Welcome to Mannes School of Music, one of the country’s most innovative conservatories, a place where classical music is reimagined for the 21st century. Here you’ll find a rare balance between the traditional and the experimental, created in a highly collaborative community of musicians, composers, conductors, and theater trailblazers who respond to the world through their art. Mannes offers you rigorous training along with unique opportunities to grow as an artist through cross-disciplinary work, entrepreneurial ventures, and social engagement. Study with legendary faculty mentors, join world-class ensembles, and gain access to groundbreaking artists, both on our campus and on stages across the city and beyond.
In 1916, concertmaster and conductor David Mannes and pianist-educator Clara Damrosch established a school that embodied their revolutionary ideas about education and belief in the power of music to improve lives. Today our community carries forward their ideals, redefining what it means to be an artist and engaged global citizen.
A NEW KIND OF CONSERVATORY
Mannes School of Music offers Bachelor of Music, Master of Music, and professional diploma (PDPL) degree programs. You can hone your skills in any major classical instrument— brass, strings, woodwinds, or percussion—and study piano, harpsichord, guitar, voice, composition, theory, and, at the graduate level, conducting and collaborative piano.
The College of Performing Arts—home to Mannes School of Music, the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, and the School of Drama—also offers the MA Arts Management and Entrepreneurship, a two-year program that equips artists with the business, management, and leadership skills they need to broaden their career options. You can complete your undergraduate degree and the MA with our five-year Bachelor’s-Master’s program.
Learn more about the values driving our educational programs at newschool.edu/artists-proficiencies.
A full list of degree requirements can be found in the academic catalog; visit newschool.edu/provost/academic-catalogs to see requirements for a given year.
400 students enrolled in our programs (148 undergraduate, 252 graduate)1
198 full-time and part-time faculty members
mentors Watch the Tech Forward Creative Electronic Performing Arts Showcase, led by Mannes professor and digital music innovator Levy Lorenzo.
Our faculty is made up of luminaries honored for their achievements with major awards—GRAMMY, MacArthur Genius, Pulitzer, Guggenheim, Avery Fisher—who advance art forms and bring you with them. Along with hands- on instruction, they offer you a wealth of experience and connections. They establish a supportive learning environment, guiding you as you experiment with sound and take your art to new heights. And a roster of resident artist mentors bring fresh ideas and musical practice to campus. Current resident artist mentors include Sandbox Percussion, the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), and the GRAMMY-nominated JACK Quartet, whom the New York Times called “the nation’s most important quartet.”
A few of our faculty are listed below; you can view the whole list at newschool.edu/mannes/faculty.
Leila Josefowicz—Recognized as one of the leading concert violinists of our time, Josefowicz has graced prestigious stages across the globe, from the Berliner Philharmoniker to the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She has been recognized with a GRAMMY nomination, the Avery Fisher Prize, and the MacArthur Fellowship and has premiered numerous concertos by renowned composers, including Colin Matthews, Luca Francesconi, John Adams, and Esa-Pekka Salonen, all created specifically for her.
Rebekah Heller—A critically acclaimed solo bassoonist, Heller records and performs a broad repertoire and has premiered hundreds of new pieces internationally. Heller is also the artistic co-director and bassoonist of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), a renowned New York–based group that closely collaborates with Mannes.
Richard Goode —One of today’s most revered pianists, Goode is a favorite of audiences worldwide. Goode studied at Mannes, and his numerous prizes over the years include the Young Concert Artists Award, First Prize in the Clara Haskil Competition, the Avery Fisher Prize, and a GRAMMY award for the Brahms Sonatas recorded with clarinetist Richard Stoltzman.
Brandee Younger—A harpist whose innovative sound is revolutionizing her instrument for the digital era, Younger has performed with artists including Ravi Coltrane, Lauryn Hill, Stevie Wonder, and John Legend and works with organizations to promote her instrument and women performers. She made history by becoming the first Black woman to be nominated for a GRAMMY Award for Best Instrumental Composition and won the 2024 NAACP Image Award in the category of Outstanding Jazz Album.
Ryan Roberts—The solo English horn player for the New York Philharmonic, Reynolds conducts the Mannes Wind Orchestra and has performed with leading ensembles and U.S. orchestras. An award-winning performer, he was praised by the New York Times for his “alluring solo playing.” Roberts is also an accomplished pianist.
