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 of the following educational institutions:

1. The Metropolitan College of Music (founded in 1891),
2. The Metropolitan Conservatory of Music (founded in 1886),
3. The Synthetic Piano School (founded in 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. The average enrollment was about 350 per year. Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, published in 1920, stated that more than 1,000 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 on June 25, 1900, in Albany and, among other things, granted a provisional charter to the American Institute of Applied Music, authorizing the issuing 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 3,000 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, and organist
• Mary Fidelia Burt ( –1928), taught voice, sight singing, and ear training
• Adrienne Remenyi von Ende
• Herwegh von Ende (1877– ), director of the violin department
• Tom Karl (1846–1916), Irish-American tenor who, for a period, headed the vocal department
• George Coleman Gow (1860–1938), song composer and 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 and 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 and composer; 1889–98, head of the organ department of Metropolitan College of Music; 1909–41, head of the theory department of the 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
• Ida Branth (born 1871), violinist ^[7]
• Ester Brooke, née Eberstadt
• Alfred Piccaver (1884–1958), British-American operatic tenor
• Irene Stolofsky (1896–1950), violinist
• Gertrude Hoag Wilson (1888–1968), composer and pianist
• Mabel Madison Watson (1872–1952), composer and music educator
• Celie Ellis Turner, actress and playwright

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 Archived April 1, 2012, at the Wayback Machine , The MacMillan Company (1920)
3. "Schools of Music Hold Fifth Annual Meeting," Presto-Times, pg. 10, December 8, 1928
4. "State University Talks," The New York Times , June 26, 1900
5. "Music of the United States of America," Archived October 30, 2017, at the Wayback Machine The Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, The Canadian Encyclopedia © 2010 Historica-Dominion
6. "Hanchett Henry C.," Archived March 11, 2023, at the Wayback Machine Biographical Directory of the State of New York, 1900, Biographical Directory Co., New York; OCLC   58756575
7. "Commencement of the Metropolitan College of Music". The Sun. June 4, 1891. p. 7. Retrieved May 13, 2025– via Newspapers.com.