The Yale School of Music (often abbreviated to YSM) is one of the 12 professional schools at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. It offers three graduate degrees: Master of Music (MM), Master of Musical Arts (MMA), and

Doctor of Musical Arts The Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) is a doctoral academic degree in music. The DMA combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization (usually music performance, music composition, or conducting) with graduate-level academic study in su ...

(DMA), as well as a joint Bachelor of Arts—Master of Music program in conjunction with

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

, a Certificate in Performance, and an Artist Diploma. Yale is the only

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...

school with a separate school of music. It is considered one of the best and most prestigious music schools in the world and has an acceptance rate of 6-8%. It has 200 students. From 1995 to 2022, the Yale School of Music’s endowment rose from $29 million to $574 million (source: Dean Blocker retirement email sent to all Yale affiliates by Peter Salovey on September 7, 2022).

Buildings

* Albert Arnold Sprague Memorial Hall (1917), renovated in 2003. * Abby and Mitch Leigh Hall (1930), Gothic style, renovated in 2006. * Hendrie Hall (1895), renovated in 2017. * Adams Center for Musical Arts (2017). The Adams Center complex includes Hendrie Hall, Leigh Hall, and new space which connects the two. * Woolsey Hall (1901), used for orchestral performances (Yale Philharmonia) and organ recitals (on the Newberry Memorial Organ). * The

Yale University Collection of Musical Instruments The Yale Collection of Musical Instruments, a division of the Yale School of Music, is a museum in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1900 by a gift of historic keyboard instruments from Morris Steinert, and later enriched in 1960 and 1 ...

(1895), Romanesque style.

Notable alumni

Musicians

* Gisele Ben-Dor, Orchestra conductor * Matt Brubeck, Cellist, bassist, keyboarder and arranger *

Robert Dick Robert Dick (January 1811 – 24 December 1866), was a Scottish geologist and botanist. Life He was born at Tullibody, in Clackmannanshire. His father was an officer of excise in nearby Alloa. At the age of thirteen, after receiving a good ...

, Lifetime Achievement Award winner flutist * Dominick DiOrio, Conductor * Fan Lei, Clarinetist * Juan Carlos Fernández-Nieto, Pianist * Martin Leung, Pianist known as the Video Game Pianist * Jahja Ling, Conductor and pianist *

Ruth Muzzy Conniston Morize Ruth Muzzy Conniston Morize (December 1, 1892 – October 3, 1952) was a Boston socialite and musician, and received widespread media attention for her work as a carillonneur. Life Ruth Muzzy was born in Bristol, Connecticut, on December 1, 18 ...

, Musician and socialite *

Aldo Parisot Aldo Simoes Parisot (September 30, 1918 – December 29, 2018) was a Brazilian-born American cellist and cello teacher. He was first a member of the Juilliard School faculty, and then went on to serve as a music professor at the Yale School of M ...

, Cellist and professor *

Johann Sebastian Paetsch Johann Sebastian Paetsch (born in Colorado Springs, U.S. on April 11, 1964) is an American cellist and musician. Early musical education Paetsch began his cello studies with his father, Günther Paetsch (who was also a cellist), at the age of ...

, Cellist and musician * Paul Jacobs, Grammy Award-winning organist *

Perry Lafferty Perry Francis Lafferty (October 3, 1917 – August 25, 2005) was an American television producer and network television executive who produced several television programs, including the CBS programs ''All in the Family'', ''M*A*S*H'', '' Maude ...

, Television producer *

Achilles Liarmakopoulos Achilles Liarmakopoulos (born 29 August 1985) is a Greek trombonist. He has been a member of the Canadian Brass since 2011. Early life and education Born in Athens, Greece, Liarmakopoulos started trombone lessons at the Philippos Nakas Conservato ...

, Trombonist *

Henry-Louis de La Grange Henry-Louis de La Grange (26 May 1924 – 27 January 2017) was a French musicologist and biographer of Gustav Mahler. Life and career La Grange was born in Paris, of an American mother (Emily Sloane, daughter of Henry T. Sloane) and a French ...

, Musicologist and biographer *

Kay George Roberts Kay George Roberts (born September 15, 1950) is an American orchestral conductor and a professor of music at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. She is the founder and musical director of the New England Orchestra. She is recognized as the fi ...

