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New England Conservatory of Music
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New England Conservatory of Music
The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Hall, and is home to approximately 750 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate studies, and 1,500 more in its Preparatory School and School of Continuing Education. NEC offers bachelor's degrees in instrumental and vocal classical music performance, contemporary musical arts, composition, jazz studies, music history, and music theory, as well as graduate degrees in collaborative piano, conducting, and musicology. The conservatory has also partnered with Harvard University and Tufts University to create joint double-degree, five-year programs.
In June 1853, a nineteen-year-old music teacher from Providence, Rhode Island named Eben Tourjée made his first attempt to found a music conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. He met with a group of Boston's most influential musical leaders to discuss the foundation of a school based on popular and well-established European conservatories. Among the voices in the discussion were John Sullivan Dwight, an influential music critic; Dr. J. Baxter Upham, president of the Harvard Musical Association; and Oliver Ditson, a prominent music publisher. The group initially rejected Tourjée's plans, arguing that it was a poor idea to open a conservatory amidst the nation's current political and economic uncertainty, which would ultimately lead to the American Civil War.
It wasn't until the Civil War subsided that Tourjée made his next attempt to establish a school in Boston. In December 1866, he again met with a group of Boston's top musicians and music patrons. Joining the former attendees Upham, Dwight, and Ditson were Carl Zerrahn and Charles Perkins. In the thirteen-year interim, Tourjée had gained both experience and success in founding three music schools in Rhode Island, and this time was able to convince his audience of the persisting need and demand for such institutions. The men agreed to support Tourjée, and The New England Conservatory—then consisting of just seven rented rooms above the Boston Music Hall off Tremont Street—officially opened on February 18, 1867. At the turn of the century, the original building was converted into a vaudeville theater called the Orpheum Theater, which still stands today.
Tourjée continued establishing his public presence within the musical community in Boston by initiating the first national conference of music teachers, which met in Boston as the National Music Congress in 1869. Under the direction of Patrick Gilmore, he was also selected as one of the organizers behind Boston's National Peace Jubilee. That same year, he assembled and rehearsed a chorus of over 10,000 that performed in present-day Copley Square to celebrate the end of the Civil War. Three years later at the World's Peace Jubilee, which he also co-organized under Gilmore, the size of his chorus was doubled.
Similarly, New England Conservatory was also establishing itself as a pioneering institution even in its infancy. It was the first school in the United States to offer a course in public school music, and one of the faculty members who taught that course, Luther Whiting Mason, was the first to introduce music into Boston Public Schools. At the request of the Japanese government, Mason traveled to the country from 1879 to 1882 to introduce western music education to Japanese schools. In Japan, this system came to be known as the "Mason-song" system.
By the end of 1868, the conservatory had grown from its original seven rooms to twenty-five, with 1,212 students enrolled. Meanwhile, Tourjée established an affiliation with Boston University in hopes of providing a more comprehensive collegiate education for musicians. He eventually took on the role of Dean at the university, holding the position until his death in 1891.
By 1882, NEC had outgrown the rooms in the Boston Music Hall and moved operations to the St. James Hotel in Franklin Square in Boston's South End. The large building functioned as both an academic facility and a residence hall for female students. Even though St. James Hotel provided many amenities the Music Hall had been lacking, it still desperately needed a recital hall. So in 1884, the conservatory purchased land adjacent to the hotel and, almost immediately, construction began on a new recital hall. Through substantial contributions from wealthy trustees, including Jacob Sleeper, the new hall was rushed to completion and Sleeper Hall opened on January 13, 1886. The hall was rapidly put to heavy use, with 109 classical music concerts and hundreds of student recitals performed in the first year.
As the conservatory grew, so did its ties to musical life in Boston. When Henry Higginson founded the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1881, he called on 19 members of NEC faculty to serve as section leaders. The close ties between these historic institutions continue today.
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New England Conservatory of Music
The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Hall, and is home to approximately 750 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate studies, and 1,500 more in its Preparatory School and School of Continuing Education. NEC offers bachelor's degrees in instrumental and vocal classical music performance, contemporary musical arts, composition, jazz studies, music history, and music theory, as well as graduate degrees in collaborative piano, conducting, and musicology. The conservatory has also partnered with Harvard University and Tufts University to create joint double-degree, five-year programs.
In June 1853, a nineteen-year-old music teacher from Providence, Rhode Island named Eben Tourjée made his first attempt to found a music conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. He met with a group of Boston's most influential musical leaders to discuss the foundation of a school based on popular and well-established European conservatories. Among the voices in the discussion were John Sullivan Dwight, an influential music critic; Dr. J. Baxter Upham, president of the Harvard Musical Association; and Oliver Ditson, a prominent music publisher. The group initially rejected Tourjée's plans, arguing that it was a poor idea to open a conservatory amidst the nation's current political and economic uncertainty, which would ultimately lead to the American Civil War.
It wasn't until the Civil War subsided that Tourjée made his next attempt to establish a school in Boston. In December 1866, he again met with a group of Boston's top musicians and music patrons. Joining the former attendees Upham, Dwight, and Ditson were Carl Zerrahn and Charles Perkins. In the thirteen-year interim, Tourjée had gained both experience and success in founding three music schools in Rhode Island, and this time was able to convince his audience of the persisting need and demand for such institutions. The men agreed to support Tourjée, and The New England Conservatory—then consisting of just seven rented rooms above the Boston Music Hall off Tremont Street—officially opened on February 18, 1867. At the turn of the century, the original building was converted into a vaudeville theater called the Orpheum Theater, which still stands today.
Tourjée continued establishing his public presence within the musical community in Boston by initiating the first national conference of music teachers, which met in Boston as the National Music Congress in 1869. Under the direction of Patrick Gilmore, he was also selected as one of the organizers behind Boston's National Peace Jubilee. That same year, he assembled and rehearsed a chorus of over 10,000 that performed in present-day Copley Square to celebrate the end of the Civil War. Three years later at the World's Peace Jubilee, which he also co-organized under Gilmore, the size of his chorus was doubled.
Similarly, New England Conservatory was also establishing itself as a pioneering institution even in its infancy. It was the first school in the United States to offer a course in public school music, and one of the faculty members who taught that course, Luther Whiting Mason, was the first to introduce music into Boston Public Schools. At the request of the Japanese government, Mason traveled to the country from 1879 to 1882 to introduce western music education to Japanese schools. In Japan, this system came to be known as the "Mason-song" system.
By the end of 1868, the conservatory had grown from its original seven rooms to twenty-five, with 1,212 students enrolled. Meanwhile, Tourjée established an affiliation with Boston University in hopes of providing a more comprehensive collegiate education for musicians. He eventually took on the role of Dean at the university, holding the position until his death in 1891.
By 1882, NEC had outgrown the rooms in the Boston Music Hall and moved operations to the St. James Hotel in Franklin Square in Boston's South End. The large building functioned as both an academic facility and a residence hall for female students. Even though St. James Hotel provided many amenities the Music Hall had been lacking, it still desperately needed a recital hall. So in 1884, the conservatory purchased land adjacent to the hotel and, almost immediately, construction began on a new recital hall. Through substantial contributions from wealthy trustees, including Jacob Sleeper, the new hall was rushed to completion and Sleeper Hall opened on January 13, 1886. The hall was rapidly put to heavy use, with 109 classical music concerts and hundreds of student recitals performed in the first year.
As the conservatory grew, so did its ties to musical life in Boston. When Henry Higginson founded the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1881, he called on 19 members of NEC faculty to serve as section leaders. The close ties between these historic institutions continue today.
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