Mannes Chamber Ensemble

The Mannes Chamber Ensemble is the performance group formed by orchestral instrumentalist students at the Mannes School of Music for the purpose of the study and performance of standard ensemble repertory. Chamber ensemble study has existed at Mannes since its inception in 1916 as the David Mannes Music School, when lessons in ensemble practice for piano, violin, and cello were supervised and coached by Clara Mannes, née Damrosch, co-founder of the school, pianist, and wife of David Mannes. Clara Mannes directed the chamber ensemble classes until 1924, and from 1925 to 1932 they were overseen by violinist Alix Young Maruchess and other string faculty members.

From 1933 to 1943, chamber ensembles were under the direction of violin faculty member Sera Albisser. In 1941, Mannes began offering regular lessons in wind and brass instruments, allowing for additional instrumental combinations to be added to the ensemble repertory. In 1943, violinist and composer William Kroll took direction of the chamber music department at Mannes, and by 1950, separate sessions were being held for string quartets, piano and string ensembles, and woodwind ensembles. By 1973, the chamber music faculty at Mannes had grown to fifteen members.

The Mannes Chamber Ensemble gained public prominence under the direction of principal trombonist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Mannes faculty member, Per Brevig. Brevig joined the faculty in 1976, and in 1983 he conducted the Mannes Chamber Ensemble in a benefit concert for the Mannes College of Music at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, which featured world renowned concert pianist, conductor, and Mannes alumnus, Murray Perahia. Brevig continued to conduct concerts with the Mannes Chamber Ensemble through the 1980s. As of 2021, Mannes School of Music offers several chamber music ensemble courses for student instrumentalists for the purpose of preparing works of chamber music literature for concert performance, although not necessarily publicized under the Mannes Chamber Ensemble name.

Sources:

Course Catalogs. “Mannes College of Music.” College of Performing Arts Course Catalog Collection. 1916-2006. The New School Archives Digital Collections, New York, New York. “Course Catalog.” The New School. Accessed April 20, 2021. https://courses.newschool.edu/courses/.

“Music and Dance.” New York Magazine, March 21 1983. Accessed April 13, 2021. https://books.google.com/books?id=muICAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA101&lpg=PA101&dq=per+brevig+mannes+chamber+ensemble&source=bl&ots=QX8nQdDwT9&sig=ACfU3U2JUl2RcrHtY67YAvx6hnod1UvM0g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjuutOQ6f3vAhX-SzABHeeuA-MQ6AEwCHoECAcQAw#v=onepage&q=per%20brevig%20mannes%20chamber%20ensemble&f=false.

“Music and Dance.” New York Magazine, April 23 1984. Accessed April 20, 2021. https://books.google.com/books?id=C-YCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA129&dq=mannes+chamber&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj0wqvogY3wAhVEU98KHTvXBRkQ6AEwBHoECAQQAg#v=onepage&q=mannes%20chamber&f=false.

“Principal Musicians of the Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera.” Stowkowski.org. Accessed April 13, 2021. https://www.stokowski.org/Principal_Musicians_Metropolitan_Opera.htm.

Mannes Orchestra

Mannes Orchestra is the student orchestral ensemble at the Mannes School of Music in the The New School’s College of Performing Arts. The orchestra’s repertoire ranges from classical-period music to modern, giving students exposure to standard orchestral works, and it has performed in venues throughout New York City including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Symphony Space. The orchestra also collaborates with Mannes Opera for its regular opera performances. Mannes students have the opportunity to perform as soloists with the Mannes Orchestra through an annual concerto competition which auditions in the fall semester. Several guest conductors and artists have performed with the orchestra over the years, including the conductors Kurt Masur and Mannes alumna JoAnn Falletta, pianist and Mannes alumnus Richard Goode and mezzo-soprano and Mannes alumna Frederica von Stade.

Mannes Orchestra’s history began with the founding of the David Mannes Music School in 1916, which saw David Mannes (1866-1959) himself conducting student chamber ensembles. The ensembles would eventually be divided by age into a junior orchestra and a senior orchestra, and in 1926 Russian conductor and violinist Paul Stassevitch (1894–1968) joined the school’s faculty as an orchestral conductor alongside Mannes.

Mannes Music School began offering classes in conducting in 1939, taught by Viennese émigré Carl Bamberger (1902-1987), who began conducting the senior orchestra in addition to directing the opera ensemble class. Bamberger headed the Mannes Orchestra until 1976, instructing students in the performance of symphonic and operatic literature, and educating many student conductors who went on to major conducting careers, including Julius Rudel, Eve Queler, and George Cleve.

Bamberger became Music Director Emeritus in 1976, and his conducting student Sung Kwak, became the group’s leader. Mannes alumnus Semyon Bychkov took on the duties of leading the orchestra from 1977 to 1980 before beginning his own conducting career, and the Mannes Orchestra was subsequently led by Vladimir Kin from 1980 to 1981, Sidney Hearth from 1981 to 1985, and Mannes alumnus (and brother of Semyon Bychkov) Yakov Kreizberg from 1985 to 1989. Michael Charry, a current member of the Mannes faculty as of 2020, directed the orchestra for ten years from 1989 to 1999, and from 1999 to 2004, Samuel Wong, a medical doctor who became a full-time conductor, led the Mannes Orchestra. From 2003, Mannes Associate Conductor David Hayes, a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra conducting staff, became director of Orchestral and Conducting Studies, and in 2004 the head of the Mannes Orchestra; Hayes occupies these roles to the present day.

Sources

Course Catalogs. “Mannes College of Music.” College of Performing Arts Course Catalog Collection. 1916-2006. The New School Archives Digital Collections, New York, New York.

“Eve Queler, American Conductor” In Encyclopedia Britannica. Last modified January 1, 2020. Accessed May 22, 2020. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Eve-Queler.

Gereben, Janos. “George Cleve Dies.” San Francisco Classical Voice. Last Modified August 28, 2015. Accessed May 23, 2020. https://www.sfcv.org/music-news/george-cleve-dies.

McFadden, Robert D. “Julius Rudel, Longtime Impresario and Conductor of City Opera, Dies at 93.” The New York Times, June 26, 2014. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/27/arts/music/julius-rudel-longtime-city-opera-impresario-dies-at-93.html.

“Public Programs and Events: Mannes Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.” The New School. Accessed May 22, 2020. https://events.newschool.edu/event/mannes_orchestra_at_carnegie_hall.