, Founder and musical conductor of the New England Ochestra *

Joshua Rosenblum Joshua Rosenblum (born May 10, 1963) is an American composer, conductor, pianist, arranger, and music journalist. He has composed extensively for the concert hall as well as for musical theatre, and currently teaches Composing for Musical Theate ...

, Conductor, arranger and music journalist *

Willie Ruff Willie Henry Ruff Jr. (born September 1, 1931) is an American jazz musician, specializing in the French horn and double bass, and a music scholar and educator, primarily as a Yale professor from 1971 to 2017. Personal life He was born in Sheff ...

, Jazz musician * Moni Simeonov, Violinist * Stephen Simon, Conductor and arranger * Jian Wang, Cellist

Vocalists

* Janna Baty, Mezzo-soprano opera singer * Dorothy Bishop, Singer and comedian *

Howard Boatwright Howard Leake Boatwright Jr. (March 16, 1918 – February 20, 1999) was an American composer, violinist and musicologist. Biography Born in Newport News, Virginia, Boatwright studied the violin with Israel Feldman in Norfolk, Virginia, and made his ...

, Violinist and musicologist * Christopher Magiera, Operatic baritone *

Eddie Mayehoff Edward Mier Mayehoff (July 7, 1909 – November 12, 1992) was an American actor, perhaps best known for his role as Harold Lampson, the henpecked husband and incompetent lawyer in ''How to Murder Your Wife'' (1965). Mayehoff could also be s ...

, American actor

Composers

* Andy Akiho, Composer * Timo Andres, Composer and pianist *

Tanya Anisimova Tanya Anisimova (born February 15, 1966) is an American cellist and composer of Russian descent. Tanya Anisimova was born in the Chechen city of Grozny into a family of scientists: her father Dr. Mikhail Anisimov is a well-known physicist. Her ...

, Cellist and Composer *

Daniel Asia Daniel Asia (born June 27, 1953) is an American composer. He was born in Seattle, Washington (U.S. state), Washington, in the United States of America. Biography He received a B.A. degree from Hampshire College and a M.M. from the Yale School of ...

, Composer * Matthew Barnson, Composer * Robert Beaser, Composer * Jeremy Beck, Composer * Marco Beltrami,

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nominated composer and Golden Globe winner * Christopher Cerrone, Contemporary classical music composer *

Jacob Cooper Jacob Alonzo Cooper, also known as Jacob Safari, is an American musician, remixer, record producer, songwriter, and occasional DJ. Cooper has been a drummer of the bands Wavves, The Mae Shi, Cold Showers, Har Mar Superstar, and previously had ...

, Composer * Emma Lou Diemer, Composer * Reena Esmail, Pianist and composer *

Eugene Friesen Eugene Friesen (born 1952) is an American cellist and composer. Early life Friesen was born in 1952 to Russian Mennonite parents. He is a graduate of the Yale School of Music. Career Friesen has been a member of the Paul Winter Consort since ...

, Cellist and Composer * Michael Gilbertson, Composer *

Judd Greenstein Judd Greenstein (born 1979) is an American composer of contemporary classical music, and an avid promoter of new music in New York City. He is also a co-director of New Amsterdam Records. Life and career Judd Greenstein was born and raised in Manh ...

, Contemporary classical music composer and promoter * Juliana Hall, Composer of art songs and vocal chamber music * Ted Hearne, Singer and composer *

Aaron Jay Kernis Aaron Jay Kernis (born January 15, 1960) is a Pulitzer Prize- and Grammy Award-winning American composer serving as a member of the Yale School of Music faculty. Kernis spent 15 years as the music advisor to the Minnesota Orchestra and as Dir ...

, Grammy Award and 1998

Pulitzer Prize for Music The Pulitzer Prize for Music is one of seven Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually in Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first given in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year, and this was eventually converted ...

winning composer * Lori Laitman, Opera composer * David Lang,

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

and 2008

winning composer * Hannah Lash, Concert music composer * Peter Scott Lewis, Composer * Scott Lindroth, Composer *

Missy Mazzoli Missy Mazzoli (born October 27, 1980) is an American composer and pianist who is a member of the composition faculty at the Mannes College of Music. She has received critical acclaim for her chamber, orchestral and operatic work. In 2018 she beca ...

