mannes school of music, on eve of 100th anniversary, moves downtown to the new school campus and into renovated arnhold hall facilities designed by deborah berke partners

Mannes Joins with School of Jazz and School of Drama to Create the College of Performing Arts

Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony to Take Place November 18

The New School's College of Performing Arts at 55 W. 13th Street

The New School is pleased to announce the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new home of Mannes School of Music, in the university’s renovated Arnhold Hall building (55 West 13th Street). Mannes’ move downtown, into a new, $25 million performing arts hub designed by Deborah Berke Partners, solidifies the pedagogical and programmatic changes already happening to create a unified College of Performing Arts, composed of Mannes, The School of Jazz and The School of Drama—all located on campus in close proximity to the rest of the design, liberal arts and social science university. The New School will unveil the facilities November 18, just ahead of Mannes’ 100th anniversary year.

“Today’s creative economy requires college graduates to be versatile and to have the skills to solve complex challenges,” says New School President David Van Zandt. “By bringing Mannes, one of the most prestigious conservatories in the world, downtown to join our main campus as part of a newly formed College of Performing Arts, we have an exciting opportunity to cement our leadership in cross-disciplinary learning. By opening opportunities for students to learn across performing arts, design, and liberal arts, we are providing our students with an unmatched education that positions them for future success.”

Continuing The New School’s tradition of integrated education, Richard Kessler, who became Dean of Mannes in 2011, began rethinking music education for the 21st century with the goal to reshape the conservatory so it prepares graduates for successful careers in today’s rapidly evolving arts landscape. In 2012, he drafted “Mannes in a New Key,” a blueprint to make Mannes the most progressive high-quality music conservatory in the world. For an often traditional school that has long oriented itself around the Western classical music canon and prided itself on the most in-depth and rigorous theory curriculum in the world, these changes represented what Kessler has described as “perhaps the most significant set of changes to the Mannes program since it began granting degrees in 1953.” Kessler became Executive Dean for the College of Performing Arts when it was formed in 2014.

“In order to realize their dreams and find their way in the increasingly dynamic marketplace, today’s performing artists must be able to push the limits of their talents while possessing the skills to take charge of their own careers and art form,” says Kessler. “We are looking forwarded to our new, state-of-the art home in Greenwich Village, and most importantly, the opportunity for our gifted students to easily access all the myriad disciplines offered across The New School, as we push forward with our new model of music education.”

Mannes prepares students to not only compose and perform for orchestras, opera companies and chamber ensembles, but also to make music in a wide range of styles and art forms. As major institutions and record companies give way to independent artists who look after all aspects of their own careers, Mannes equips students with the skills to work as arts administrators, teachers, negotiate contracts, raise funds, as well as promote their work through social media and other channels.

Leading this new approach in music education for The New School, Kessler, in his dual role as Dean of Mannes and Executive Dean for The College of Performing Arts at The New School, along with Martin Mueller (Executive Director of The School of Jazz) and Pippin Parker (Director of The School of Drama) offers students in the College of Performing Arts the wide range of skills to succeed in a cross-genre, interdisciplinary professional landscape. Kessler and his colleagues are integrating The New School’s three performing arts divisions and creating bridges with other programs across the larger university: design at Parsons School of Design; liberal arts at Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts; and public policy, business, and more in the Schools of Public Engagement.

Exemplifying these partnerships, Mannes collaborated with Parsons to co-present the New York premiere of Jonathan Dove’s opera Flight in May. Mannes Opera and the Mannes Orchestra performed the three-act opera, in a fully staged production featuring costume and set design by Parsons students. In April of this year, the College of Performing Arts inaugurated (Un)Silent Film Night, a new series in which music ensembles from Mannes, the School of Jazz, and the School of Drama perform live with screenings of landmark silent films. Last year, Mannes and Parsons collaborated similarly on a production of Daniel Catán’s opera Il Postino.

The 36,000 square feet of renovated facilities in Arnhold Hall will offer a flexible and unified home for the performing arts—a place that facilitates collaboration between Mannes, Jazz and Drama, and with other schools at the university. The building’s first four floors now include state-of-the-art, soundproofed spaces for instruction, practice, rehearsal and performance by music and drama students.

