The San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) is an elite music school with an enrollment of about 400 undergraduate and graduate students, located at 50 Oak Street, San Francisco, California. The highly acclaimed Pre-College Division offers a comprehensive music education to gifted young musicians.
History
The San Francisco Conservatory of Music was founded in 1917 by Ada Clement and Lillian Hodghead as the Ada Clement Piano School. Its first location was the home of Lillian's parents, at 3435 Sacramento Street. The school opened with three pianos, four studios, two blackboards and 40 students.
The Ada Clement Piano School quickly expanded. Several years after its founding, the name changed to the Ada Clement Music School, and then in 1923 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. It resided there for fifty years, before moving to its current location at 50 Oak Street in 2006.
Conservatory 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, 2013â€"present
Location and facility
The school is currently located at 50 Oak Street.
San Francisco Conservatory of Music offers music education in addition to community enrichment programs and world-class performances. This expansion of the school will dramatically increase its instructional and performance opportunities as well as its contribution to the cultural life of the Bay Area. The Oak Street facility almost doubles the square footage of the Conservatory's old site at Ortega Street in the largely residential Sunset District and positions the 84-year-old college of music in the arts nexus of San Francisco, amid Davies Symphony Hall, the War Memorial Opera House, the Asian Art Museum and other prominent arts-related venues and institutions.
Acquired around March 2000, the conservatory's Civic Center location includes two existing buildings, 50 and 70 Oak Street between Van Ness Avenue and Franklin. With its historically significant facades and relatively sound structure, 50 Oak Street has been restored and reconfigured, while adjoining 70 Oak has been rebuilt in a complementary and contemporary design. Together almost 73,000 net square feet of space are available to accommodate the conservatory's needs for acoustically correct studios, practice rooms and performance spaces as well as classrooms, offices and an expanded library.
Among the facility's highlights is the innovative utilization of the existing grand ballroom with its elegant gilt columns and ornate 38' ceiling as the audience chamber for the new Concert Hall, augmented by state-of-the-art performance amenities. This Concert Hall seats up to 450; a new Recital Hall seats up to 160 and a smaller Salon seats up to 120.
Jim Highsmith Composition Award
An annual award for orchestral composition given by The San Francisco Conservatory of Music. The competition is open to current students and recent alumni of the conservatory. The winner is selected by an independent panel of judges each spring, and the winning composition is performed by the conservatory orchestra in the fall.
The award recipients:
- Peter Engelbert, 2017
- David Taylor, 2016
- Michael Kropf, 2015
- Nathan Campbell, 2014
- Justin Ralls, 2013
- Louis Cruz, 2012
- Nicholas Pavkovic, 2011
- Joseph Stillwell, 2010
- Jeffrey Parola, 2009
- Ilya Demutsky, 2008
- Joseph Gregorio, 2007
- Darren Jones, 2006
- Ian Dickenson, 2005
- Ian James Dicke, 2004
- Thomas Conroy, 2003
- Jonathan Russell, 2002
- Brent Goodbar, 2001
- Michael Kaulkin, 2000
- Bruce Rockwell, 1999
- Jason Martineau, 1998
- Aleksandra Vrebalov, 1996
- William Campbell, 1995
Notable faculty
- John Coolidge Adams (composition)
- Jeff Anderson (tuba)
- Elinor Armer (composition)
- Sergio Assad (guitar)
- Timothy Bach (piano accompanying)
- Alexander Barantschik (violinist and Concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony)
- Lady Bianca
- Dusan Bogdanovic (composer and guitarist)
- Yanni Burton (double bass)
- Luciano Chessa (composer, music history and literature)
- David Conte (composer)
- Catherine Cook (voice)
- Jennifer Culp (cellist)
- Timothy Day (flute)
- Jacques Desjardins (composer)
- Jean-Michel Fonteneau (cello)
- Pamela Fry (voice)
- Patricia Craig (voice)
- David Garner (composition)
- Wei He (Violinist)
- Paul Hersh (pianist and violist)
- Eugene Izotov (oboe)
- Mark Inouye (trumpet)
- Corey Jamason (harpsichord)
- Leroy Kromm (voice)
- Mark Lawrence (trombone)
- Jodi Levitz (violist)
- Sharon Mann (Pianist)
- Mack McCray (pianist)
- Bettina Mussumeli (violinist)
- Yoshikazu Nagai (pianist)
- Sonja Neblett (conducting)
- Axel Strauss (violinist)
- Conrad Susa (composer)
- Ian Swensen (violinist)
- David Tanenbaum (guitar)
- Cesar Ulloa (voice)
- Jack Van Geem (percussion)
- Stephen Tramontozzi (double bass)
Notable alumni
- Ed Buller (music producer),
- John del Carlo (bass-baritone)
- Jennifer Culp (cellist)
- Miguel del Aguila (composer)
- Jack Curtis Dubowsky (composer)
- George Duke (pianist)
- Babak Falsafi (guitarist, composer)
- Krista Bennion Feeny (violinist)
- Desirée Goyette (singer and composer)
- Samuel Grodin (pianist)
- Mario Guarneri (jazz trumpeter)
- Elza van den Heever (soprano)
- Teddy Abrams (conductor, composer, pianist, clarinetist)
- Eddie Henderson (musician) (jazz trumpeter)
- Wendy Hillhouse (mezzo-soprano)
- Andrew Hull (guitarist)
- [[Alexandra Iranfar (soprano, guitarist)
- Aaron Jay Kernis (composer)
- Jeffrey Kahane (conductor and pianist)
- Mark Kosower (cellist)
- Julian Lage (guitarist and composer)
- Peter Scott Lewis (composer)
- Yehudi Menuhin (violinist)
- Daniel Monteegro (tenor)
- Catherine Naglestad (soprano)
- Rictor Noren (violinist and violist)
- Jean-Paul Pnin (conductor)
- Robert Primes (cinematographer)
- Hai-Ye Ni(cellist)
- Gyan Riley (guitarist)
- [[Timothy Sherren (guitarist)
- Isaac Stern (violinist)
- Robin Sutherland (pianist)
- David Tanenbaum (guitarist)
- Matt Vander Ende (percussion)
- Alieksey Vianna (guitarist)
- Aleksandra Vrebalov (composer)
- Carolyn Yarnell (composer)
- Peter Magadini (percussionist, author)
References
External links
- Official SFCM Website