, Composer and pianist *

Harold Meltzer Harold Meltzer (born 1966 in Brooklyn) is an American composer. Harold is inspired by a wide variety of stimuli, from architectural spaces to postmodern fairy tales and messages inscribed in fortune cookies. In ''Fanfare (magazine), Fanfare Magazin ...

, Composer *

Andrew Norman Andrew Norman (born October 31, 1979) is an American composer of contemporary classical music whose texturally complex music is influenced by architecture and the visual arts. His string trio '' The Companion Guide to Rome'' (2010), was a runne ...

, Contemporary classical music composer *

Kevin Puts Kevin Matthew Puts (born January 3, 1972) is an American composer, best known for winning a Pulitzer Prize in 2012 for his first opera, ''Silent Night''. Early life and education Puts was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and grew up in Alma, Michi ...

, 2012

winning composer *

Caroline Shaw Caroline Adelaide Shaw (born August 1, 1982) is an American composer, violinist, and singer. She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2013 for her a cappella piece '' Partita for 8 Voices'' and the 2022 Grammy Award for Best Contemporar ...

, 2013

winning composer * Sarah Kirkland Snider, Composer *

Jan Swafford Jan Swafford (born September 10, 1946) is an American author and composer. He earned his Bachelor of Arts ''magna cum laude'' from Harvard College and his M.M.A. and D.M.A. from the Yale School of Music. His teachers included Earl Kim at Harvard, ...

, Author and Composer *

Christopher Theofanidis Christopher Theofanidis (born December 18, 1967, in Dallas, Texas) is an American composer whose works have been performed by leading orchestras from around the world, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Mosco ...

, Composer * Ken Ueno, Composer

Distinguished members of faculty

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of t ...

, Professor of Composition (past) * Nancy Allen, Professor of Harp (past) *

Emanuel Ax Emanuel "Manny" Ax (born 8 June 1949) is a Grammy-winning American classical pianist. He is a teacher in the Juilliard School. Early life Ax was born to a Polish-Jewish family in Lviv, Ukraine, (in what was then the Soviet Union) to Joachim and ...

, Visiting Professor of Piano (past) *

Martin Beaver Martin Beaver (born 10 November 1967) is a Canadian violinist best known as first violinist of the Tokyo String Quartet. Beaver joined the Tokyo String Quartet as its first violinist in 2002 and remained until they disbanded in 2013. As a part ...

, Artist in Residence (past) * Boris Berman, Professor of Piano * Martin Bresnick, Professor of Composition * Simon Carrington, Professor of Choral Conducting * Allan Dean, Professor of Trumpet *

Jacob Druckman Jacob Raphael Druckman (June 26, 1928 – May 24, 1996) was an American composer born in Philadelphia. Life A graduate of the Juilliard School in 1956, Druckman studied with Vincent Persichetti, Peter Mennin, and Bernard Wagenaar. In 1949 and 1 ...

, Professor of Composition (past) *

Lukas Foss Lukas Foss (August 15, 1922 – February 1, 2009) was a German-American composer, pianist, and conductor. Career Born Lukas Fuchs in Berlin, Germany in 1922, Foss was soon recognized as a child prodigy. He began piano and theory lessons with J ...

, Visiting Professor of Composition (past) * Claude Frank, Professor of Piano * Peter Frankl, Professor of Piano * Erick Friedman, Professor of Violin (past) * Sidney Harth, Professor of Violin (past) *

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ' ...

, Professor of Music (1940–53) * Martin Jean, Professor of Organ *

Betsy Jolas Elizabeth Jolas (born 5 August 1926) is a Franco-American composer. Biography Jolas was born in Paris in 1926. Her mother, the American translator Maria McDonald, was a singer. Her father, the poet and journalist Eugene Jolas, founded and edited ...

, Visiting Professor of Composition (past) * Ani Kavafian, Professor of Violin *

, Professor of Composition *

Ezra Laderman Ezra Laderman (29 June 1924 – 28 February 2015) was an American composer of classical music. He was born in Brooklyn. Biography Laderman was of Jewish heritage. His parents, Isidor and Leah, both emigrated to the United States from Poland. Thou ...

