High School of Music & Art
The High School of Music & Art | |
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Address | |
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443-465 West 135th Street New York , New York United States | |
Information | |
Type | Public specialized school High school |
Established | 1936 |
Founder | Fiorello H. LaGuardia |
Closed | 1984 |
Principal | Richard A. Klein (1969–1987) |
Grades | 9–12 |
Campus | urban |
Color(s) | burgundy & light blue |
Nickname | M&A |
Merged with | High School of Performing Arts |
To form | Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & the Arts |
Website | http://www.alumniandfriends.org/ |
The High School of Music & Art, informally known as "Music & Art" (or "M&A"), was a public specialized high school located at 443-465 West 135th Street in the borough of Manhattan, New York, from 1936 until 1984. In 1961, Music & Art and the High School of Performing Arts (est. 1947) were formed into a two-campus high school. The schools fully merged in 1984 into the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & the Arts.
Colloquially known as "The Castle on the Hill," the building that once housed Music & Art is located in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood of Harlem, in the campus of the City College of New York across the street from St. Nicholas Park. The building now houses the A. Philip Randolph Campus High School, a magnet school of the New York City Department of Education.
History
New York City Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia started the high school in 1936, an event he described as "the most hopeful accomplishment" of his administration.[1] As the mayor of New York City he wanted to establish a public school in which students could hone their talents in music, art and the performing arts. Music & Art was made up of three departments: Art, Instrumental Music, and Vocal Music. It was a magnet school, meant to draw talented students from all boroughs. In 1948, a sister school – the High School of Performing Arts – was created in an effort to harness students' talents in dance.
Future Mad magazine contributors Al Jaffee, Will Elder, Harvey Kurtzman, John Severin, and Al Feldstein all attended Music & Art together in the 1930s.[2][3] Comic book artists Ross Andru and Mike Esposito, did as well, though they were slightly younger than Jaffee and the rest.
R. O. Blechman, Milton Glaser, Ed Sorel,[4] and Reynold Ruffins[5] – three of the four co-founders of the design firm Push Pin Studios – were M&A students in the 1940s. Other M&A graduates from the 1940s include Bess Myerson, Allan Kaprow, and Hal Linden.
Notable graduates from the 1950s included Gloria Davy,[6] Diahann Carroll, Susan Stamberg, Jonathan Tunick, Billy Dee Williams, Peter Yarrow, Tony Roberts, James Burrows, Erica Jong, Felix Pappalardi, and Jeremy J. Shapiro.
Notable M&A graduates from the 1960s include Peter Hyams, Steven Bochco, Robbie Conal, Graham Diamond, Maira Kalman,[7] Bob Mankoff,[8] Diane Noomin,[9] and Margot Adler; while notable graduates from the 1970s include musicians Paul Stanley[10] and Kenny Washington.
Notable M&A grads from the 1980s include writers Jonathan Lethem[11] and Lynn Nottage, and hip-hop musicians Slick Rick.
Merger with Performing Arts
As per Mayor LaGuardia's vision, Music & Art and Performing Arts merged on paper in 1961[12] and were to be combined in one building. However, this took many years and it was not until 1984 that the sister schools were merged into a new school, the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, at a new building designed by Eduardo Catalano in the Lincoln Square area of Manhattan. The Board of Education posthumously honored Mayor LaGuardia by naming the new building after him.
Architectural significance
The 1924 gothic revival building was designed by William H. Gompert, Architect & Superintendent of School Buildings for the New York City Board of Education, to house the New York Training School for Teachers. The Training School became the New York Teachers Training College from 1931 to 1933. That school was abolished during the Depression when there was a surplus of teachers for the city's school system, and Mayor LaGuardia used the opportunity to create the High School of Music & Art.
Architecturally, the building blends in with the older gothic revival buildings of the City College campus, designed by architect George B. Post around 1900 to create a setting that came to be known as "the poor man's Harvard."
