Manhattan School of Music

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1 ANNOUNCING THE Manhattan School of Music New York City at last has a formal conservatorybased degree program in musical theatre! kelli o hara six-time tony award nominee BEGINNING IN FALL 2016

2 Drawing from all New York City has to offer, MSM Will be committed to deepening and enriching the next generation of Musical Theater Artists. Musical Theater is a discipline that has a tradition of being passed down from person to person, from one generation to the next. From its perch on (upper) Broadway, MSM will soon play a key role in that tradition. Luis Perez, program director Manhattan School of Music will soon celebrate its 100th birthday, and what better way to gear up for that momentous occasion than with the introduction of this new program? Break a leg, MSM! Kelli O HarA, Tony Award winner It is with great pleasure that I announce the launch of Manhattan School of Music s Musical Theatre Program, which will provide students with a fully accredited Bachelor s degree. Remarkably, it will serve as New York City s first-ever conservatory-based degree program in an art form that was birthed on Broadway and has, since the early part of the 20th century, become inseparable from this city in the popular imagination. Like jazz, which MSM introduced to its academic programs in 1984, musical theater is New York, part of the city s heartbeat. It s the great in the Great White Way. Manhattan School of Music Launches a New York City First. In becoming the first independent music conservatory in New York, and only the second in the country, to offer a Musical Theatre Program, MSM will dramatically further its mission to provide excellence in education, performance, and creative activity, while providing students with all the advantages that New York City and the Broadway community can offer (including a top-flight artist-teacher faculty). Already, the School has assembled an Artistic Advisory Committee for the program that is comprised of many of Broadway s best and beyond, a who s-who list of musical theater professionals that reflects the full range and scope of what s possible within the art form. Although MSM has many alumni active on Broadway, in pit orchestras and on stages (including Artistic Advisory Committee members Shuler Hensley, Jose Llana, and Joseph Joubert), and although the School has long provided related training via its superb American Musical Theater Ensemble, this new offering will be a full-blown professional Bachelor s degree program. It will provide each student with a solid foundation in fundamental musical and theater skills, as well as a broader background in practical courses, literature, and humanities. If it is remarkable that New York City has until now had to make do without a conservatory-based program in the art form with which Broadway is synonymous, it is equally noteworthy that it will be MSM, just a few years shy of its centenary celebrations, that ends that drought. I am truly delighted to have the honor as MSM s President to announce that the lights are at last coming up on such a program. Raise the curtain, cue the orchestra, and let the show begin! James Gandre President

3 More than a Major: A Manhattan School of Music s Musical Theatre Program will benefit from its New York City setting the School is literally situated on Broadway attracting an artist-teacher faculty active in the professional life of the city and furthering the MSM tradition of strong community outreach, distance learning, and entrepreneurship. Students will enjoy the kind of opportunities for performance and realworld experience that only New York can provide. Indeed, given its proximity to the center of all things musical theater in this country, MSM will have unparalleled access to an artist faculty comprising the best performers, directors, choreographers, and coaches distinguished theater professionals all working today. This stable of talented artists and educators will share their knowledge and experience, offering students a unique working perspective of musical theater at the top levels of the craft. All students will have opportunities to participate in master classes, workshops, and fully produced EXPERIENCE shows, both on stage and behind the scenes. The curriculum will include four years of voice/speech/ diction, in both private and group settings; four years of dance, covering ballet, tap, jazz, and other movement styles; four years of acting, including general acting, acting for camera, and audition techniques. Significantly, the program will also venture beyond technique, offering students courses in musical theater repertoire and history, drama study and analysis, and technical production training. Finally, the program will be rounded off with a core of humanities courses, providing each student a fully accredited Bachelor s degree in addition to the richest possible professional training in musical theater. MSM is committed to providing a Musical Theatre Program that gives a full range of training, turning out not merely the next generation of triple threats but quadruple threats as well, equal parts actors, singers, dancers, and artistic leaders. What do young theater composers need besides the talent to write great music and lyrics? They require young musical theater actors to perform their work with skill and artistry. This new program at Manhattan School of Music will help nurture many new theater performers, which will prove to be a gift to the composers. Michael A. Kerker Vice President of Musical Theatre, ASCAP I am proud to be part of this new program s Artistic Advisory Committee and look forward to watching future generations of Broadway talent come of age at MSM. norm lewis, tony award nominee To be involved with creating and developing a truly innovative musical theater degree program is exciting enough, but to have it at MSM makes it a bona fide passion project! MSM was the start of my theater dreams and continues to affect my career to this very day. With MSM s centenary just a few years away, this new program, which will launch in fall 2016, is cause for early celebration. Bravo, MSM! Shuler Hensley (BM 90, Hon. DMA 14), tony award winner I am delighted that New York City will at last be home to a conservatory-based degree program in musical theater and congratulate Manhattan School of Music on this wonderful new initiative. Bebe Neuwirth two-time emmy and tony award winner

