A Brief History of
New England Conservatory
Founded in 1867 | BSO, Opera Connections | Community Service
Musical Traditions | Leading Cultural Institution | New Directions
Founded in 1867
New England Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts, is the oldest independent school of music in the United States, founded in 1867. Its founder, Eben Tourjée, intended to establish an American conservatory patterned after European models—an unheard-of idea at the time.
Despite naysayers, Tourjée’s school attracted 392 students within a month of opening. By 1882, the school had outgrown its rooms in the Boston Music Hall (now demolished) and moved to the elegant Saint James Hotel in Franklin Square.
By the end of the 19th century, the Conservatory was again in need of expanded facilities, particularly concert halls, classrooms, and studios. In 1902, the initiative and generosity of a longtime trustee, businessman Eben Jordan, made possible the construction of the present building at the crossroads of Huntington Avenue and Gainsborough Street.
Connections to BSO and other Boston music institutions
As the Conservatory grew, so did its ties to the musical life of Boston. In 1881, Henry Higginson called upon 19 members of the NEC faculty to serve as section leaders in his new Boston Symphony Orchestra. The connection persists—today nearly half of the BSO is composed of Conservatory faculty and alumni.
(Find more on the NEC/BSO connection.)
NEC and its alumni have also been the driving force behind opera in Boston. When the city established its first full-scale opera company in 1908, the manager, conductors, soloists, orchestra, chorus, library, and rehearsal rooms were all provided by the Conservatory. After the Boston Opera Company’s demise, Boris Goldovsky’s NEC Opera Workshop gave local audiences their first fully-staged performances in more than a decade. In 1958, Goldovsky student Sarah Caldwell ’46 founded the Opera Company of Boston, which gained international acclaim for innovative programming during its 33-year history. Caldwell’s contemporary John Moriarty ’52 directed NEC’s opera program through the last decade of the 20th century. Janice Mancini Del Sesto ’71 was named general director of the Boston Lyric Opera in 1992; now called Boston Lyric Opera New England, the company has steadily grown to meet the region’s demand for full-scale opera productions. Under the direction of John Greer, the NEC Opera Theater continues to be a prominent training ground for young singers, and presents fully staged productions as well as the popular Perkin Opera Scenes at NEC.
Community Service
A tradition of service to the community began in 1902, with low-cost concerts by the NEC Symphony. The free concert series now includes more than 600 performances each year; and a number of community collaborations bring NEC closer to its neighbors. NEC’s Learning Through Music program enhances existing collaborations and expands the NEC community to include such “lab” sites as the Conservatory Lab Charter School in Boston. Under the umbrella of a national center known as the “NEC Research Center for Learning through Music,” the program is a respected source for the revitalization of music-based teaching throughout the United States.
The World's Musical Traditions
While preserving the traditions of Western classical music, NEC has expanded its embrace of the world’s music. In 1969, it became the first major conservatory in America to establish a fully accredited jazz performance program. In 1974, under the guidance of president Gunther Schuller and pianist Ran Blake, the Contemporary Improvisation program was created to explore musical genres merging jazz, classical, and ethnic influences. Today, major jazz careers are launched from a base of technical fluency, collaborative exploration, and seasoning with jazz masters. The entire school is enriched by visits from exponents of the world’s musical traditions through the NEC Intercultural Institute.
Leading Cultural Institution
During the tenure of president Laurence Lesser (1983–1996) NEC consolidated its position as one of the nation’s preeminent schools of music. In 1994, the United States Congress recognized the seminal role of New England Conservatory in the development of American musical culture by awarding National Historic Landmark designation to both the school and Jordan Hall, NEC’s major concert venue and one of the world’s great concert halls. 1995 saw the successful completion of both a $25 million capital campaign and the $8.2 million restoration of Jordan Hall. In 1998, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino inaugurated the section of Huntington Avenue between Symphony Hall and the Museum of Fine Arts as “Avenue of the Arts,” reinforcing NEC’s presence among the leaders of Boston’s cultural institutions.
New Directions
In the fall of 1999, the Conservatory Laboratory Charter School opened its doors to Boston kindergartners and first graders admitted by lottery. The school follows a music-based general curriculum, and no auditions are required. This was one of several Learning Through Music partnerships launched at the end of the 1990s. In January 2000, “From the Top,” a showcase for America’s outstanding young classical musicians, began radio broadcasts on more than 200 radio stations nationwide, with New England Conservatory as its educational partner, Jordan Hall as its broadcast home, and pianist Christopher O’Riley ’81 A.D. as host.
In June 2000, after a year as acting president, Daniel Steiner was elected NEC president by the board of trustees. Steiner’s career in higher education included a long term as vice president and general counsel at Harvard University. President Steiner made great strides in building up NEC's already fine faculty with artist/teachers who are recognized as some of the best in the world. Conductor Joseph Silverstein, violinists Miriam Fried and Donald Weilerstein, violist Kim Kashkashian, cellist Paul Katz, flutists Jeanne Baxtresser and Paula Robison, jazz bassist Dave Holland, and voice teacher Patricia Misslin have all come to NEC during the past few years. These teachers are producing the next generation of inspired performing artists, who will go on to transform the world around them with the power of music.
In June 2006, following the death of Daniel Steiner, President Emeritus Laurence Lesser agreed to serve as interim chief executive officer during the search for a new president. Leser stands at the head of a world-class music school that is seen as a center of excellence in a class with Boston’s other great educational institutions, Harvard and MIT. NEC enrolls approximately 750 students in the College and twice that number in the Division of Preparatory and Continuing Education, as it approaches a new era in which music will continue to express humanity’s most cherished values.
