Bill Gustafson
Email
gustafson@newschool.edu
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An award-winning producer, director, teacher, and administrator, William Gustafson began his tenure as Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at the Mannes School of Music in 2014. Upon his appointment, he played an immediate and vital role in the implementation of Mannes in a New Key, the strategic plan for Mannes authored in 2013, and in the eventual integration of Mannes into the College of Performing Arts, formed in 2015. Over the course of his nearly 12-year tenure at Mannes, Bill has led successful efforts related to curricular development and assessment, enrollment management and student retention, new faculty appointments, and the expansion of curricular offerings and performance opportunities for students at both the undergraduate and graduate degree levels. Prior to his appointment at Mannes, Bill served as an Associate Provost at Long Island University, an Associate Professor of Music at the University of Colorado at Boulder College of Music, and as the Director of Opera Studies at the New England Conservatory.
An accomplished producer and stage director, Bill has been praised by the Denver Post for staging that was “a success in every way,” by The Boston Globe for productions that were “lively, amusing, and well worked out,” and as having shown “a well–judged sense of theater” by Opera News. Professional directing credits include Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Hansel und Gretel, and Die Zauberflöte with the Sarasota Opera Company; L’Elisir d’Amore, La Cenerentola, and Turandot with Opera Birmingham; L’Orfeo favola in musica with Boston Baroque; Ariodante with the Handel and Haydn Society; H.M.S Pinafore and Yeoman of the Guard with Central City Opera; Don Pasquale at the Pine Mountain Music Festival; and Treemonisha at San Francisco's Stern Grove Festival.
Innovation in opera training at the conservatory level has been a hallmark of Bill’s teaching and directing career. In 2017, he served as the producer and director for the academic premiere of Dust by Robert Ashley at Mannes. Zachary Woolfe of The New York Times hailed this production of Dust as “the most tantalizing operatic offering by a New York conservatory this season” and one of “The Best Opera and Vocal Performances of 2017.” Prior to his appointment at Mannes, Bill was entrusted by the American composer Jack Heggie with the academic premier of Dead Man Walking produced at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The production was named one of the best performances of 2007 by the Denver Post and earned him the Eaton Faculty Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Humanities, Arts and Music. In 2000, he was tapped by his mentor John Moriarty after his retirement to lead the opera training program at The New England Conservatory of Music. Productions at NEC included Britten’s Albert Herring, staged in Jordan Hall. Recent productions include the Philip Glass opera The Fall of the House of Usher, Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, and Purcell’s The Fairy Queen.