Music & Art students and graduates often referred to the building as "The Castle on the hill," a reference to the design of its gothic towers, and the decorative gargoyles done in a quirky and playful style that the Landmarks Commission report describes as "finials in the shape of creatures bearing shields." The tower rooms have dramatic acoustics, which Music & Art used as choral practice rooms. The large gymnasium features large Tudor-arch-shaped windows on two sides that at certain times during the day stream sunlight into the room. The auditorium has excellent acoustics, and features diamond-shaped amber windows that during daylight cast a warm glow on its dark wood interior. The iron ends of the auditorium seats have a casting with an image of the Tudor window arches in the gymnasium.
The building won status as a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1997.[13] According to the Landmark Commission report, this was not an expensive building for its time, and many of the structural components (like the staircase bracings in the stairwell) were left exposed to save money. Yet much thought went into humanizing the space and creating a good environment for learning, with plenty of natural light and air, expansive collaborative spaces, and much playful decoration thrown in for good measure:
The five- and six-story (plus basement and central tower) L-shaped [building] was designed in an abstracted contemporary Collegiate Gothic style and clad in limestone and mottled buff-to brown iron-spot brick, with large window bays filled with unusual folding-casement steel sash windows. Exterior articulation, divided vertically by pavilions, buttresses, and square towers, also differentiated the model school and training school portions, as well as a "churchlike" wing housing an auditorium, above which is a gymnasium.
Notable alumni
Note: students who graduated after 1984 are considered graduates of Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, not Music & Art.
- Margot Adler (1964), radio journalist
- Ross Andru (c. 1940),[14] comic book artist
- Eleanor Antin (1952), artist
- Louis Abolafia (1958), artist, presidential candidate, and countercultural figure
- Stanley Aronowitz,[15] academic and activist
- Ray Billingsley (c. 1974) – cartoonist, creator of the syndicated comic strip Curtis
- R. O. Blechman (c. 1948),[16] animator, illustrator, children's-book author, and cartoonist
- Steven Bochco (1961), TV producer & writer
- Frank Bolle,[17] cartoonist
- Nancy Brooks Brody (1980), artist
- Steven Brower (1970), designer and author
- James Burrows (1958), director
- Harriet Camen (1946), ceramics artist
- Diahann Carroll (1953), singer
- Jerome Charyn (1955), novelist
- Kvitka Cisyk (1970), singer
- Billy Cobham (1962), jazz drummer
- Gil Coggins, jazz pianist and composer
- Sal Cuevas (1972), bassist
- Kenny Drew, jazz pianist
- Robbie Conal (1961), artist
- Gloria Davy (1951), operatic soprano
- Gemze de Lappe (1939), dancer[18]
- Graham Diamond (1963), speculative fiction writer
- Will Elder (1940), cartoonist[2]
- Alvin Epstein (1943), actor and director[19]
- Mike Esposito (c. 1940),[14] comic book artist
- Al Feldstein, cartoonist and editor[2]
- Bela Fleck (1976) banjo player
- Charles Fox (1958) composer
- Dennis Francis (c. 1974), comic book artist and illustrator
- Peter Freeman, multi-instrumentalist, bassist and music composer
- Gerald Fried, composer, conductor, and oboist
- Dave Gantz (c. 1939), cartoonist
- Lenora Garfinkel (1930-2020), architect
- Milton Glaser (1947), designer
- Johnny Dorelli (1937), singer, actor, pianist
- Andy González (1968), bassist
- Jerry González (1967), bandleader, trumpeter
- Christopher Guest (~1966), screenwriter, actor, director, composer
- Charles Gwathmey[20] (1956), architect
- Larry Harlow (musician) (1957), pianist, composer
