Peabody Institute
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The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University is a conservatory and preparatory school located in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland at the corner of Charles and Monument Streets at Mount Vernon Place.
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[edit] History
Founded in 1857 by philanthropist George Peabody, it was the first academy of music to be established in the United States. Completion of the Grecian-Italian building housing the Institute, designed by Edmund George Lind, was delayed until 1866 due to the Civil War.[1] Under the direction of well-known musicians, composers, conductors, and Peabody alumni, the Institute grew from a local academy to an internationally renowned cultural center throughout the late 19th and the 20th centuries.[2]
Since 1977, the institute has operated as a division of the Johns Hopkins University, which is popularly thought of as one of America's top universities. Because of this affiliation, Peabody students are exposed to a liberal arts curriculum that is more extensive than those of other leading conservatories; likewise, Hopkins students have access to a world-class musical education and experience that they normally would not have access to at another university of such stature.
Peabody is one of 156 schools in the U.S. that offer a Doctorate of Musical Arts Degree. It houses two important libraries: the historical George Peabody Library established when the institute opened in 1866, and the Arthur Friedheim Library, a music library includes more than 100,000 books, scores, and sound recordings.
[edit] Peabody Children's Chorus
The Peabody Children's chorus is for children ages 6–18. It is divided into 3 groups: Training Choir, Choristers, and Chamber Singers, grouped by age in ascending order. They practice weekly in Towson or Columbia, MD, and sing in concerts biannually, under the instruction of Doreen Falby, Bradley Permenter, and Roriko Osawa. The Chamber Singers, ages 12–18, frequently perform with other groups, such as the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, The Baltimore Chamber Orchestera, The Mid-Atliantic Symphony Orchestra, and the Baltimore Choral Arts Society.
[edit] Notable attendees
- Tori Amos — An American pianist and singer-songwriter. At age five, she was the youngest person to attend the school. She was expelled at age eleven.
- Dominick Argento — A leading composer of lyric opera and choral music
- Alicia Berneche - operatic soprano
- Carter Brey - principal cellist of the New York Philharmonic
- Richard Cassilly — Leading interpreter of Wagnerian Tenor repertoire
- Angelin Chang — Grammy-award winning classical pianist
- Martha Clarke — choreographer and director; studied dance in the preparatory department at Peabody
- Richard Wayne Dirksen — graduated magna cum laude in June 1942, later organist-choirmaster at the Washington National Cathedral
- Joshua Fineberg — composer of spectral music.
- Virgil Fox — concert organist and recording artist
- Philip Glass — (Prep.) Composer of opera and contemporary music.
- Michael Hedges - Composition major and Grammy Award Winning (1998) Guitarist
- Michael Hersch — American composer.
- Kevin Kenner — American-born pianist who won the Top Prize in the International Chopin Competition and the Bronze Medal in the International Tchaikovsky Competition.
- Ellis Larkins — First African American to attend
- Lee Byung-woo — South Korean guitarist and film score composer.
- Denoe Leedy — classical pianist, music educator and music journalist.
- Carolyn Long — Opera singer
- James Morris — Wagnerian baritone, Grammy winner and Metropolitan Opera star.
- Tommy Newsom — Saxophonist for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
- Awadagin Pratt — Concert pianist and violinist who won the prestigious Walter W. Naumburg Foundation Competition.
- Lillian Smith — Author and social critic. (two stints, not a degree)
- John Charles Thomas -- Opera and concert baritone and member of the Metropolitan Opera company in the 1930s and '40s.
- André Watts — Concert pianist, Grammy winner and professor at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music.
[edit] Notable faculty
- Diran Alexanian, cello
- Marin Alsop, conducting
- Manuel Barrueco, guitar
- Garnett Bruce, opera
- Jay Clayton, jazz
- David Fedderly, tuba
- Leon Fleisher, piano
- Pamela Frank, violin
- Asger Hamerik, Director (1871-1898)
- Michael Hersch, composition
- Ingrid Jensen, jazz/trumpet
- Nicholas Maw, composition
- Gustav Meier, conducting
- John Shirley-Quirk, voice
- Robert van Sice, percussion
- John Walker, organ
[edit] References
- ^ Wierzalis, Bill and Koontz, John P., Images of America: Mount Vernon Place (2006) p. 60-61. Arcadia Publishing ISBN 0-7385-4238-5
- ^ Holland, Bernard (January 4, 1990). "The Peabody, Ready or Not, Is Pushed to Go Out on Its Own". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/04/arts/the-peabody-ready-or-not-is-pushed-to-go-out-on-its-own.html?scp=1&sq. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