Bill holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts and a Master of Music Degree from the University of Michigan, a Master of Business Administration from Long Island University, and a Bachelor of Music in Performance from the University of Connecticut.
Current Courses
ESLM 7 Add'l Lesson Fee
CAML 0700, Spring 2026
ESLM 7 Lesson Fee
CAML 0500, Spring 2026
Exploring Opera: UG 1B
CAOV 2560, Spring 2026
GR 2 cr. Major Lessons
CAML 5000, Spring 2026
GR 4 cr. Major Lessons
CAML 5550, Spring 2026
GR 5 cr. Major Lessons
CAML 5560, Spring 2026
Independent Study
COPA 5999, Spring 2026
Independent Study: CoPA
COPA 4999, Spring 2026
Mannes Small Ensemble
CAPR 1500, Spring 2026
Mannes Small Ensemble
CAPR 5003, Spring 2026
UG 2 cr. Major Lessons
CAML 3000, Spring 2026
Future Courses
1 Semester Theory Review
CATM 5200, Fall 2026
Adv Theory for GR Students 1
CATM 5605, Fall 2026
Advanced Schenkerian Analysis
CATM 5400, Fall 2026
Analysis 2A
CATM 4255, Fall 2026
Arranging Ensemble
CAPR 5440, Fall 2026
Brass Ensemble Class
CAPR 5521, Fall 2026
Brass Ensemble Class
CAPR 2500, Fall 2026
Chopin's Preludes
CAPR 5210, Fall 2026
Class Piano for Non-Majors
CATM 3111, Fall 2026
Collaborative Skills 1 (Vocal)
CAPR 3310, Fall 2026
Composition for Non-Majors
CCMP 5500, Fall 2026
Composition for Non-Majors
CCMP 2000, Fall 2026
Composition Forum
CCMP 5000, Fall 2026
Conducting Singers
CAPR 5610, Fall 2026
Contemporary Orchestration
CCMP 5031, Fall 2026
Dictation 1A
CATM 1225, Fall 2026
Dictation 2A
CATM 2225, Fall 2026
Dictation 3A
CATM 3225, Fall 2026
Dictation 4A
CATM 4225, Fall 2026
Ear Training 1A
CATM 1215, Fall 2026
Ear Training 2A
CATM 2215, Fall 2026
Ear Training 3A
CATM 3215, Fall 2026
ESLM 7 Add'l Lesson Fee
CAML 0700, Fall 2026
ESLM 7 Lesson Fee
CAML 0500, Fall 2026
ESLM Music Coursework
CAPR 0100, Fall 2026
Exploring Opera UG 1A Coaching
CAOV 2551, Fall 2026
Exploring Opera: UG 1A
CAOV 2550, Fall 2026
Form and Analysis
CATM 3260, Fall 2026
French Diction
CAOV 3205, Fall 2026
Fundamentals of Orchestration
CCMP 2150, Fall 2026
Fundamentals of Piano
CATM 1030, Fall 2026
German Diction
CAOV 2205, Fall 2026
Go Digital
CCMP 5100, Fall 2026
GR 2 cr. Major Lessons
CAML 5000, Fall 2026
GR 4 cr. Major Lessons
CAML 5550, Fall 2026
GR 5 cr. Major Lessons
CAML 5560, Fall 2026
GR Dictation Placement
CATM 5011, Fall 2026
GR Ear Training Placement
CATM 5009, Fall 2026
GR Music Notation 1A
CCMP 5205, Fall 2026
GR Music Theory Placement
CATM 5010, Fall 2026
GR Orchestration
CCMP 5155, Fall 2026
GR Theory Fundamentals 1A
CATM 5025, Fall 2026
Graduate Analysis
CATM 5525, Fall 2026
Graduate Analysis 2
CATM 5600, Fall 2026
Graduate String Quartet
CAPR 6007, Fall 2026
History of Music 1A
CBMH 1105, Fall 2026
Independent Study: CoPA
COPA 4999, Summer 2026
Intro to GR Studies + ESL
CBMH 5002, Fall 2026
Introduction to GR Studies
CBMH 5000, Fall 2026
Introduction to Improvisation
COPA 5587, Fall 2026
Introduction to Improvisation
COPA 4587, Fall 2026
IPA Foundations
CAOV 1105, Fall 2026
Italian Diction
CAOV 1205, Fall 2026
Italian Diction
CAOV 5500, Fall 2026
Keyboard 1A
CATM 2245, Fall 2026
Keyboard 2A
CATM 3245, Fall 2026
Keyboard Improvisation
COPA 5210, Fall 2026
Mannes Small Ensemble
CAPR 1500, Fall 2026