Jennifer Koh—Celebrated for her intense performing style, virtuosity, and technique, Koh has a broad-ranging repertoire and performs solo and with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors. Koh has received a GRAMMY nomination and an Avery Fisher Career Grant and is dedicated to exploring an eclectic repertoire while promoting equity and inclusivity in classical music. She was recently appointed artistic director of Fortas Chamber Music Concerts at the Kennedy Center.
JACK Quartet—Described as “one of contemporary music’s indispensable ensembles” by the New York Times, the JACK Quartet is an ensemble-inresidence at Mannes. JACK’s members are committed to promoting 20th- and 21st-century string quartet music and expanding the ways artists and audiences interact. JACK has been nominated for three GRAMMY Awards and is the 2024 recipient of Chamber Music America’s Michael Jaffee Visionary Award.
Laquita Mitchell—An award-winning soprano soloist, Mitchell has performed in classical operas such as La Traviata and contemporary works like I Dream and Porgy and Bess, in which, according to Opera News, she “dazzled the San Francisco Opera audience with her purity of tone and vivid theatrical presence.” Mitchell has performed worldwide and received broad acclaim, including a GRAMMY nomination for her oratorio performance in Paul Moravec’s Sanctuary Road.
Our community advances the creative role of music in all aspects of a rapidly changing world. Mannes fosters your development as a citizen-artist who engages with society in both traditional and new ways. Through its remarkable faculty and innovative curriculum, Mannes prepares you for the professional world you will encounter today. Our approach to learning breaks down the walls between classical music, jazz, and dramatic arts, and provides access to our university’s art and design school—Parsons. The result is an education of unparalleled breadth, depth, and achievement. Each year, more than 1,000 performances take place at the College of Performing Arts, exposing you to a range of artistic practices and providing you with opportunities to connect with other students throughout the school and the university. Follow us on Instagram to see our community in action: @newschoolperformingarts. Or if you’re in the area, attend a performance. View our events calendar at newschool.edu/mannes-calendar.
“ The Mannes community is very welcoming and supportive. I always feel like I have something new to learn from my peers.”
—Arjan Singh Dogra, MM Theory and Composition student
New York City as Your Stage
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 and record at landmark venues like Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. Participate in cuttingedge performances with our many ensembles, including Mannes American Composers Ensemble, the College of Performing Arts Theater Orchestra, The Mannes Orchestra, and The New School Studio Orchestra. Perform with The Mannes Orchestra and legendary Martha Graham Dance Company at City Center, at Student Night at The Stone, and with our partner organizations, such as the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. Train for positions with the world’s best orchestras, music presenters, and arts organizations—or launch your own venture. Your Mannes education gives you the skills you need to start your own label, manage your own publicity, and establish a fulfilling career.
newschool.edu/mannes-partners
Facilities and Creative Tools
On campus you’ll find the space to practice solo, rehearse in a group, and perform before audiences of varying sizes. Mannes School of Music maintains 100 practice rooms and eight performance spaces. Our residence halls also feature practice rooms, including one with a piano. To help you share your creativity more broadly, we offer on-campus recording studios, instrument rental and storage facilities, and electronic music and audio production labs, workstations, and gear.
newschool.edu/mannes-facilities
Watch a Mannes Orchestra premiere of a work by awardwinning composer Minjoo Kim ’22 (PDPL Composition), featuring BFA Piano student Emma Taggart, the 2023 George and Elizabeth Gregory Concerto Competition winner.
Mannes American Composers Ensemble (MACE)
MACE brings together small to medium-sized ensembles to present works and commissions by important American composers including Philip Glass, Steve Reich, and Kamala Sankaram. A recent MACE concert featured orchestral works by New School alumnus and award-winning singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens. The latest concert series was led by the composer, conductor, and violinist David Fulmer, whom New York Classical Review called “one of the most important conductors and musicians working with contemporary music.”
The Mannes Orchestra
The Mannes Orchestra is led by professor David Hayes, who guides students from the College of Performing Arts in performing a bold repertoire at the highest level. The orchestra presents an annual public concert at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. Described as “a revelation” by the New York Times, The Mannes Orchestra collaborates with The Mannes Opera and participates in (Un)Silent Film Night—a series of silent film screenings set to music composed by students. Off campus, the orchestra partners with arts groups like the Martha Graham Dance Company.
The New York Times recently praised The Mannes Orchestra for its “intensity of focus.”