4 Ted Chapin,* as President and Executive Director of Rodgers & Hammerstein: An Imagem Company, has spearheaded over 20 award-winning Broadway and London revivals, as well as several film and TV movie remakes and numerous recordings. Graciela Daniele, elected to the American Theater Hall of Fame, is a dancer, choreographer, and theater director with 19 Tony and Drama Desk nominations. Christine Ebersole is an actress and singer who has enjoyed many leading roles on stage, film, and television. She has won two Tony Awards. Jules Fisher is a celebrated Broadway lighting designer and producer, who has won nine Tony Awards for Lighting Design. Seth D. Gelblum,* Chair, Theater, at Loeb & Loeb, LLP, is an attorney specializing in theater, television, and film. He was listed in Thomson Reuters list of the Top 100 Super Lawyers. Shuler Hensley* (BM 90, Hon. DMA 14) is an accomplished singer and actor with a resume that includes leading roles in musicals, plays, and operas. He has won the Tony, Olivier, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and many other awards. Joseph Joubert* (BM 79, MM 81) is a pianist, composer, arranger, conductor, and Broadway orchestrator and musical director who has performed both as a solo performer and ensemble player in New York City s major concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and Alice Tully Hall. Michael Kerker* is Director, Musical Theatre, at ASCAP, where, among ADVISORY COMMITTEE other things, he coordinates ASCAP and Disney/ ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshops in New York and Los Angeles. Norm Lewis is a Tony-nominated singer and actor with a long list of leading roles on Broadway. He was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance as Porgy opposite Audra McDonald in the Broadway production of The Gershwins Porgy and Bess. Jose Llana ( 95) is a Drama Desk Awardwinning singer and actor with a wide range of roles to his credit. His professional theater career was launched when, during his freshman year at MSM, he landed a starring role in a Broadway revival of The King and I opposite Lou Diamond Phillips and Donna Murphy. In 2015, he joined the cast of the show s Lincoln Center Theater revival as The King (opposite fellow Artistic Advisory Committee member Kelli O Hara). Marin Mazzie is a three-time Tony Award nominee, a singer and actress who has been heard in many of the country s major concert venues and has starred in numerous Broadway and West End productions. James Naughton is an actor, singer, and director who won Tony Awards for his roles in City of Angels and Chicago. Bebe Neuwirth* is an actress, dancer, and singer with two Tony Awards and two Emmy Awards to her credit. In the current revival of Chicago on Broadway, she played the role of Velma in the original cast and subsequently returned to the production to play Roxie, making her the only performer to have played both parts on Broadway. Kelli O Hara is an acclaimed singer and actress, a Tony Award-winner for her portrayal of Anna in the Lincoln Center Theater revival of The King and I. She has been nominated for five other Tony Awards over the course of her illustrious career. LUIS PEREZ* has been Director of the Musical Theatre Program of Roosevelt University s Chicago College of Performing Arts since 2008 and is now spearheading MSM s newly announced Musical Theater Program. A former principal dancer with the Joffrey Ballet, he has enjoyed a multi-faceted career on Broadway as a performer, choreographer, and fight director. Ron Raines* is a singer, actor, voice teacher, frequent MSM Master Class artist, and on the faculty of the School s new Musical Theatre Program. He is a Tony and Emmy Award nominee with a distinguished history of leading roles in musicals, opera, and on television. Susan Stroman* is a director, choreographer, and performer. She has won five Tony Awards, including for Best Choreography and Best Direction, five Drama Desk Awards, and eight Outer Critics Circle Awards. TOMMY TUNE is a nine-time Tony Award-winning dancer, choreographer, actor, singer, director, and producer. He is this year s recipient of the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. *Steering Committee & Overview Manhattan School of Music is deeply committed to excellence in education, performance, and creative activity; to the humanity of the School s environment; and to the cultural enrichment of the larger community. Recognized as one of the world s leading music conservatories, MSM inspires and empowers highly talented individuals to realize their potential. We take full advantage of New York s abundant learning and performance opportunities, preparing our students to be passionate performers, composers, and teachers, and imaginative, effective contributors to the arts and society. Founded as a community music school by Janet Daniels Schenck in 1918, today MSM is recognized for its more than 900 superbly talented undergraduate and graduate students who come from more than 50 countries and nearly all 50 states; a world-renowned artist-teacher faculty; and innovative curricula. The School is dedicated to the personal, artistic, and intellectual development of aspiring musicians, from its Precollege students through those pursuing postgraduate studies. Offering both classical and jazz training and, beginning in fall 2016, a Bachelor s degree program in musical theater MSM grants Bachelor of Music, Master of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees, as well as the Professional Studies Certificate and Artist Diploma. True to MSM s origins as a music school for children, the Precollege program continues to offer superior music instruction to young musicians between the ages of five and 18. The School also serves some 2,000 New York City schoolchildren through its Arts-in-Education Program, and another 2,000 students through its critically acclaimed Distance Learning Program.

5 Manhattan School of Music