Line The "Maryland Line" was a formation within the Continental Army, formed and authorized by the Second Continental Congress, meeting in the "Old Pennsylvania State House" (later known as "Independence Hall") in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in June ...
" troops in the
Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...
, Colonel
John Eager Howard John Eager Howard (June 4, 1752October 12, 1827) was an American soldier and politician from Maryland. He was elected as governor of the state in 1788, and served three one-year terms. He also was elected to the Continental Congress, the Con ...
(1752–1827). The institute grew from a local academy, with an art and sculpture gallery, public lecture series, and the extensive non-circulating reference library which predated the later first public library system in America. That library was created and endowed in 1882 by Peabody's friend and fellow "Bay-Stater", merchant/philanthropist
Enoch Pratt Enoch Pratt (September 10, 1808 – September 17, 1896) was an American businessman in Baltimore, Maryland. Pratt was also a committed active Unitarian, and a philanthropist. He is best known for his donations to establish the Enoch Pratt Free ...
(1808–1896). (In turn, both Peabody and Pratt inspired steel industrialist and multi-millionaire
Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in ...
(1835–1919) of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who endowed more than 2,500
libraries A library is a collection of Document, materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or electronic media, digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a ...
and buildings across America.) In 1955, Peabody inaugurated a Sacred Music department led by Arthur Howes; the department no longer exists. In 1978, "The Peabody" began working with
The Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
(founded by will/bequest by another extremely wealthy merchant,
Johns Hopkins Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland where he remained for most ...
(1792–1873), in 1876), under an affiliation agreement. In 1985, the institute officially became a division of "The Hopkins". Peabody is one of 156 schools in the United States that offers a
Doctorate of Musical Arts The Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) is a doctoral academic degree in music. The DMA combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization (usually music performance, music composition, or conducting) with graduate-level academic study in s ...
degree. It houses two libraries: the historical
George Peabody Library The George Peabody Library is a library connected to the Johns Hopkins University, focused on research into the 19th century. It was formerly the Library of the Peabody Institute of music in the City of Baltimore, and is located on the Peabody c ...
(originally the Peabody Institute Library) established when the Institute opened in 1866, renowned for its collection of 19th-century era and other rare books and the Arthur Friedheim Library (named for Russian-born pianist/conductor
Arthur Friedheim Arthur Friedheim (russian: Артур Фридхайм, 14/26 October 1859  – 19 October 1932) was a Russian-born concert pianist and composer who was one of Franz Liszt's foremost pupils. One of Friedheim's students was Rildia Bee O'Bryan C ...
, 1859–1932), a separate music reference academic library added to supplement the institute's original library (now the separate George Peabody Library in the east wing) that includes more than 100,000 books, scores, and sound recordings. The conservatory was later supplemented by a preparatory school ("Peabody Prep"), and an auditorium/music hall. Under instructions from Peabody's original 1857 bequest—an art and sculpture gallery, non-circulating public research library, with a public lecture series, and a system of awarding gold, silver and bronze medals, and certificates with money prizes for top honor graduates of Baltimore's then only public secondary schools; (the all-male Central High School of Baltimore, founded 1839 (now The Baltimore City College, since 1868) and female Eastern and Western High Schools, founded 1844). "Peabody Prizes" are awarded to top high school graduates beginning the following year at commencement exercises and continued for 122 years as an honored annual tradition with public announcements to city's media. Additional structures to the south and east of somewhat jarring modernistic light tan/brown brick along East Centre Street and Saint Paul Street (with a street-level parking garage) were constructed in 1971 with two corner towers. During the early 1990s, several remaining townhouses on East Mount Vernon Place to the east intersection with St. Paul were acquired and rebuilt leaving their front original facades facing the historic Monument squares /pocket parks but rebuilt interiors and extended to the rears. Along with other townhouses acquired to the south with distinctive iron scrollwork balconies facing North Charles Street /south Washington Place, for a senior citizens hostel. This enabled The Peabody to round out its tight campus of attached buildings on the entire city block bounded by Charles, Mount Vernon Place, St. Paul and Centre Streets. Some or all of the Peabody campus is included in the Mount Vernon Place Historic District, which was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
and also designated a
National Historic Landmark District National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ...
in 1971. The Peabody Institute's historic building at 1-21 E. Mount Vernon Place, built during 1857-1878, was designated a
Baltimore City Landmark Baltimore City Landmark is a historic property designation made by the city of Baltimore, Maryland. Nominations are reviewed by the city's Commission for Historical & Architectural Preservation (CHAP) and planning board, and are passed by Baltimo ...
on October 14, 1975.


Preparatory

Peabody Preparatory offers instruction and enrichment programs for school-age children across various sites in Baltimore and its surrounding counties: "Downtown" (Baltimore, main campus),
Towson Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincorp ...
,
Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...
( Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts) and Howard County (in cooperation with three schools).