The ground floor houses a unique “glass box” theater that will present public performances, visible from the street, by all of the College of Performing Arts’ schools. An additional theater on the fourth floor will accommodate audiences of up to 155 for a range of performances. Both spaces will have high-quality recording and streaming capabilities.

“It was a privilege to work with students, professors and administrators of The New School,” says Deborah Berke. “Our goal was to design a space that represents their progress defining what a world-class arts education can be in the 21st Century. Our design prioritizes the technical requirements of Mannes School of Music, the School of Jazz and the School of Drama while also fostering connections between disciplines and with the Greenwich Village community. We are honored to be a part of the project to create the College of Performing Arts.”

While the School of Drama will continue to operate in the recently landmarked Greenwich Village Westbeth Arts Complex at 151 Bank Street, all three performing arts schools will have a presence at Arnhold Hall. This fall semester, Mannes is moving all of its activities to the Hall from the school’s locations on the Upper West Side at 150 West 85th Street and 37 West 65th Street. The School of Jazz is already headquartered at Arnhold Hall, and The School of Drama will gain studio space as well as programing in the glass box theater and the fourth floor theater.

 

The College of Performing Arts is a progressive artistic center housed within The New School, in one of the world’s greatest performing arts cities, New York City. The college offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs for aspiring musicians, composers, actors, directors, writers, and performers of all kinds through three renowned schools: Mannes School of Music, the School of Jazz, and the School of Drama. Students have the valuable opportunity to pursue interdisciplinary studies throughout a comprehensive university, The New School. The College of Performing Arts nurtures individual artists in order to cultivate fearless risk takers who value real-world relevance, pursue excellence, and embrace collaboration. Celebrated faculty mentors guide students to take their place as artistic leasers who can make a positive difference in the world today.

Founded in 1916, Mannes School of Music at The New School seeks to develop citizen artists who engage with the world around them in and through music, in traditional, new, and emergent forms of practice. Our eminent faculty of artists, scholars, and educators of international stature, including active professionals from all areas of the music world foster close, constructive relationships with students and are committed to advancing the creative role of music throughout all aspects of our rapidly changing society. Notable faculty include Jeremy Denk, multi-award winning and MacArthur Fellow pianist; Dave Douglas, multi-award winning and MacArthur Fellow trumpeter; Cynthia Phelps, principal violist of The New York Philharmonic; David Chan, Concertmaster of The Metropolitian Opera; Joan La Barbara, vocalist and pioneer in contemporary vocal music; William Burden, renowned operatic tenor; David T Little, composer; Missy Mazzoli, composer; Paul Moravec, composer; and many more.

The School of Jazz at The New School, founded in 1986, is one of the most influential institutions of its kind. The quality and uniqueness of the school lie in its artist-as-mentor approach to learning, its progressive curriculum, small ensemble-based performance, a stellar faculty composed of artist-practitioners, and access to unique musical opportunities throughout New York City. Notable faculty include Reggie Workman, bassist, bandleader, composer; Ben Allison, bassist, bandleader, composer; Cecil Bridgewater, trumpet; Robert Hurwitz, President, Nonesuch Records; Yosvany Terry, saxophonist, percussionist, bandleader, composer; and Jimmy Owens, trumpet. Among the many remarkable artists who have given master classes or lecture presentations are Cassandra Wilson, Randy Weston, Geri Allen, George Lewis, Marc Ribot, Fred Wesley, Pat Metheny, Joshua Redman, Pauline Oliveros, Don Byron, Ben Sidran, Tommy LiPuma and George Wein.

The School of Drama at The New School is a shared graduate and undergraduate learning environment in the historic Westbeth Artists complex in Greenwich Village. Its BFA students have access to top design, music, liberal arts, and social science courses offered throughout the university. At the MFA level, the School is a generative center of practice and production for a select ensemble of forward-thinking emerging professionals. The School of Drama’s award-winning faculty of master teachers and working professionals provides students with a high level of artistic training, project-based learning, consistent performance opportunities, and skills that can be applied to a variety of 21st-century career choices. The faculty includes Kathleen Chalfant, actress; Tea Alagic, director; Daniel Aukin, director; Jon Robin Baitz, playwright; and Lucy Thurber, playwright. The School’s Artists in Residence have included Mark Ruffalo, actor; Sir David Hare, playwright, director and screenwriter; Joe Mantello, director; and John Turturro.

 

 

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