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San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Coordinates: 37°46′32″N 122°25′13″W / 37.77556°N 122.42028°W / 37.77556; -122.42028
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San Francisco Conservatory of Music
A modern 12-story building with a white facade
The SFCM's Bowes Center building in 2022
Former name
Ada Clement Piano School
TypePrivate music conservatory
Established1917
FoundersAda Clement, Lillian Hodgehead
AccreditationWSCUC
Endowment43,498,000[citation needed]
PresidentDavid H. Stull
DeanJonas Wright
Students480 (2021)[1]
Address
50 Oak Street
San Francisco, California
94102

37°46′32″N 122°25′13″W / 37.77556°N 122.42028°W / 37.77556; -122.42028
Colors   Raspberry and gold [2]
Websitewww.sfcm.edu

The San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) is a private music conservatory in San Francisco, California, United States. As of 2024, it had more than 440 students.[3]

History

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The Oak Street building in 2017 (fisheye perspective)

The San Francisco Conservatory of Music was founded in 1917 by Ada Clement and Lillian Hodghead as the Ada Clement Piano School.[citation needed] In 1923, the name was changed to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. In 1956 the Conservatory moved from Sacramento Street to 1201 Ortega Street, the home of a former infant shelter.[citation needed] It resided there for fifty years, before moving to its next location at 50 Oak Street in 2006.[citation needed]

In 2020, the SFCM added the new Bowes Center at 200 Van Ness Avenue (across from Davies Symphony Hall), a 12-story building that includes dorms (eight floors) with acoustic insulation for 400 of its students, 27 rent-controlled apartments for residents of the older building that was replaced by the construction, and some public performing spaces, including a penthouse concert room with views towards the north and west.[4][1] The Bowes Center's $200 million cost was largely funded by donors, including $46.4 million from the William K. Bowes, Jr. Foundation.[5][1] The San Francisco Chronicle's architecture critic John King characterized the building's design as "[pushing] against the strict rules of the historic district but [respecting] the air of gravitas. For starters, the building is skinned in translucent glass that conceals insulation and the structural frame — a touch that adds a milky visual depth ..."[1] As of 2021, the Bowes Center was envisaged to fully open to the public in February 2022.[1]

In 2020, SFCM announced a partnership with the talent management company Opus 3 Artists, and in May 2022 it acquired the Dutch classical music label, Pentatone, funded by a private donor.[6] The music website "Classical Voice" described this "combination of a music-education organization with two professional music businesses" as "unusual."[6]

Admissions

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SFCM is known for its comprehensive and slightly competitive audition process. Many of the areas needed to enroll feature a "prescreening" round (which consists of essays, video recordings of them playing, transcripts, and for composition majors - portfolio of works), including composition, voice studies, strings, conducting, TAC (technology and applied composition)...etc.[7] A student can be denied or accepted based of the pre-screening results. Once the student is accepted beyond the prescreening round, they are called to San Francisco for a final audition to get to know the faculty, and perform for their chosen major's instructor. Once that is clear, the student is either accepted or denied admission into the conservatory. Some areas of the conservatory are more competitive than others, such as composition [which only admits 8-10 students a year out of hundreds of applicants], and the strings department. The faculty values the applicant's personality and musicianship in the auditions. [8]

Leaders

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  • Ada Clement and Lillian Hodghead, 1917–1925
  • Ernest Bloch, 1925–1930
  • Ada Clement and Lillian Hodghead, 1930–1951
  • Albert Elkus, 1951–1957
  • Robin Laufer, 1957–1966
  • Milton Salkind, 1966–1990
  • Stephen Brown, 1990–1991
  • Milton Salkind (Acting President), 1991–1992
  • Colin Murdoch, 1992–2013
  • David Stull, 2013–present

Notable faculty

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Notable alumni

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e King, John (November 21, 2021). "S.F.'s Civic Center has a new landmark — and it shows how the district should evolve". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  2. ^ "SFCM Brand Guide" (PDF). San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
  3. ^ "Count Them in: Students Start New School Year at SFCM | SFCM". www.sfcm.edu. Retrieved September 25, 2024.
  4. ^ "The Bowes center".
  5. ^ "San Francisco Conservatory of Music Gets $46 Million Gift". The New York Times. April 25, 2018. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
  6. ^ a b Kotapish, Paul (May 17, 2022). "SF Conservatory of Music Acquires Pentatone". www.sfcv.org. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  7. ^ "Auditions & Repertoire | SFCM". sfcm.edu. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  8. ^ "How to Apply | SFCM". sfcm.edu. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  9. ^ "Jeffrey Anderson". San Francisco Symphony. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  10. ^ "Jeffrey Anderson". San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  11. ^ "Nancy Zhou | SFCM". sfcm.edu. Retrieved March 9, 2024.
  12. ^ "Deborah Voigt Joins San Francisco Conservatory of Music Faculty". BroadwayWorld.com.
  13. ^ "George Duke biography". George Duke Online. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  14. ^ Christophe Huss (August 26, 2006). "Léopold Simoneau (1916–2006) – Mozart rappelle les siens". Le Devoir (in French). Dans les années soixante-dix, il enseigna le chant au San Francisco Conservatory of Music et à l'école des beaux-arts de Banff, avant de s'installer à Victoria, où il fonda, en 1982, avec son épouse Pierrette Alarie, le Canada Opera Piccola destiné à la formation des jeunes chanteurs canadiens.
  15. ^ "The official Carla Kihlstedt website". Archived from the original on September 11, 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
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