Peabody Children's Chorus

The Peabody Children's Chorus is for children ages 6 to 18. It is divided into three groups: Training Choir, Choristers, and Cantate, grouped by age in ascending order. They practice weekly in Towson or Columbia, Maryland, and sing in concerts biannually under the instruction of Doreen Falby, Bradley Permenter, and Julia Sherriff. Cantate, ages 12 to 18, frequently perform with other groups, such as the
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore SO has its principal residence at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, where it performs more than 130 concerts a year. In 2005, it bega ...
, The Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, The Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, and the Baltimore Choral Arts Society, and have toured both regionally and internationally.


Notable students

*
Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...
, singer, songwriter, pianist; the youngest student ever admitted to the institute. *
Dominick Argento Dominick Argento (October 27, 1927 – February 20, 2019) was an American composer known for his lyric operatic and choral music. Among his best known pieces are the operas ''Postcard from Morocco'', '' Miss Havisham's Fire'', ''The Masque of An ...
, composer * James Atherton, tenor * Zuill Bailey, cellist * Manuel Barrueco, guitarist *
Carter Brey Carter Brey (born 1954) is an American cello virtuoso. He had a prolific solo career from 1981 until 1996 when he became the principal cellist of the New York Philharmonic, a position he still holds today. Biography Carter Brey was born in Montc ...
, cellist *
Petrit Çeku Petrit Çeku (born 2 June 1985) is an Albanian classical guitarist. Biography Born in Prizren, Kosovo , Çeku was inspired to play guitar by his father from the age of six. He attended the Lorenc Antoni music school from age 9 to 17, where he t ...
, Guitarist *
Angelin Chang Angelin Chang (張安麟, Korean: 장 安 린) is a Grammy award-winning classical pianist and professor of music at Cleveland State University. She heads the university's keyboard studies program and coordinates the university's chamber music ...
, pianist *
George Colligan George Colligan (born December 29, 1969) is an American jazz pianist, organist, drummer, trumpeter, educator, composer, and bandleader. Early life and education Colligan was born in New Jersey and raised in Columbia, Maryland. He attended the P ...
, pianist/trumpeter/drummer/composer * Charles Covington, pianist * Viet Cuong, composer *
Charity Sunshine Tillemann-Dick Charity Sunshine Tillemann-Dick (July 22, 1983 – April 23, 2019), known professionally as Charity Sunshine Tillemann-Dick, was an American soprano and presenter. A recipient of two bilateral (double) lung transplants, she spoke and performed fr ...
, operatic soprano * Ruth Wales du Pont, socialite, philanthropist, and classical composer * Joshua Fineberg, composer *
Virgil Fox Virgil Keel Fox (May 3, 1912 in Princeton, Illinois – October 25, 1980 in Palm Beach, Florida) was an American organist, known especially for his years as organist at Riverside Church in New York City, from 1946 to 1965, and his flamboyant "H ...
, organist *
James Allen Gähres James Allen Gähres (born August 5, 1943 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) is an American conductor, based in Germany. Biography Gähres studied music, conducting, composition and piano at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, where ...
, conductor (music) *
Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimalism, being built up from repetitive ...
, composer * Hilary Hahn, violinist * Michael Hedges, guitarist *
Michael Hersch Michael Nathaniel Hersch (born June 25, 1971) is an American composer and pianist. Biography Early life and musical education Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Reston, Virginia, Hersch was introduced to classical music at the age of 18 ...
, composer * Margarita Höhenrieder, pianist * Kim Kashkashian, violist * Fred Karpoff, pianist and artist-teacher *
Kevin Kenner Kevin Kenner (born May 19, 1963 in Coronado, California) is an American concert pianist. Biography At the age of 17, Kenner was a finalist at the X International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. Ten years later, in 1990 he returned to Warsaw ...
, pianist * Custer LaRue, soprano *
O'Donel Levy O'Donel "Butch" Levy (September 20, 1945 – March 14, 2016) was a rhythm & blues, funk and jazz guitarist from Baltimore, Maryland. He was brother of session drummer Stafford Levy. Levy studied music at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins ...
, guitarist * Richard Leibert, organist * David Meece, pianist, singer, songwriter *
Su Meng Su Meng (; born 1988) is a classical guitarist. She was born in Qingdao, Shandong. She started studying classical guitar in 1997 under the tuition of Chen Zhi of the Central Conservatory of Music. In 2006 she was under full scholarship of Man ...
, Guitarist * Sylvia Meyer, harpist; the first female member of the
National Symphony Orchestra The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1930, its principal performing venue is the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. It also performs for the annual National M ...
* Thomas F. McNulty, a president of the
WWIN-FM WWIN-FM (95.9 FM) is an urban adult contemporary radio station in Baltimore owned by Urban One. It is known as "Magic 95.9", playing a variety of urban adult contemporary music from the 1960s to present. Its transmitter is located along I-6 ...
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
and a member of the
Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the legislature of the State of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House on State Circle in Annapolis, ...
from 1942 to 1946 * Jessye Norman, operatic soprano * Piotr Pakhomkin, Guitarist * Rebecca Pitcher, actress; primarily known for playing Christine in the Broadway adaption of '' The Phantom of the Opera'' * Awadagin Pratt, pianist *
Lance Reddick Lance Reddick (born December 31, 1962) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for playing Cedric Daniels in '' The Wire'' (2002–2008), Phillip Broyles in ''Fringe'' (2008–2013), and Chief Irvin Irving in '' Bosch'' (2014–2020 ...
, actor, musician * Ilyich Rivas, conductor (music) *
Jake Runestad Jake Runestad (born 20 May 1986) is an American composer and conductor of classical music based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has composed music for a wide variety of musical genres and ensembles, but has achieved greatest acclaim for his wo ...
, composer * Lillian Smith, author of ''
Strange Fruit "Strange Fruit" is a song written and composed by Abel Meeropol (under his pseudonym Lewis Allan) and recorded by Billie Holiday in 1939. The lyrics were drawn from a poem by Meeropol published in 1937. The song protests the lynching of Black ...
'' * Ana Vidović, Guitarist *
André Watts André Watts (born June 20, 1946) is an American classical pianist and professor at the Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University. In 2020, he was elected to the American Philosophical Society. Life and early performances Born in Nurember ...
, pianist * Hugh Wolff, conductor and director of orchestras at the New England Conservatory of Music. * Eliza Woods, composer and pianist * Igor Zubkovsky, cellist