Mannes Small Ensemble
CAPR 5003, Fall 2026
Mobility CoPA
CMOB 3900, Summer 2026
Music as Narrative
CBMH 6060, Fall 2026
Music Notation 1A
CCMP 2205, Fall 2026
Music Technology and Scoring
CCMP 5010, Fall 2026
Music Unleashed
CAPR 5241, Fall 2026
Nineteenth-Century Tone Poems
CBMH 6020, Fall 2026
Open Forms Ensemble
CAPR 5665, Fall 2026
Orchestration 1A
CCMP 3155, Fall 2026
Percussion Ensemble
CAPR 5501, Fall 2026
Percussion Ensemble
CAPR 2501, Fall 2026
Percussion Repertory
CAPR 5550, Fall 2026
Percussion Repertory
CAPR 3550, Fall 2026
Performance Class Double Bass
CAPR 5508, Fall 2026
Performance Class Double Bass
CAPR 3503, Fall 2026
Performance Class: Bassoon
CAPR 5511, Fall 2026
Performance Class: Bassoon
CAPR 3508, Fall 2026
Performance Class: Cello
CAPR 5504, Fall 2026
Performance Class: Cello
CAPR 3502, Fall 2026
Performance Class: Clarinet
CAPR 5512, Fall 2026
Performance Class: Clarinet
CAPR 3509, Fall 2026
Performance Class: Flute
CAPR 3504, Fall 2026
Performance Class: Flute
CAPR 5509, Fall 2026
Performance Class: Fr. Horn
CAPR 5513, Fall 2026
Performance Class: Fr. Horn
CAPR 3510, Fall 2026
Performance Class: Low Brass
CAPR 5515, Fall 2026
Performance Class: Low Brass
CAPR 3512, Fall 2026
Performance Class: Oboe
CAPR 3507, Fall 2026
Performance Class: Oboe
CAPR 5510, Fall 2026
Performance Class: Trumpet
CAPR 3511, Fall 2026
Performance Class: Trumpet
CAPR 5517, Fall 2026
Performance Class: Violin
CAPR 5502, Fall 2026
Performance Class: Violin
CAPR 3500, Fall 2026
Piano Class
CATM 5000, Fall 2026
Piano Class 1A
CATM 1135, Fall 2026
Piano for Singers
CATM 5001, Fall 2026
Piano Literature 1A
CBMH 1505, Fall 2026
Piano Literature 2A
CBMH 2505, Fall 2026
Piano Pedagogy
CBPD 5030, Fall 2026
Queer Culture in Music
CBMH 5300, Fall 2026
Score Reading 1A
CATM 5655, Fall 2026
Sound Explorations in Music
COPA 5540, Fall 2026
Theory 1A
CATM 1205, Fall 2026
Theory 1A Intensive
CATM 1105, Fall 2026
Theory 2A
CATM 2205, Fall 2026
Theory 3A
CATM 3205, Fall 2026
Theory Fundamentals 1A
CATM 1025, Fall 2026
Time Tools: Rhythm and Pulse
CATM 5050, Fall 2026
UG 2 cr. Major Lessons
CAML 3000, Fall 2026
UG Dictation Placement
CATM 0003, Fall 2026
UG Ear Training Placement
CATM 0002, Fall 2026
UG Music Theory Placement
CATM 0001, Fall 2026
Vocal Accomp. for Pianists
CAPR 5152, Fall 2026
Vocal Pedagogy
CBPD 5080, Fall 2026
Wind Ensemble Class
CAPR 2508, Fall 2026
Past Courses
ESLM 7 Add'l Lesson Fee
CAML 0700, Fall 2025
ESLM 7 Lesson Fee
CAML 0500, Fall 2025
ESLM Music Coursework
CAPR 0100, Fall 2025
GR 2 cr. Major Lessons
CAML 5000, Fall 2025
GR 4 cr. Major Lessons
CAML 5550, Fall 2025
GR 5 cr. Major Lessons
CAML 5560, Fall 2025
GR Dictation Placement
CATM 5011, Fall 2025
GR Ear Training Placement
CATM 5009, Fall 2025
GR Music Theory Placement
CATM 5010, Fall 2025
Independent Study
COPA 5999, Fall 2025
Independent Study: CoPA
COPA 4999, Summer 2025
Mannes Small Ensemble
CAPR 5003, Fall 2025
Mannes Small Ensemble
CAPR 1500, Fall 2025
Mobility CoPA
CMOB 3900, Summer 2025
UG 2 cr. Major Lessons
CAML 3000, Fall 2025
UG Dictation Placement
CATM 0003, Fall 2025
UG Ear Training Placement
CATM 0002, Fall 2025
UG Music Theory Placement
CATM 0001, Fall 2025