Strings

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College of Performing Arts
Office of Admission
72 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10011
performingarts@newschool.edu
212.229.5150 or 800.292.3040

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Develop your talent in a unique learning environment under the guidance of world-class faculty. New York City is a center of American music, and the faculty who teach at Mannes are active participants in the evolution of the future of music. At Mannes, you will find a mentor who will not only help you develop the advanced technique necessary to compete in any setting but also nurture your creative self so that you can chart your own path as a 21st-century artist.

Mannes is a unique place where you will receive intense technical training on your instrument from a faculty of renowned and revolutionary performers, who will also help you find your place in the landscape of contemporary music in New York City. Our Strings faculty is a preeminent group of musicians. Perform side by side with Mannes' quartet-in-residence, the JACK Quartet, hailed by the New York Times as the "nation's most important quartet."

With New York City as your classroom, you'll find ways to jump-start your career from the moment you set foot on campus. Play at landmark venues like Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. Collaborate on cutting-edge performances in one of our many ensembles, including Mannes American Composers Ensemble, the College of Performing Arts Theater Orchestra, and the New School Studio Orchestra. Train to win a position in the best orchestras in the world as you gain the skills needed to start your own label, manage your own publicity, and create your own.

Learn to engage with the world through music while studying alongside star faculty. Combine rigorous conservatory training with a range of complementary studies in our Bachelor of Music program. Mannes' entrepreneurship courses give you the tools you need to make your own opportunities as an artist. Take liberal arts electives at Lang and design electives at Parsons and learn how to use your art in new ways to make an impact on a rapidly changing world.

As a graduate student in our Master of Music program, you'll take part in an elite two-year program focused on advancing all aspects of your musical study and performance skills. The broad range of performance opportunities we offer prepares you for any career as a professional artist you can imagine.

Alumni

Embracing Identity, Pushing a Genre Forward

Jesus Rodolfo, PDPL Instrumental Performance '14, MM Instrumental Performance '12, came to the College of Performing Arts at The New School from his native Spain looking to upend the world of classical music.

Degrees

Mannes School of Music offers an academic experience that pairs artistic foundations with a rich variety of entrepreneurial and experiential opportunities. Learn more about our degree programs.

Performance & Learning Opportunities

Mannes students engage in unique performance experiences, collaborating with students across The New School and partner organizations like the International Contemporary Ensemble and the Martha Graham Dance Company.

Take the Stage in New York City.

Perform at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, apprentice with members of the Orchestra of St. Luke's, join the Martha Graham Dance Company in riveting productions, and take the stage with The Mannes Opera. Experience firsthand what it's like to be a working musician in one of the most vibrant music scenes in the world.

Experiment. Collaborate. Perform.

Don't just learn how to play your instrument; learn how to perform. Develop your artistry alongside peers from the College of Performing Arts, Parsons, and across The New School by creating multidisciplinary projects with theater directors, designers, and media students. Record an album with jazz students. Make new work with actors, writers, and directors. You'll never run out of opportunities to grow and showcase your talent in new and original ways.

Chart Your Own Course.

Today's artists are makers and doers. Performers are composers, composers are improvisers, musicians are changemakers. At Mannes, you can develop your artistry through a curriculum that goes far beyond that of the traditional conservatory. In courses like The Stone Workshops, Improv Artists Lab, and The Digital Revolution, you'll have the opportunity to play alongside boundary-breaking artists and award-winning faculty members. Take courses that will challenge you to make music in new and inspired ways.

Explore

Artists & Work

Arts Management, Brass, Horn, Trombone, Trumpet

Practice Change with Art

Arts Management and Entrepreneurship student tells the story of her country through music and collaboration.

Vocal Performance, Voice, Acting

Cabaret

Students from Drama, Jazz, and Mannes present Cabaret

Arts Management, Brass, Horn, Trombone, Trumpet

Practice Change With Art

Arts Management and Entrepreneurship student tells the story of her country through music and collaboration.

Upcoming Performances & News

Wednesday, October 14th, 5:30PM to Thursday, October 15th, 3:59AM

Meet prominent Ukrainian Composer and Pianist Oleh Bezborodko

ABOUT OLEG BEZBORODKOOleg Bezborodko is a Ukrainian pianist and composer whose works have been performed in more than twenty-five countries across Europe, North America, and Asia. His artistic path combines performance, composition, and teaching, making him one of the most versatile representatives of contemporary Ukrainian music.After studying piano and composition in Ukraine and Switzerland, he earned a Ph.D. from the Ukrainian National Academy of Music, where he currently serves as Head of the Piano Department. Alongside his academic role, he is in demand as both a chamber musician and an interpreter of contemporary repertoire. His interpretations of Valentin Silvestrov’s music, in particular, have been praised by the composer himself.Oleg’s music has been performed by leading ensembles such as musikFabrik, the Chain Ensemble, and the Kyiv Piano Duo, as well as by acclaimed soloists including pianists Stephen Gutman, Roglit Ishay, Timothy Hoft, and Dmytro Choni; violinists Dmytro Tkachenko and Orest Smovzh; and violist Tatjana Masurenko. He has collaborated with all major Ukrainian orchestras, both as a pianist and as a composer, and his works have been performed under the direction of conductors such as Andrey Boreyko, Hobart Earle, Kirill Karabits, Volodymyr Kozhukhar, Vincent Kozlowski, Ivan Ostapovych, Viktor Ploskina, Natalia Ponomarchuk, Volodymyr Sheyko, and Volodymyr Sirenko.His music has been presented at international festivals including Kyiv Music Fest, Contrasts (Lviv), Two Days and Two Nights (Odesa), Euphonie (Warsaw), Iš ARTI (Kaunas), the Biennial Festival of New Music at Florida State University (Tallahassee), INS OFFENE (Berlin), and the Brandenburgisches Fest der Neuen Musik (Potsdam).A laureate of national and international competitions, he received the Levko Revutsky Music Prize (2008) from the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine and the Mykola Lysenko Composition Award (2017). His works have been commissioned by the Goethe-Institut, the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung, the Ukrainian National Academic Concert Band, Musica Mundi Frankfurt, and the Lviv Organ Hall.Since 2023, Oleg has served as Artistic Director of the “Kyiv Music Premieres” festival, one of Ukraine’s leading platforms for new music.In recent years, his orchestral works have gained particular recognition. In 2025, his Symphony Peine Del Viento (Comb of the Wind) received second prize at the San Sebastián Symphony Concours, organized by County Hall Arts in London. That same year, on June 10, his Symphony Unbroken was performed alongside Beethoven’s Eroica at the closing concert of Kharkiv Music Fest — the first symphonic concert in Kharkiv since the start of the full-scale war.Presented by Mannes Sounds Festival in collaboration with the Mannes Composition Department / Composition Forum.