446
Average number of annual performances by students and faculty
98 reservable music spaces at Arnhold Hall
The Mannes Opera
The Mannes Opera develops a training program for operatic artists of the 21st century; graduates include acclaimed performers Frederica von Stade, Nadine Sierra, Danielle de Niese, and Younghoon Lee. Led by industry leaders in opera and theater, Mannes Opera aims to reinvigorate the form with new voices and methods and advance opera’s rich tradition of interpreting the moment. Our students work directly with leading professionals and are challenged to apply the rigor and commitment required to stage full-scale works—often incorporating new technology—at venues across NYC.
newschool.edu/mannes/voice-opera
The Mannes Sounds Festival
This annual festival gives Mannes students the opportunity to take master classes with celebrated guest artists and perform more than 30 concerts in a range of genres at prestigious NYC venues including consulates and museums and other cultural organizations including Carnegie Hall. The festival also brings together students from across the College of Performing Arts, giving you new opportunities to work with peers, along with creators who contribute multimedia art for shows ranging from operas to concerts celebrating and exploring music of the African Diaspora.
Mannes Prep is a pre-professional program that welcomes students ages 4 to 18, from absolute beginners to advanced students.
newschool.edu/mannes/prep
International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE)
Mannes students benefit from our partnership with ICE—an interdisciplinary nonprofit of experimental musicians, media artists, producers, and educators promoting music by living artists and inclusive new ways to experience it. They work with ICE members to create free public events and online content. Participants come away with a greater understanding of the fundamentals of ethical, equity-led creative producing and tools for developing socially engaged programming. Skills developed by students include program design and preparation; sound, light, video, and stage design; audience engagement; marketing; and digital storytelling.
Sandbox Percussion
The members of Sandbox Percussion, an ensemble-in-residence at the College of Performing Arts and recipients of the 2024 Avery Fisher Career Grant, are leaders in contemporary chamber music performance. They offer the Mannes community workshops, forums, lectures, and concerts and collaborate with students across the College of Performing Arts. Their annual Summer Seminar, hosted by Mannes, brings together students from around the world to study, rehearse, and perform contemporary works that expand the boundaries of percussion chamber music.
“ With its innovative curriculum and personalized private instruction for students, Mannes is creating a boundary-pushing generation of musicians. Studying here was truly a life-changing choice.”
—Emma Taggart , BFA Piano student
The Stone
Since 2018, John Zorn’s critically acclaimed experimental music initiative The Stone has made its home on our campus, giving Mannes students inspiration five nights a week and access to prominent musicians like Pat Metheny and Laurie Anderson and their legendary artistry. The Stone Workshops—half-day residencies of artists performing at The Stone—give students the chance to study with musical innovators, and The Stone Labs offer students in the MM Performer-Composer program the opportunity to collaborate with Stone artists. An elective course enables students to serve in production roles at Stone performances as well.
newschool.edu/mannes-stone
Community-Based and Partnered Programs
As a Mannes student, you have opportunities to gain invaluable skills and insights while promoting the value of music by performing in diverse community-based settings like libraries, NYC K-12 public and private schools, museums, and community centers. This experiential learning supports you as you expand and enhance your artistry through new creative challenges, repertoire, and forms of audience engagement.
Our Gig Office
Want to develop your professional résumé while you’re a student?
Our Performing Arts Gig Office offers opportunities to demonstrate your playing ability, timeliness, and professionalism through paid performance opportunities around campus and the city.
61% international students
Our Bachelor of Music (BM) programs combine rigorous conservatory training with a range of complementary studies. If you are pursuing the Instrumental Performance area of study, you can add a double major in either Composition or Theory, broadening the base on which you can create changemaking work. Additional courses in entrepreneurship give you the tools you need to develop your own opportunities and succeed in today’s evolving music industry. Because Mannes is part of The New School—a research university offering a range of disciplines—you can also study at schools including Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts and Parsons School of Design, exploring the arts as a tool for change, honing your media skills, and learning about costume and lighting design.
newschool.edu/mannes/academics
Areas of Study
Composition BM
Guitar BM
Harpsichord BM
Instrumental Performance BM
Brass
Percussion
Strings
Woodwinds
Piano BM
Theory BM
Voice BM
Performing Arts Core
All College of Performing Arts undergraduates take the Performing Arts Core program—required courses and electives that engage with topics relevant to music professionals and foster cross-disciplinary practice. Recent courses include Improvisation and Collaboration, The Whole Human Artist, Socially Engaged Artistry, and Technology and Experimentation.
Mastering Technology
Students at the College of Performing Arts use technology as a tool, as a medium, and even as an instrument. We incorporate technology into the curriculum as a way to open up new channels for performance and avenues for entrepreneurship, preparing students to become artists of today and of the future.
