September 12, 2018

“Our celebrations this year tell a century-long story of vision, community, inclusiveness, and excellence.”

by Dr. James Gandre,
MSM President

We celebrate a landmark anniversary throughout 2018–19, sharing elements of our past, present, and future. They are spotlighted by three major events:

SEPT 28:  An opening day, four-event mini-festival culminating in a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at The Riverside Church

NOV 17 & 18:  A glittering, multi-artist concert celebration hailing the reopening of our renovated principal performance space, Neidorff-Karpati Hall (formerly Borden Auditorium)

APRIL 17:  A star-studded Gala Concert led by MSM Distinguished Visiting Artist Leonard Slatkin at Carnegie Hall

Programming that resonates with our 100th birthday

This milestone season features many additional Centennial-related events, including concerts featuring works composed by noted alumni and former MSM faculty; works that had their first performances at MSM; and celebrated pieces written or premiered around the time of the School’s founding.

Please read more details about our Centennial programming in this overview by John Blanchard (MM ’89), Institutional Historian & Director of Archives.

A spotlight on MSM talent

Most importantly, our Centennial season shines a light on MSM’s prodigiously talented student artists (from more than 50 countries and nearly every state), world-renowned faculty, special guests, alumni, and master class artists as they bring thrilling life to a repertoire of classical, jazz, and musical theatre works.

Finally, 2018–19 marks a major development in the artistic life of MSM. Thanks in large part to a generous anchor gift from alumna and MSM Trustee Noémi Karpati Neidorff and her husband Michael Neidorff, the School’s $15-million, 18-month Centennial Project draws to a successful conclusion in November with the opening of a grand new campus entrance on Claremont Avenue, an expanded lobby, and the renovated Neidorff-Karpati Hall (named for Noémi and Michael).

The reimagined hall (formerly Borden Auditorium) will stay true to the original Art Deco design and will feature a larger, more open stage that easily accommodates the largest symphony and jazz orchestras, opera and musical theatre productions; a rebuilt balcony and refurbished décor; and an acoustically sound, resonant listening environment.

We turn to the arts for inspiration, consolation, and a shared sense of purpose; this season, as MSM draws on a century of musical excellence and looks beyond the horizon to its next 100 years, our artists promise all that and more.

I hope you will come along for the ride.