The Aaron Copland School of Music is one of the oldest and
most distinguished departments at Queens College, founded when
the College opened in 1937. The department's curriculum was
originally developed by Edwin Stringham, and it has ably served
generations of College students. An early mentor and stabilizing
influence was the composer Karol Rathaus, who was a refugee from
Nazi Germany. Some of the students who enrolled in early classes
of the College (Sol Berkowitz, Gabriel Fontrier, Leo Kraft) later
became faculty members of the department, where they stayed for
the balance of their careers. Other distinguished faculty from
the early years included John Castellini, who founded the Choral
Society; Boris Schwarz, a refugee from his native Russia in 1917
and later from Nazi Germany in the 1930s; Saul Novack, who later
became Dean of Faculty for the Arts and Humanities; and Joseph
Machlis, who developed the teaching of music appreciation to a
high art and has written the most successful series of music
appreciation textbooks in history. Later distinguished faculty
included Felix Salzer, a refugee from Austria who was a student
of the theorist Heinrich Schenker and became the leading exponent
of his ideas to generations of American students and scholars;
and the distinguished composers Hugo Weisgall and George Perle.
Current Distinguished Professors on the faculty include composer
Thea Musgrave and theorist Carl Schachter.
The ACSM not only offers a range of undergraduate and graduate
degree programs, but it also maintains a vital presence in the
cultural life of Queens and Long Island as well as the greater
New York City area. Students in the ACSM follow a curriculum
designed to develop the interdependent skills of performing,
listening to, and understanding music, thus providing the
thorough training so necessary for graduate study and eventual
professional careers. The School also forges strong links with
the community, not only through public concerts and recitals, but
through collaborations with the public schools, specialized
programs and courses for senior citizens, and the Center for
Preparatory Studies in Music, which serves up to 400 elementary
and secondary students each year.
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