Minors That Help You Stand Out
Minors let you explore subjects that complement your music studies, acquire specialized skills, and stand out in professional settings.
Popular minors include Audio Production, Psychology, Creative Coding, Writing, and Fashion Studies; our full list of over more than 70 minors can be found at newschool.edu/mannes/minors .
“Dean Kessler and The Mannes Orchestra challenged me to compose a new score for the classic silent film Metropolis. I imagined something darker, more intense, and they let me bring my vision to life.”
—Amir Sanjari, BM Composition student
Bachelor’s-Master’s Dual Degree
Undergraduate students at Mannes School of Music can combine their BM degree with the MA in Arts Management and Entrepreneurship, offered by the College of Performing Arts, and graduate with both degrees in five years. The master’s program enables you to deepen your abilities as a performer while gaining knowledge of and skills in business, leadership, and entrepreneurship. newschool.edu/mannes-ba-ma
3,794
Mannes School of Music program alumni
MM PERFORMER-COMPOSER
Our Master of Music (MM) program is designed for musicians whose passion lies at the intersection of composition, performance, and improvisation. Learn to defy the confines of traditional genres and improvise in your own unique language. Experiment with new technologies and new platforms. This degree gives you the tools to develop your artistic voice, collaborate with like-minded artists, and lead the way into the future of music.
newschool.edu/performing-arts/performer-composer
PROFESSIONAL DIPLOMA
Our two-year Professional Diploma program offers advanced training— private lessons, major study ensembles and productions, additional performance coursework and electives—for the same instruments as the MM program. Qualified string quartet musicians can also apply for the Cuker and Stern Graduate String Quartet program, an immersive two-year residency with mentorship by the Mannes string quartet-in-residence, JACK Quartet.
Hear Rodolfo, a violist and PDPL and MM Instrumental Performance graduate, explain how his creativity flourished at Mannes School of Music.
Areas of Study
Collaborative Piano MM, PDPL
Composition MM, PDPL
Guitar MM, PDPL
Harpsichord MM, PDPL
Instrumental Performance MM, PDPL
Brass
Percussion
Strings
Woodwinds
Orchestral Conducting MM, PDPL
Piano MM, PDPL
Theory MM, PDPL
Voice MM, PDPL
Graduate Minors
In keeping with our commitment to interdisciplinary scholarship and collaboration, we offer a number of graduate minors—structured study pathways that immerse you in disciplines outside of your primary field— expose you to new approaches to research and practice, and broaden your skills and career options. Master’s students can complete a graduate minor in a related field, such as Transmedia and Digital Storytelling, or explore other subjects in courses like Creative Community Development and Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies.
newschool.edu/graduate-minors
Our graduates take their education and community into new creative terrain, reinventing classical music for contemporary audiences and stirring listeners through award-winning performances that drive new ideas and change.
A few of our alumni are listed below; learn more at newschool.edu/mannes/outcomes.
JoAnn Falletta, BM ’76, is a multiple GRAMMY Award–winning conductor who serves as music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Connie and Marc Jacobson Music Director Laureate of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of the Brevard Music Center, and Conductor Laureate of the Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra. She was named one of the “Fifty Great Conductors,” past and present, by Gramophone magazine and is hailed for her work as a conductor, recording artist, audience builder, and champion of American composers .
Nadine Sierra, BM Voice ’10, is an award-winning soprano who has performed in leading roles at opera houses worldwide, including the New York Metropolitan Opera, the Opéra National de Paris, and the Berlin Staatsoper, and recorded music in a range of styles.
Semyon Bychkov, BM Orchestral Conducting ’76, is the chief conductor and artistic director of the Czech Philharmonic and holds conducting chairs at the Royal Academy of Music and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Bychkov has conducted orchestras around the world, receiving awards from prestigious music companies and making successful recordings along the way. In 2015, he was named Conductor of the Year by the International Opera Awards.
Murray Perahia, BS Music ’69, is widely acclaimed as one of today’s most revered pianists, performing around the world with every leading orchestra. He is the Principal Guest Conductor of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, with whom he has toured as conductor and pianist throughout the United States, Europe, Japan, and Southeast Asia.
Your studies at Mannes School of Music unfold in New York City’s legendary downtown neighborhood, Greenwich Village. The history of the Village—which includes social activists who stirred the nation and virtuosos who developed new art forms—inspires you as it did New School alumni and faculty groundbreakers like John Cage, Lorraine Hansberry, Bill Evans, James Baldwin, Stella Adler, and John Cage. The Village is home to dozens of small theaters, jazz clubs, and performance venues, all just steps away from our dorms and classrooms.
