September 15, 2026

President Gandre is already the second-longest-serving president in the School’s history; Board of Trustees begins search for his successor.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK  September 15, 2026 – Manhattan School of Music (MSM) today announced that President James Gandre will retire from his position in June 2028, concluding a 15-year tenure as the School’s ninth president. President Gandre, who first served MSM in a variety of administrative and leadership roles from 1985 to 2000, returned to the School as president in 2013. At more than 13 years, he is already the second-longest-serving president in MSM’s history, surpassed only by the School’s founder, Janet Daniels Schenck.

“On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I want to express our profound gratitude to Jim for his extraordinary service to the School,” says Kishore Ballal, Chair of the Manhattan School of Music Board of Trustees. “His tenure has been marked by a deep and steadfast commitment to our mission, our students, our faculty and staff, our alumni, and to the long-term strength and sustainability of MSM. The Board has considered it a privilege to work with him throughout his presidency.”

When President Gandre returned to MSM in 2013, the School was facing significant challenges. Its finances and enrollment were uncertain, and it was in need of substantial modernization across its campus. Working with the Board, faculty, and staff, he led a period of institutional growth and renewal that included a major expansion of student practice facilities, the launch of MSM’s undergraduate Musical Theatre program, and, as part of MSM’s year-long Centennial celebration in 2018–19, the renovation and reopening of the School’s principal performance space, renamed Neidorff-Karpati Hall.

MSM’s practice facilities increased by 25 percent, with the addition of 28 new state-of-the-art rooms. The $15-million renovation of Neidorff-Karpati Hall was followed in 2019 by a $1.5-million renovation restoring the historic lounge and restroom area beneath the hall.

During President Gandre’s tenure, MSM has also strengthened its financial position and its commitment to access and opportunity. The School’s endowment has increased by more than 125 percent, while scholarship support has grown, enhancing MSM’s proven ability to attract talented students. Most recently, the School launched the BFA Online, providing professional performing artists with an opportunity to earn an undergraduate degree while continuing their professional careers.

President Gandre also guided MSM through the extraordinary challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, rallying faculty and staff in an all-hands, cooperative atmosphere that allowed the School to continue its operations unabated and to sustain its educational and artistic mission during a period of profound uncertainty for conservatories and performing artists worldwide.

“These accomplishments—and many others—reflect something fundamental about Jim’s leadership: a deep belief in and love of this institution, and a determination to leave it stronger than he found it,” says Chair Ballal. “His partnership, candor, persistence, and unwavering commitment have made an indelible mark on MSM.”

President Gandre’s decision to announce his retirement well in advance of his departure will provide the Board and the MSM Community the time for a thoughtful transition.

“It has been the honor of my professional life to serve MSM as president,” says President Gandre. “I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to have served this extraordinary institution, first as a member of its administration and faculty and, since 2013, as its president. I have had the great privilege—and profound responsibility—of leading the School through a period of significant change and growth, and I am especially grateful to have done so alongside such talented, dedicated, and deeply caring trustees, faculty, and staff.”

“By announcing my retirement nearly two years in advance, I hope to give the Board and our community the gift of time: time for a thorough and deliberate search, and time to prepare thoughtfully for the next chapter of MSM’s history. Together, we have built much, and together, we have much more to do. I look forward to the important work ahead.”

The Board of Trustees will conduct an international search for MSM’s 10th president. The Board’s Executive Committee has been discussing the presidential search for nearly a year, considering the qualities and experience that will be most important for the School’s next leader. Six members of the Board of Trustees have been appointed to the search committee, with faculty and administrative representatives to be identified in the coming weeks. The Board expects to have identified a search firm by the end of the year.

“Choosing the next president of Manhattan School of Music is among the most consequential responsibilities entrusted to the Board,” says Chair Ballal. “We will approach that responsibility with the care, thoughtfulness, and commitment it deserves. At the same time, we are grateful that we have the opportunity to work with Jim and the entire MSM Community for nearly two more years as we build on the strong foundation of this remarkable institution.”

Further information about the presidential search will be shared by MSM in the coming months. For more information about President Gandre’s leadership of MSM, previous background, and related experience, please visit here.

For additional detail, please contact Katharine Burns, Marketing and Public Relations Manager, at kburns@msmnyc.edu or (917) 493-4132.

ABOUT MANHATTAN SCHOOL OF MUSIC

Founded as a community music school by Janet Daniels Schenck in 1918, today MSM is recognized for its more than 1,000 superbly talented undergraduate and graduate students who come from more than 50 countries and nearly all 50 states; its innovative curricula and world-renowned artist-teacher faculty that includes musicians from the New York Philharmonic, the Met Orchestra, and the top ranks of the jazz and Broadway communities; and a distinguished community of accomplished, award-winning alumni working at the highest levels of the musical, educational, cultural, and professional worlds.

The School is dedicated to the personal, artistic, and intellectual development of aspiring musicians, from its Precollege students through those pursuing doctoral studies. Offering classical, jazz, and musical theatre training, MSM grants a range of undergraduate and graduate degrees. True to MSM’s origins as a music school for children, the Precollege Division is a professionally oriented Saturday music program dedicated to the musical and personal growth of talented young musicians ages 8 to 18. The School also serves some 2,000 New York City schoolchildren through its Arts-in-Education Program, and another 2,000 students through its critically acclaimed Distance Learning Program.

MSM LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Manhattan School of Music acknowledges that we gather on the traditional land of the Lenape and Wappinger past and present, and honor with gratitude the land itself and the people who have stewarded it throughout the generations. This calls us to commit to continuing to learn how to be better stewards of the land we inhabit as well.