The San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) is a private music conservatory in San Francisco, California, United States. As of 2021, it had 480 students.[1]
Former name | Ada Clement Piano School |
---|---|
Type | Private music conservatory |
Established | 1917 |
Founders | Ada Clement, Lillian Hodgehead |
Accreditation | WSCUC |
Endowment | 43,498,000[citation needed] |
President | David H. Stull |
Dean | Jonas Wright |
Students | 480 (2021)[1] |
Address | 37°46′32″N 122°25′13″W / 37.77556°N 122.42028°W |
Colors | Raspberry and gold [2] |
Website | www |
History
The San Francisco Conservatory of Music was founded in 1917 by Ada Clement and Lillian Hodghead as the Ada Clement Piano School.[citation needed] In 1923, the name was changed to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. In 1956 the Conservatory moved from Sacramento Street to 1201 Ortega Street, the home of a former infant shelter.[citation needed] It resided there for fifty years, before moving to its next location at 50 Oak Street in 2006.[citation needed]
In 2020, the SFCM added the new Bowes Center at 200 Van Ness Avenue (across from Davies Symphony Hall), a 12-story building that includes dorms (eight floors) with acoustic insulation for 400 of its students, 27 rent-controlled apartments for residents of the older building that was replaced by the construction, and some public performing spaces, including a penthouse concert room with views towards the north and west.[3][1] The Bowes Center's $200 million cost was largely funded by donors, including $46.4 million from the William K. Bowes, Jr. Foundation.[4][1] The San Francisco Chronicle's architecture critic John King characterized the building's design as "[pushing] against the strict rules of the historic district but [respecting] the air of gravitas. For starters, the building is skinned in translucent glass that conceals insulation and the structural frame — a touch that adds a milky visual depth ..."[1] As of 2021, the Bowes Center was envisaged to fully open to the public in February 2022.[1]
In 2020, SFCM announced a partnership with the talent management company Opus 3 Artists, and in May 2022 it acquired the Dutch classical music label, Pentatone, funded by a private donor.[5] The music website "Classical Voice" described this "combination of a music-education organization with two professional music businesses" as "unusual."[5]
Admissions
SFCM is known for its comprehensive audition process. Many of the areas needed to enroll feature a "prescreening" round (which consists of essays, video recordings of them playing, transcripts, and for composition majors - portfolio of works), including composition, voice studies, strings, conducting, TAC (technology and applied composition)...etc.[6] A student can be denied or accepted based of the pre-screening results. Once the student is accepted beyond the prescreening round, they are called to San Francisco for a final audition to get to know the faculty, and perform for their chosen major's instructor. Once that is clear, the student is either accepted or denied admission into the conservatory. [7]
Leaders
- Ada Clement and Lillian Hodghead, 1917–1925
- Ernest Bloch, 1925–1930
- Ada Clement and Lillian Hodghead, 1930–1951
- Albert Elkus, 1951–1957
- Robin Laufer, 1957–1966
- Milton Salkind, 1966–1990
- Stephen Brown, 1990–1991
- Milton Salkind (Acting President), 1991–1992
- Colin Murdoch, 1992–2013
- David Stull, 2013–present
Notable faculty
- Jeffrey Anderson (tuba)[8][9]
- Elinor Armer (composition)
- Alexander Barantschik (violinist and Concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony)
- Dusan Bogdanovic (composer and guitarist)
- Luciano Chessa (composer, music history and literature)
- David Conte (composer)
- Jacques Desjardins (composer)
- Mason Bates (composer)
- David Garner (composer)
- Patricia Craig (voice)
- Eugene Izotov (oboe)
- Nancy Zhou (violin)[10]
- Mark Lawrence (trombone)
- Susanne Mentzer (voice)
- Garrick Ohlsson (piano)
- David Tanenbaum (guitar)
- Deborah Voigt (voice)[11]
- Indre Viskontas (soprano)
Notable alumni
- George Duke (jazz fusion keyboardist, singer, and producer) [12]
- Barbara Eden (singer)
- Léopold Simoneau[13] (tenor)
- Peter Scott Lewis (composer)
- Miguel del Aguila (composer)
- Isaac Stern (violinist)
- Aaron Jay Kernis, Pulitzer Prize winning and Grammy Award-winning composer, member of the Yale School of Music faculty
- Carla Kihlstedt (experimental violinist) [14]