, Professor of Composition (past) * David Lang, Professor of Composition *

Ingram Marshall Ingram Douglass Marshall (May 10, 1942May 31, 2022) was an American composer and a onetime student of Vladimir Ussachevsky and Morton Subotnick. Early life and education Marshall was born in Mount Vernon, New York. He was the son of Bernice Do ...

, Visiting Professor of Composition (past) *

Donald Martino Donald James Martino (May 16, 1931 – December 8, 2005) was a Pulitzer Prize winning American composer. Biography Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, Martino attended Plainfield High School. He began as a clarinetist, playing jazz for fun and ...

, Professor of Music Theory (1959–69) * Robert Mealy, Professor of Violin * Thomas Murray, Professor of Organ *

Donald Palma Donald Palma is a prominent classical double bassist, conductor, bass instructor, and educator of ensemble performance. He is a native of New York City, and is a graduate of the Juilliard School. Palma studied with several noted bassists including ...

, Professor of Double Bass *

, Professor of Cello *

Krzysztof Penderecki Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best known works include ''Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', '' Polish Requiem'', ' ...

, Professor of Composition (1973–79) *

Mel Powell Mel Powell (born Melvin Epstein) (February 12, 1923 – April 24, 1998) was an American Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, and the founding dean of the music department at the California Institute of the Arts. He served as a music educator for over ...

, Professor of Composition (1957–69) *

Joseph Schwantner Joseph Clyde Schwantner (born March 22, 1943, Chicago, Illinois) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer, educator and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 2002. He was awarded the 1970 Charles Ives Prize. Schwantne ...

, Professor of Composition (past) *

Charles Seeger Charles Louis Seeger Jr. (December 14, 1886 – February 7, 1979) was an American musicologist, composer, teacher, and folklorist. He was the father of the American folk singers Pete Seeger (1919–2014), Peggy Seeger (b. 1935), and Mike Seeger ( ...

, Visiting Professor of the Theory of Music (1949–50) *

David Shifrin David Shifrin (born January 2, 1950) is an American classical clarinetist and artistic director. Biography David Shifrin received early musical training at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in 1963. He attended the Music Academy of the West su ...

, Professor of Clarinet * Oscar Shumsky, Professor of Violin (past) * Robert van Sice, Professor of Percussion *

Morton Subotnick Morton Subotnick (born April 14, 1933) is an American composer of electronic music, best known for his 1967 composition '' Silver Apples of the Moon'', the first electronic work commissioned by a record company, Nonesuch. He was one of the foun ...

, Professor of Composition (past) *

Masaaki Suzuki is a Japanese organist, harpsichordist and conductor, and the founder and music director of the Bach Collegium Japan. With this ensemble he is recording the complete choral works of Johann Sebastian Bach for the Swedish label BIS Records, for wh ...

, Professor of Choral Conducting *

Toru Takemitsu TORU or Toru may refer to: * TORU, spacecraft system * Toru (given name), Japanese male given name * Toru, Pakistan, village in Mardan District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan *Tõru Tõru is a village in Saaremaa Parish, Saare County in western ...

, Visiting Professor of Composition (1975) *

, Professor of Composition *

Rosalyn Tureck Rosalyn Tureck (December 14, 1913 – July 17, 2003) was an American pianist and harpsichordist who was particularly associated with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. However, she had a wide-ranging repertoire that included works by composers ...

, Visiting Professor of Keyboard (past) * Keith Wilson, Professor of Clarinet (1946–87) *

Ransom Wilson Ransom Wilson (born 25 October 1951 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama) is an American flutist, conductor, and educator. He currently is an Artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Artistic Director and Conductor of the Le Train Bleu ensemble ...

, Professor of Flute

References

External links

*
Yale School of Music Papers at Irving S. Gilmore Music Library, Yale UniversityYale School of Music D.M.A. Papers, Irving S. Gilmore Music Library, Yale University
{{Authority control

Music School A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

Educational institutions established in 1894 Music schools in Connecticut 1894 establishments in Connecticut

Buildings

Notable alumni

Musicians

Vocalists

Composers

Distinguished members of faculty

References

Further reading

External links