- Peter Hyams (1960), director
- Al Jaffee (1940), cartoonist[2]
- Erica Jong (1959), author
- Maira Kalman (1967), illustrator, writer, artist, and designer[7][21]
- Michael Kamen (1965), composer
- Susan Kamil, book editor and publisher[22]
- Allan Kaprow (1945), painter and performance artist
- Amy A. Kass, educator and anthologist[23]
- Everett Raymond Kinstler, artist, portrait painter
- James Howard Kunstler (1966), author, social critic
- Harvey Kurtzman (1941), cartoonist, creator of Mad Magazine[2]
- Paul Lansky (1961), composer
- Michael Lax (1947), industrial designer
- Jonathan Lethem (1982), author
- Shari Lewis (née Sonia Phyllis Hurwitz) (c. 1951) actress, puppeteer
- Hal Linden (1948), actor
- Bob Mankoff (1962), cartoonist and long-time The New Yorker magazine cartoon editor
- Ray Marcano, medical reporter and music critic[24]
- William A. Moses, real estate developer
- Bess Myerson (1941), actress and politician
- Diane Noomin (c. 1964), cartoonist
- Lynn Nottage[25] (1982), playwright
- Laura Nyro (née Nigro), (1965), singer/songwriter
- Frank J. Oteri (1981), composer and music journalist
- Brock Peters, actor
- Margaret Ponce Israel, painter and ceramist
- Nancy B. Reich[26] musicologist
- Slick Rick (1983), hip-hop musician
- Joshua Rifkin (1961), conductor and musicologist
- Tony Roberts (1957), actor
- Arlen Roth (1969) Guitarist, author, singer
- Reynold Ruffins (1948), designer
- Sandi Russell, jazz singer and writer
- Bernard Safran (1939), illustrator, artist
- Ed Seeman cartoonist, cinematographer, photographer, abstract artist, movie director
- John Severin (1940), cartoonist[2]
- Jeremy J. Shapiro (1957), critical theorist
- Joel Shatzky (c. 1960), writer and literary professor
- Ed Sorel (c. 1947), illustrator and cartoonist
- Eulalie Spence (1894-1981), writer, teacher, director, actress and playwright
- Susan Stamberg (1955), radio journalist
- Paul Stanley (1970), musician
- Jeremy Steig (1960), improvising flutist
- Daniel Stern (1946), writer, musician
- Steve Stiles (c. 1960), cartoonist
- Susan Strasberg (1956), actress
- Beth Ames Swartz, artist
- Allen Swift (1924–2010), actor, writer and magician, best known as a voiceover artist who voiced characters Simon Bar Sinister and Riff-Raff on the Underdog cartoon show[27]
- Richard Taruskin (1961), music historian[28]
- Jonathan Tunick (1954), composer and orchestrator, EGOT recipient
- Dave Valentin (1969), Latin jazz flutist
- Daniel Waitzman (1961), flutist and composer
- Kenny Washington (1976), jazz musician
- Billy Dee Williams (1955), actor
- Peter Yarrow (1955), singer/songwriter
- Sherman Yellen (1949), playwright, memoirist
- Kristi Zea (1966), production designer
References
- ^ Steigman, Benjamin: Accent on Talent -- New York's High School of Music & Art. Wayne State University Press, 1984 LCCN 64-13873.
- ^ a b c d e f Mark Evanier, Mad Art, Watson-Guptill Publications, 2002, ISBN 0-8230-3080-6.
- ^ "Mad Magazine's AL JAFFEE". acast. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
- ^ Grimes, William. "Art; The Gripes of Wrath: 25 Years of Edward Sorel". The New York Times. (May 16, 1993).
- ^ "LaGuardia Arts Alumni," Archived 2014-04-08 at archive.today LaGuardia High School official website. Accessed Dec. 26, 2014.
- ^ "Obituary: Gloria Davy". Opera News. December 3, 2012.
- ^ a b Master of the Month: Maira Kalman from IllustrationFriday.com
- ^ Mankoff, Robert. "Comics: Meet the Artist," (transcript), Washington Post (November 5, 2004).
- ^ Noomin profile Archived 2016-06-23 at the Wayback Machine, UF Conference on Comics & Graphic Novels 2003: Underground(s)]. University of Florida. Retrieved on 2008-01-30.
- ^ "Nicki Minaj Forbidden From Meeting Students at Her Old High School: "I Guess I'm Not Good Enough", E! Online, September 14, 2014.
