Combs College of Music was a former music school founded in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, United States, in 1885 as Combs Broad Street Conservatory of Music by

Gilbert Raynolds Combs Gilbert Raynolds Combs (January 5, 1863 – 1934) was an American pianist, organist, and player of stringed instruments; a composer of music for orchestra, piano, voice, and violin; a teacher; and an orchestral and chorus conductor. Gilbert Combs ...

, celebrated pianist, organist and composer. It closed in 1990.

History

The faculty included famous musicians such as

Leopold Godowsky Leopold Mordkhelovich Godowsky Sr. (13 February 1870 – 21 November 1938) was a virtuoso pianist, composer and teacher, born in what is now Lithuania to Jewish parents, who became an United States of America, American citizen in 1891. He ...

, Hugh Archibald Clark and

Henry Schradieck Henry Schradieck (29 April 1846 – 25 May 1918) was a German violinist, music pedagogue and composer. He was one of the foremost violin teachers of his day. He wrote a series of etude books for the violin which are still in common use tod ...

. In 1908 the college was chartered to grant academic degrees in music. The name of the college was changed in 1933 to Combs College of Music. Combs was the first music college to have dormitories and foreign students.Approved by the Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization for the attendance of non-immigrant foreign students. In 1954, Helen Behr Braun, a graduate of Combs Broad Street Conservatory and a concert violinist, succeeded to the Presidency. Under her direction an impressive faculty was assembled which included

Jean Casadesus Jean Claude Michel Casadesus (17 July 1927 – 20 January 1972) was a French classical pianist. He was the son of the renowned pianists Robert and Gaby Casadesus, and grandnephew of Henri Casadesus and Marius Casadesus. Jean Casadesus was born i ...

Leo Ornstein Leo Ornstein (born ''Lev Ornshteyn''; ; – February 24, 2002) was an American Experimental music, experimental composer and pianist of the early twentieth century. His performances of works by avant-garde composers and his own innovative and ev ...

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription concerts, n ...

members Jacob Krachmalnick, Carl Torello and William Kincaid, musicologist Guy Marriner and composer Romeo Cascarino. A partial list of notable faculty during the 1970s and 80s also included the duo-piano team of Toni and Rosi Grunschlag, performers and pedagogues Jacob Neupauer, Michael Guerra, Donald Reinhardt, Anthony Weigand, Romeo Cascarino, Dolores Ferraro, Frank Versaci, Joseph Primavera,

Keith Chapman Keith Vincent Chapman (born 1 December 1958) is an English television writer and producer, known for creating various children's television programmes, most notably '' Bob the Builder'' and '' Paw Patrol.'' Early life Chapman originates from No ...

, Morton Berger, Howard Haines, William Fabrizio and John McIntyre. As early as 1954 Helen Braun was exploring the use of music as a therapy. The college engaged in many early research projects; one sponsored by the

Rudolf Steiner Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner (; 27 or 25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925) was an Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist, and claimed clairvoyant. Steiner gained initial recognition at the end of the nineteenth century ...

Foundation, which sent distinguished composer and Combs alumnus Paul Nordoff to England and Scotland to study the use of music for special needs children. Together with Clive Robbins, he pioneered a unique program of music therapy, widely recognized for its innovative and effective results. With Nordoff's teachings as a foundation, Combs was the first college in the Philadelphia area to offer an educational program in Music Therapy. Many of the leading practitioners in that field received their degrees from Combs.(see notable alumni below) The college moved from Center City to the city's West Mount Airy neighborhood and occupying many houses in the Pelham section in 1964, expanding the campus and adding dormitories. In 1984, the college relocated again to a new- campus in

Radnor, Pennsylvania Radnor is a community which straddles Montgomery and Delaware Counties, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located approximately 13 miles west of Philadelphia, in the Main Line suburbs. The community was named after Radnor, in Wales. Radnor i ...

. Just prior to this move, Combs' Head of Composition and Composer in Residence Romeo Cascarino's opera ''William Penn'' attracted international attention. Sponsored by the college and the William Penn Opera Committee in cooperation with the Century IV Celebration, it was successfully mounted and performed at Philadelphia's prestigious Academy of Music in 1982. The college moved back to Philadelphia in 1987 to the campus of

Spring Garden College Spring Garden College—founded in 1851 as the Spring Garden Institute—was an American private technical college in the Spring Garden section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its building at 523–25 North Broad Street (demolished) was de ...