Housing
Our residence halls and other university facilities are a short walk from your classrooms, giving you easy access to libraries, computer labs, and our 24-hour University Center, which houses the cafeteria and performing arts library. Our dorms offer a secure, supportive environment, and residence hall staff organize many social, educational, and cultural activities. All first-year full-time undergraduates must live in on-campus housing (offered at newly reduced rates) unless they meet waiver eligibility.
For details, visit newschool.edu/housing.
Financial Aid
The New School’s comprehensive financial aid program provides competitive merit-based scholarships and need-based aid for those who qualify. All applicants, including international students, are automatically considered for merit aid. We also participate in government grant, loan, and work study programs.
For more information on financing your education, visit newschool.edu/mannes/ tuition-fees-estimator and newschool.edu/student-financial-services . You can email questions to sfs@newschool.edu.
Learning Resources
The New School’s extensive resources—performance and gallery spaces, libraries, XR studios, making facilities, computer labs, archives, and research centers and institutes—help you get the most out of your time at the university. Public programs bring luminaries and new ideas to campus, drawing on the city’s place at the center of culture, commerce, and innovation. The University Learning Center (ULC) provides academic support to The New School’s diverse student population through one-on-one tutoring sessions and workshops.
newschool.edu/learning-center
Health and Wellness
The Student Health Service (SHS) team helps you thrive in the classroom by offering comprehensive confidential, culturally sensitive medical and counseling support. Resources include immunizations, in-person and telehealth appointments, and individual counseling, support groups, and psychiatric care. Dedicated staff on campus provide services and can refer you for specialized and public healthcare. SHS also organizes wellness activities such as meditation classes, workshops, and stress relief events during hectic times of the year.
newschool.edu/health-services
Mannes School of Music is part of the College of Performing Arts, along with the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music and the School of Drama. The College of Performing Arts is housed in a university, The New School. This unique model allows us to offer three tiers of collaboration.
Within each school, students collaborate across disciplines with their classmates—actors with directors, composers with musicians—erasing boundaries between majors. Students in the three performing arts schools—musicians, composers, playwrights, actors, and directors—join forces, taking classes and creating together. Across The New School, performing arts students can pursue minors and courses in every discipline, including liberal arts, design, technology, media, and management. We embrace collaboration with an entrepreneurial spirit. Discovery, rigorous practice, and versatility aren’t just words to us; they are at the core of the New School curriculum.
Admission
Below is information to guide you in applying for admission.
Regular Decision: Mannes School of Music offers Regular Decision for fall admission.
Fall deadline: December 1
Spring deadline: October 15
Pre-screen auditions are required for all Piano, Voice, and Composition degree programs. These auditions must be submitted with the application by the stated deadlines.
In-person auditions are available for fall admission only, with audition events in New York City. Mannes School of Music provides accompanists for applicants auditioning in the city.
Audition recordings are accepted for spring and fall admission and are considered equivalent to in-person auditions for admission.
Virtual interviews are strongly recommended but not required; they are offered throughout the year. Applicants can sign up for an interview before applying.
Email our admission team with any questions at performingarts@newschool.edu. Learn more about admission events at newschool.edu/mannes/admissionevents .
WE ARE THE NEW SCHOOL
Since its founding in 1919, The New School has been a center of independent thought, dialogue, and action. We are a community that applies integrative approaches to global problems and leads the systemic change needed to make the world more equitable, more sustainable, and better designed for all. Today our university is made up of colleges offering courses in art and design, music and performance, the liberal arts and social sciences, management, media, and more.
Get in touch and take the next step
Contact our team, learn about admission requirements, attend an admission event, or make an appointment.
212.229.5150 x2 or 800.292.3040 x2 performingarts@newschool.edu
For important information including accreditation, student rights, campus safety statistics, and tuition and fees, visit newschool.edu/your-right-to-know. Published 2024 by The New School. The New School is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Photo credits: Maria Baranova, Erin Feinberg, Ben Ferrari, Nathaniel Johnston, Matthew Mathews, Siobhan Mullan, Revive the Cool, Martin Seck, Michael Kirby
Smith, Phillip Van Nostrand
This brochure is printed on FSC-certified paper with UV inks that conserve energy and material and do not release VOCs into the atmosphere—reflecting the university’s embrace of environmental responsibility.
