The Yale School of Music (often abbreviated to YSM) is one of the 12 professional schools at Yale University. It offers three graduate degrees: Master of Music (MM), Master of Musical Arts (MMA), and Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA), as well as a joint Bachelor of Arts—Master of Music program in conjunction with Yale College, a Certificate in Performance, and an artist diploma.
Yale is the only Ivy League school with a dedicated School of Music; the university also has a separate Department of Music in the Division of Humanities of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The School of Music originated in 1855 with a gift of $5,000 from Joseph Battell and conferred its first degrees in 1894; it has a separate endowment, and as a result of a 2005 gift waives tuition and gives students maintenance grants.
José García-León, formerly dean of academic affairs and assessment at Juilliard, succeeded Robert Blocker as dean of the Yale School of Music in fall 2023.
Contents
Buildings
Albert Arnold Sprague Memorial Hall (1917), renovated in 2003.
Abby and Mitch Leigh Hall (1930), Gothic style, renovated in 2006.
Hendrie Hall (1895), renovated in 2017.
Adams Center for Musical Arts (2017). The Adams Center complex includes Hendrie Hall, Leigh Hall, and new space which connects the two.
Woolsey Hall (1901), used for orchestral performances (Yale Philharmonia) and organ recitals (on the Newberry Memorial Organ).
The Yale University Collection of Musical Instruments (1895), Romanesque style.
Notable alumni
Musicians, artists, leaders
Gisele Ben-Dor, Orchestra conductor
Matt Brubeck, Cellist, bassist, keyboarder and arranger
Ronald Crutcher, College President
Bryce Dessner (B.A. 1998, M.M. 1999), member of The National (band) and collaborator with Taylor Swift, among other artists
Robert Dick, Lifetime Achievement Award winner flutist
Dominick DiOrio, Conductor
Juan Carlos Fernández-Nieto, Pianist
David Fung – Pianist, faculty at the Manhattan School of Music, Associate Director at the University of British Columbia School of Music, laureate of the Queen Elisabeth Competition and the 12th Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Masters Competition, Tel Aviv (2008), and winner of the 2002 ABC Symphony Australia Young Performer of the Year Award.
Helen Eugenia Hagan, First African-American woman to graduate and then she became a composer, pianist and music educator
Paul Jacobs, Grammy Award-winning organist
Henry-Louis de La Grange, Musicologist and biographer
Perry Lafferty, Television producer
Fan Lei, Clarinetist
Martin Leung, Pianist known as the Video Game Pianist
Achilles Liarmakopoulos, Trombonist
Yuri Liberzon, Classical guitarist
Vocalists
Janna Baty, Mezzo-soprano opera singer
Dorothy Bishop, Singer and comedian
Helen Boatwright, Violinist and musicologist
Christopher Magiera, Operatic baritone
Eddie Mayehoff, American actor
Matthew Polenzani, American Tenor
Christian Van Horn, American Bass-Baritone
Composers
Andy Akiho, Composer
Timo Andres, Composer and pianist
Tanya Anisimova, Cellist and Composer
Daniel Asia, Composer
Matthew Barnson, Composer
Robert Beaser, Composer
Jeremy Beck, Composer
Marco Beltrami, Academy Award nominated composer and Golden Globe winner
Howard Boatwright, Composer
Christopher Cerrone, Composer
Jacob Cooper, Composer
Alvin Curran, Composer
Emma Lou Diemer, Composer
Reena Esmail, Pianist and composer
Eugene Friesen, Cellist and Composer
Michael Gilbertson, Composer
Judd Greenstein, composer and promoter
Trevor Gureckis, composer
Juliana Hall, Composer of art songs and vocal chamber music
Ted Hearne, Singer and composer
Aaron Jay Kernis, Grammy Award and 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Music winning composer
Lori Laitman, Composer
Faculty
John Adams, Professor of Composition (past)
Nancy Allen, Professor of Harp (past)
Emanuel Ax, Visiting Professor of Piano (past)
Martin Beaver, Artist in Residence (past)
Boris Berman, Professor of Piano
Martin Bresnick, Professor of Composition
Simon Carrington, Professor of Choral Conducting
Kevin Cobb, Visiting Associate Professor of Trumpet
Richard Cross (bass-baritone), Professor of Voice (past)
Allan Dean, Professor of Trumpet (past)
Jacob Druckman, Professor of Composition (past)
Lukas Foss, Visiting Professor of Composition (past)
Claude Frank, Professor of Piano
Peter Frankl, Professor of Piano
Erick Friedman, Professor of Violin (past)
Sidney Harth, Professor of Violin (past)
Paul Hindemith, Professor of Music (1940–53)
Fred Hinger, Professor of Timpani & Percussion (past)
Martin Jean, Professor of Organ