Notable faculty

*
Diran Alexanian Diran Alexanian ( hy, Տիրան Ալեքսանեան) (April 12, 1881, Constantinople – 1954, Chamonix, France) was an Armenian cello teacher and one of the world's greatest virtuoso cellists. Early life He started his studies in music u ...
, cello * Manuel Barrueco, guitar * Oscar Bettison, composition * George Frederick Boyle, piano * Garnett Bruce, opera * Elliott Carter (1946–48), composition * Jay Clayton, jazz *
Thomas Dolby Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher. Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including " She Blinded M ...
, Music for New Media * Du Yun, composition * David Fedderly, tuba * Leon Fleisher, piano *
Virgil Fox Virgil Keel Fox (May 3, 1912 in Princeton, Illinois – October 25, 1980 in Palm Beach, Florida) was an American organist, known especially for his years as organist at Riverside Church in New York City, from 1946 to 1965, and his flamboyant "H ...
, organist * Elizabeth Futral, voice * Denyce Graves, voice * Richard Franko Goldman, Director (1968–1977), President (1969–1977) *
Asger Hamerik Asger Hamerik (Hammerich) (April 8, 1843 – July 13, 1923) was a Danish composer of the late romantic period. Life and career Born in Frederiksberg (near Copenhagen), he studied music with J.P.E. Hartmann and Niels Gade, being related to the ...
, Director (1871–1898) *
Michael Hersch Michael Nathaniel Hersch (born June 25, 1971) is an American composer and pianist. Biography Early life and musical education Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Reston, Virginia, Hersch was introduced to classical music at the age of 18 ...
, composition * Ernest Hutcheson, piano * Jean Eichelberger Ivey, composition, electronic music * Katharine Lucke (1875-1962) - organ, composition * Nicholas Maw (1935–2009), composition * Anthony McGill, clarinet * Gustav Meier, conducting * Edward Palanker, clarinet * Amit Peled, cello * Marina Piccinini, flute * Joel Puckett, theory * Kevin Puts, composition *
Hollis Robbins Hollis Robbins (born 1963) is an American academic and essayist; Robbins currently serves as Dean of Humanities at University of Utah. Her scholarship focuses on African-American literature. Education and early career Robbins was born and raised ...
, humanities * Berl Senofsky, violin * John Shirley-Quirk, voice *
Robert van Sice Robert van Sice is an American percussionist and marimba player. He has toured and recorded extensively, currently teaches at the Yale School of Music (where he was appointed Director of Percussion Studies in 1997) and the Peabody Conservatory of ...
, percussion * Gary Thomas, Jazz * Barry Tuckwell, horn * Frank Valentino, voice * John Walker, organ * Eliza Woods, piano * Chen Yi, composition (1996-1998)


See also

*
Music school 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 ...
*
Music schools in the United States There are various types of music schools in the United States. These include both pre-college and college-level schools, both private and public. College-level schools can be categorized as independent conservatories, or as music schools of larger ...


References


External links

* {{Authority control Johns Hopkins University Universities and colleges in Baltimore Music schools in Maryland Educational institutions established in 1857 Mount Vernon, Baltimore Music of Baltimore 1857 establishments in Maryland Historic district contributing properties in Maryland Mount Vernon Place Historic District Baltimore City Landmarks