- ^ Reed Tucker, "Fame’s Honor Roll", New York Post, September 20, 2009.
- ^ "LaGuardia Arts: The .Mission". LaGuardia High School website. Archived from the original on 22 June 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2010.
- ^ Landmark designation for the New York Training School for Teachers Archived 2017-03-01 at the Wayback Machine From www.nyc.gov. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
- ^ a b Esposito, Mike, in Stroud, Bryan D. (2008). "Mike Esposito interview (part 1)". The Silver Age Sage. Archived from the original on September 1, 2012. Retrieved February 13, 2009.
I went to the High School of Music & Art ... in Harlem
Additional, June 16, 2012. - ^ Biography Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine at Stanley Aronowitz official website. Accessed March 16, 2016.
- ^ Sorel, Edward. "1999 Hall of Fame: R.O Blechman, Advertising/Illustration". The Art Directors Club. Archived from the original on November 20, 2010. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
- ^ Bolle, Frank. "Frank Bolle". National Cartoonists Society. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y. June 23, 1924 and started drawing on any scrap of paper I could find.
- ^ Rigdon, Walter (1966). The Biographical Encyclopaedia & Who's Who of the American Theatre. New York: J.H. Heineman. p. 402.
- ^ Diane Nottle (December 11, 2018). "Alvin Epstein, Actor, Director and Master of Beckett, Dies at 93". The New York Times.
- ^ BERNSTEIN, FRED A. "Charles Gwathmey, Architect Loyal to Aesthetics of High Modernism, Dies at 71," New York Times (AUG. 4, 2009).
- ^ Alumni Notes (Alumni & Friends of Fiorello H. LaGuardia HS of Music & Art and Performing Arts, Spring 2018), p. 6.
- ^ Roberts, Sam (September 10, 2019). "Susan Kamil, a Top Book Editor and Publisher, Dies at 69". The New York Times.
- ^ "Obituary: Amy A. Kass". Chicago Tribune. August 21, 2015.
- ^ Hannah, Jim (20 November 2014). "A Bronx tale". Wright State University. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
- ^ KILIAN, MICHAEL. "Playwright tells intimate tales: Lynn Nottage wrote 2 works simultaneously," Chicago Tribune (June 17, 2004).
- ^ Fonseca-Wollheim, Corinna da (2019-02-11). "Nancy B. Reich, Scholarly Champion of Clara Schumann, Dies at 94". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
- ^ Grimes, William. "", The New York Times, April 27, 2010. Accessed December 28, 2023. "Upon graduating from the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan in 1942, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps, which assigned him to a unit that trained pilots."
- ^ McBride, Jerry (2008). "Richard Taruskin". Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources. Archived from the original on 30 January 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
External links
- Website of the Alumni & Friends of LaGuardia High School of Music & the Arts
- 1977 New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission Report Archived 2006-10-04 at the Wayback Machine on the old High School of Music & Art Building that now houses the A. Philip Randolph Campus High School (pdf-format file).
- MyCastleTreasures.com a tribute to the alumni of the High School of Music and Art
- v
- t
- e
- Charter High School of the Arts (Los Angeles)
- Coronado School of the Arts (Coronado)
- Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts (Los Angeles)
- Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (Los Angeles)
- Oakland School for the Arts
- Orange County School of the Arts (Santa Ana)
- San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts
- Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts
- New World School of the Arts (Miami)
- Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School (New York City)
- High School of Art and Design (New York City)
- Beacon Charter High School for the Arts (Woonsocket)
- Austin School for the Performing and Visual Arts
- Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts
- Fine Arts Academy at McCallum High School (Austin)
- High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (Houston)
- Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (Dallas)
- Vidal M. Trevino School of Communications and Fine Arts (Laredo)
- Wilmer-Hutchins Performing Arts High School (Dallas)
- The High School of Music & Art (New York City)
40°49′06″N 73°57′00″W / 40.818379°N 73.95005°W / 40.818379; -73.95005