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TOP  STORIES  IN  NEW  YORK

By  CORINNE  RAMEY

On  the  first  day  of  classes  at  Mannes,  the  music  conservatory  of  the  New  School,

incoming  freshmen  milled  around  the  lobby.  Granted,  it  was  only  the  first  day,  but

what  would  they  do  after  graduation?

"Be  the  principal  trombone  in  the  New  York  Philharmonic,"  said  Di  Wang,  a  20-­year-­

old  Mahler  fan  (the  third  and  fifth  symphonies,  to  be  exact)  wearing  a  Nike  "Linsanity"

T-­shirt.

"Play  piano,  everywhere,"  said  Javier  Ortega,  19.  "Be  a  concert  musician,  and

hopefully  a  soloist."

"Be  a  composer  and  scholar  and  activist,"  said  Angel  Asangsaerhanda,  19.

Today's  classical  music  landscape,  and

the  one  these  students  will  enter  in  four

years,  looks  vastly  different  than  that  of

several  decades  ago.  Orchestras

across  the  country  have  suffered

bankruptcy,  strikes  and  lockouts,  and

audiences  are  graying.  For  many

performers,  the  National  Endowment  for

the  Arts  and  CDs  have  been  replaced

by  Kickstarter  and  Spotify.

"Back  in  the  day,  the  assumption  was,

'Well,  I'm  going  to  be  a  trombonist,  and  I'm  going  to  play  in  a  large  orchestra,  and

that's  going  to  be  my  life,'"  said  Joseph  Polisi,  the  president  of  Juilliard.  "It  sure

doesn't  work  that  way  now."

Interviews  with  a  dozen  incoming

Mannes  freshmen  yielded  certain

patterns:  Students  who  play  orchestral

instruments  anticipate  symphonic

careers.  Composition  majors  and,  to  a

lesser  extent,  pianists  were  likely  to  list

several  activities—teaching,  performing,

Cassandra  Giraldo  for  The  Wall  Street  Journal

The  Mannes  School  of  Music

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film  scoring,  owning  a  coffee  shop—thatthey  could  imagine  in  their  futures.

Leaders  of  New  York's  three  majorconservatories—Juilliard,  Mannes  andManhattan  School  of  Music—allacknowledge  the  need  for  pre-­professional  training  that  addresses  theprospects  and  realities  of  a  competitivemarketplace.  Much  of  this  involvespreparing  students  for  what  MannesDean  Richard  Kessler  called  a  "D.I.Y.

world,"  one  in  which  musicians  create  their  own  performance  opportunities.

Today's  economic  kick-­in-­the-­pants  is  not  necessarily  a  bad  thing.  "I  think  the  semi-­crisis  we're  in  could  be  one  of  the  best  things  that  could  ever  happen  to  classicalmusic,"  said  Manhattan  School  of  Music  President  James  Gandre,  who  believes  thegenre  is  viewed  as  so  sacred  that  it's  hard  to  break  from  conventions.

Juilliard  and  the  Manhattan  School  take  similar  approaches,  both  offering  electiveclasses,  mentoring  and  workshops.  Juilliard  also  awards  grants  for  summerentrepreneurial  projects.

"I'm  not  a  fan  at  all  of  legislating  entrepreneurial  qualities,"  said  Mr.  Polisi.  In  perhapsthe  musical  equivalent  of  sneaking  kale  into  a  smoothie,  Juilliard  instructors  do  thingslike  asking  a  member  of  the  orchestra's  viola  section  to  talk  to  the  audience  during  aninformal  performance,  he  said.

Violinist  Glenn  Dicterow,  who  teaches  at  Juilliard  and  chairs  the  Manhattan  School'sorchestral  performance  graduate  program,  said  that  about  90%  of  his  students  enterwith  dreams  of  a  solo  career.  When,  by  the  second  or  third  year,  he  has  careerdiscussions  with  them,  most  will  suggest  a  career  as  a  chamber  musician.

This  is  not  terribly  lucrative,  he  tells  them:  "You'd  be  better  off  as  an  electrician."

"What's  left  for  us  to  do  to  make  a  living?"  he  asked.  "We  love  our  craft."  (Job-­searchtip:  Mr.  Dicterow's  day  job,  concertmaster  of  the  New  York  Philharmonic,  will  be  openafter  he  retires  from  the  orchestra  at  the  end  of  this  season.)

Mannes,  once  among  the  most  conservative  music  schools  in  the  country,  ismandating  a  different  approach  to  pre-­professional  training,  whether  students  like  it  ornot.  The  school  has  revamped  its  curriculum  and  plans  to  move  into  a  building  on  13thStreet,  near  the  rest  of  the  New  School,  in  fall  2015.

Starting  this  semester,  performance  students  will  be  required  to  study  improvisation,composition  and  entrepreneurship.  The  school  will  reduce  the  number  of  pianists  andvoice  students  while  doubling  the  number  of  composition  majors,  which  Mr.  Kesslerbelieves  will  contribute  to  the  school's  new  focus  on  contemporary  music.  "If  youdon't  want  it,  don't  come  to  Mannes,"  he  said.

Mannes  will  also  add  new  ensembles  like  a  technology-­based  iOrchestra.  Itscurrently  loosely  defined  existence  is  a  puzzle,  and  meant  to  help  students  thinkabout  ways  of  changing  traditional  music  practices,  said  Mr.  Kessler.  "All  thesequestions?  That's  why  we're  doing  it,"  he  said.

There  is  an  economic  component  to  Mannes's  motivation  as  well.  It  will  no  longer  offerliberal-­arts  classes,  instead  requiring  students  to  take  those  courses  in  otherdivisions  of  the  New  School.  Not  only  will  the  quality  of  the  classes  be  higher,  said  Mr.Kessler,  but  musicians  will  meet  students  in  other  disciplines.  He  hopes  the  changeshelp  the  school  develop  a  competitive  edge  and  unique  identity  that  will  help  withfundraising  and  recruitment.

There  has  been  dissent  from  some  students  and  faculty.  But  most  college  students

Cassandra  Giraldo  for  The  Wall  Street  Journal

Freshman  piano  major  Margaryta  Popova,  18,  atthe  Mannes  School  of  Music.

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don't  have  a  sense  of  the  real-­world  skills  they'll  need  after  graduation,  he  said.  "Theygraduate  and  get  hit  by  this  brutal  brick  wall:  'How  come  I  don't  know  that,  how  comethey  didn't  teach  me  that?'"

Without  taking  a  single  entrepreneurship  class,  some  are  already  thinking  aboutsubjects  like  fundraising.

"I  want  to  earn  lots  of  money  and  then  organize  a  charity  foundation  for  talented  kids,"said  Mannes  pianist  Margaryta  Popova,  18.  How  will  a  pianist  earn  lots  of  money,exactly?  "Teaching,  playing,  winning  competitions,"  she  said.  "Or  I  could  marry  a  richman."

A  version  of  this  article  appeared  August  31,  2013,  on  page  A20  in  the  U.S.  edition  of  The  Wall  StreetJournal,  with  the  headline:  Classical  Music,  Modern  Problems.

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