. During the economic climate of those years, Combs College of Music, like so many small private institutions, experienced financial hardship and found its endowment inadequate. In 1990, the Board of Trustees made the decision to close its doors.

Accreditations and memberships

*The

National Association of Schools of Music The National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) is an association of post-secondary music schools in the United States and the principal U.S. accreditor for higher education in music. It was founded on October 20, 1924, and is based in Resto ...

*The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools *The National Association for Music Therapy *The American Association of Music Therapy *The

Pennsylvania Department of Education The Pennsylvania Department of Education is the executive department of the state charged with publicly funded preschool, K-12 and adult educational budgeting, management and guidelines. As the state education agency, its activities are direc ...

(for teacher certification)

Notable alumni

Notable Combs alumni include: *

Stanley Branche Stanley Everett Branche (July 31, 1933 – December 22, 1992) was an American civil rights leader from Pennsylvania who worked as executive secretary in the Chester, Pennsylvania, branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored P ...

, civil rights activist, founder of the Committee for Freedom Now *

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...

, saxophonist, composer *

Marc Copland Marc Copland (, ; born May 27, 1948, as Marc Cohen) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Copland became part of the jazz scene in Philadelphia in the early 1960s as a saxophonist, and later moved to New York City, where he experimented wi ...

, jazz pianist *

Khan Jamal Khan Jamal (July 23, 1946 – January 10, 2022), born Warren Robert Cheeseboro, was an American jazz vibraphone and marimba player. He founded the band Sounds of Liberation in 1970. He was described by Ron Wynn as "a proficient soloist when ...

, jazz vibraphonist * Gail Levin, music therapist, author *

Robert Manno Robert Manno (born 1944, Bryn Mawr, Pa) is the composer of numerous chamber and orchestral works, song cycles and solo piano and choral works. The Atlanta Audio Society has called him "a composer of serious music of considerable depth and spiritual ...

, composer, conductor, Windham Chamber Music Festival *

Vincent Persichetti Vincent Ludwig Persichetti (June 6, 1915 – August 14, 1987) was an American composer, teacher, and pianist. An important musical educator and writer, he was known for his integration of various new ideas in musical composition into his own work ...

, composer, author, educator *

John Cheek John William Cheek, CBE (15 February 1855 – 26 February 1942) was an Australian politician, who was an Independent member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council The Tasmanian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Tasman ...

, bass-baritone - Metropolitan Opera

Honorary degrees

Recipients of honorary Doctor of Music (D.Mus) degrees from Combs included: *

Marian Anderson Marian Anderson (February 27, 1897April 8, 1993) was an American contralto. She performed a wide range of music, from opera to spirituals. Anderson performed with renowned orchestras in major concert and recital venues throughout the United S ...

, contralto *

Samuel Barber Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor (music), conductor, baritone, and music educator, and one of the most celebrated composers of the mid-20th century. Principally influenced ...

, composer, pianist, singer * Harold Boatrite, composer, educator * Romeo Cascarino, composer, pianist, arranger, educator *

, composer, organist at the

Wanamaker Organ The Wanamaker Grand Court Organ, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the largest fully functioning pipe organ in the world, based on the number of playing pipes, the number of ranks and its weight. The Wanamaker Organ is located within a ...

Mischa Elman Mischa (Mikhail Saulovich) Elman (; January 20, 1891April 5, 1967) was a Russian-American violinist famed for his passionate style, beautiful tone, and impeccable artistry and musicality. Early life Moses or Moishe Elman was born to a Jewish fa ...

, concert violinist *Marc Mostovoy, conductor, founder, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia * Paul Nordoff, composer, music therapist, author * Temple Painter, concert harpsichordist, organist, pianist, educator *

, composer, author, educator *

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British-born American conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra. H ...

, conductor *

Mary Louise Curtis Bok Zimbalist Mary Louise Curtis (August 6, 1876 in Boston, Massachusetts – January 4, 1970 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)Bok, Edward W. (1920) ''The Americanization of Edward Bok''. Lakeside Classics edition, R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co., Chicago, Illinois ...

, founder, Curtis Institute of Music *Thomas LoMonaco, tenor, noted pedagogue * Frank Versaci, concert flutist Additionally, Combs awarded honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (D.H.L.) degrees to notables including: * Pearl S. Buck, author, philanthropist * Thacher Longstreth, civic leader, Philadelphia City Councilman

References

{{reflist Universities and colleges established in 1885 Music schools in Pennsylvania Defunct universities and colleges in Philadelphia

Educational institutions disestablished in 1990 1885 establishments in Pennsylvania