American Institute of Applied Music

The American Institute of Applied Music was a music school based in New York City. The Institute was incorporated in 1900 as an amalgamation (merger) of the following educational institutions:

1. The Metropolitan College of Music (founded 1891)
2. The Metropolitan Conservatory of Music (founded 1886)
3. The Synthetic Piano School (founded 1887), and
4. The American Institute of Normal Methods^[1]

Kate Sara Chittenden founded both the Metropolitan College of Music and the Synthetic Piano School. She served as Dean and head of the piano department at the founding Metropolitan College in 1892, and continued in both capacities at the American Institute until 1933.

The school aimed for systematic thoroughness, with emphasis upon pedagogical method, largely with reference to those expecting to teach. The average enrollment was about 350 per year. The Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians published in 1920 stated that more than 1000 teachers had received certificates. The Institute was located at 212 West 59th Street.^[2]

Accreditation

The National Association of Schools of Music, at its fifth annual meeting in 1928, accepted the Institute's application for membership.^[3]

Institutional structure

New York's thirty-eighth University Convocation assembled June 25, 1900, in Albany and, among other things, granted a provisional charter to the American Institute of Applied Music, authorizing the issued of $15,000 capital stock.^[4] The University of the State of New York represents colleges, academies and other institutions subject to the visitation of the Board of Regents.

Former faculty & administration

Governance

• Edgar Oscar Silver (1860–1909), President
• John B. Calvert, D.D., President

Dean

• Kate Sara Chittenden (1856–1949) was the founding Dean and head of the piano department from 1892 to 1933. During her lifetime, she taught more than 3000 students.^[5]

Faculty

• Modest Altschuler (1873–1963), Russian-American cellist, conductor, and composer
• Paul Ambrose (1868–1941)
• H. Rawlins Baker
• Walter S. Bogert (1865–1959)
• Dudley Buck (1839–1909), composer, author, organist
• Mary Fidelia Burt ( –1928), taught voice, sight singing, and ear training
• Adrienne Remenyi von Ende
• Herwegh von Ende (1877– ), director violin department
• Tom Karl (1846–1916), Irish-American tenor who, for a period, headed the vocal department
• George Coleman Gow (1860–1938), song composer, theory professor
• John Cornelius Griggs, PhD (1865–1932)
• Henry G. Hanchett, professor of musical analysis and pedagogy^[6]
• John Leslie Hodgson (1880– ), pianist
• Harry Benjamin Jepson (1870–1952), organist
• McCall L. Lanham (1877–1959), baritone voice teacher, director of the voice division
• Daniel Gregory Mason (1873–1953), composer
• William Mason (1829–1908), composer
• E Presson Miller (1864–1950), voice teacher
• Florence Viola Osborn
• Albert Ross Parsons (1847–1933)
• Janet Daniels Schenck (1883–1976), founder of the Manhattan School of Music
• Henry Schradieck (1846–1918), violinist
• Harry Rowe Shelley (1858–1947), organist and composer who taught harmony and counterpoint
• William Fairchild Sherman
• Raymond Huntington Woodman (1861–1943), organist, composer; 1889–1898 head of organ department Metropolitan College of Music; 1909–1941 head of theory department American Institute of Applied Music

Alumni

• Harry H. Sukman (1912–1984), composer and arranger for the TV western series, The High Chaparral
• George King Raudenbush (1899–1956), violinist, orchestra conductor, and composer
• Ester Brooke, née Eberstadt
• Alfred Piccaver (1884–1958), British-American operatic tenor

References

1. Porter E. Sargent, A Handbook Of The Best Private Schools of the United States and Canada, pg. 176 (1915)
2. George Grove, Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians: American Supplement, Vol 6, pg 23, The MacMillan Company (1920)
3. Schools of Music Hold Fifth Annual Meeting, Presto-Times, pg. 10, Dec. 8, 1928
4. State University Talks, The New York Times, June 26, 1900
5. Helmut Kallmann, The Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, The Canadian Encyclopedia © 2010 Historica-Dominion
6. Biographical Directory of the State of New York, 1900, Biographical Directory Co., New York