Partners
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Founded as a community music school by Janet Daniels Schenck in 1918, today MSM is recognized for its more than 985 superbly talented undergraduate and graduate students who come from more than 50 countries and nearly all 50 states; its innovative curricula and world-renowned artist-teacher faculty that includes musicians from the New York Philharmonic, the Met Orchestra, and the top ranks of the jazz and Broadway communities; and a distinguished community of accomplished, award-winning alumni working at the highest levels of the musical, educational, cultural, and professional worlds.
The School is dedicated to the personal, artistic, and intellectual development of aspiring musicians, from its Precollege students through those pursuing doctoral studies. Offering classical, jazz, and musical theatre training, MSM grants a range of undergraduate and graduate degrees. True to MSM’s origins as a music school for children, the Precollege program continues to offer superior music instruction to 475 young musicians between the ages of 5 and 18. The School also serves some 2,000 New York City schoolchildren through its Arts-in-Education Program, and another 2,000 students through its critically acclaimed Distance Learning Program.
In 2019, Manhattan School of Music launched the Cultural Inclusion Initiative (CII). The mission of the CII is to foster diversity, equity, and inclusive practices throughout the School by auditing current practices, identifying areas where additional attention is needed to achieve change, and creating regular discussion forums for students, faculty, and staff.
Manhattan School of Music’s Mission Statement
Manhattan School of Music is deeply committed to excellence in education, performance, and creative activity; to the humanity of the School’s environment; to preparing all our students to find their success; and to the cultural enrichment of the larger community. A premier international conservatory, MSM inspires and empowers highly talented individuals to realize their potential. We take full advantage of New York’s abundant learning and performance opportunities, preparing our students to be accomplished and passionate performers, composers and teachers, and imaginative, effective contributors to the arts and
Learn More at MSMNYC.EDU.
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The Art Song Preservation Society of New York (ASPS) is a nonprofit arts organization dedicated to preserving, revitalizing, and promoting the art song repertoire and the art song recital. We do this by providing a variety of enriching and engaging programs, services, and events that promote the education and performance of vocal concert repertoire.
ASPS serves the New York City area by creating opportunities for education and performance in the genre of classical art song vocal literature to classical singers, piano collaborators, and art song aficionados. Our organization also generates exposure for emerging and established composers of art song to their key public – singers, teachers, accompanists, and enthusiasts! We offer opportunities for artistic development such as private and group voice lessons, workshops, a master class series, and educational lectures through the year. In addition to creating performance opportunities for emerging artists, we also sponsor both the Mary Trueman Vocal Arts Competition and a mentoring program for singers and pianists.
Past master class teachers include Dalton Baldwin, Mark Markham, Thomas Grubb, Thomas Muraco, Neil Semer, Andrea DelGiudice, Corradina Caporello, Frank Daykin, Marni Nixon, among others.
Personnel
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Alexa (she/her) is the Senior Director of anti-racism, equity, belonging at The Public Theater. There, she oversees their Cultural Transformation Plan and serves on the artistic leadership team.
She previously served Associate Vice President for Strategic Innovation and Special Initiatives at Manhattan School of Music where she supported special projects for the Office of the President and led MSM’s Cultural Inclusion Initiative (CII).
She holds degrees in voice from Manhattan School of Music and Roosevelt University an MBA from Boston University. She has completed Inclusive Leader training with Jennifer Brown Consulting and is an alumna of the SphinxLEAD Program, a 2-year professional empowerment program designed to evolve the landscape of arts leadership.
Previously, she was Director of Marketing at New York City Opera where she oversaw marketing and planning operations and created partnerships with The LGBT Community Center, The Mexican Consulate and Mexican Cultural Institute NY, The Stonewall at 50 Consortium, Ucross Foundation, and a feature on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.
She is a host for WQXR’s Young Artist Showcase, a Metropolitan Opera Radio correspondent, and a frequent guest on The Met Quiz show.
Photo: Leslie Rodriguez
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Chira Bell (they/them) is the Assistant Director for Financial Aid at Manhattan School of Music. They provide freelance assistance to various opera singers in New York City, including J’Nai Bridges, mezzo-soprano, for whom Chira has worked since 2022.
Contributing to the community is a cornerstone value of Chira’s work, and they do so in part by serving on the Interstaff Committee and Cultural Inclusion Committee at Manhattan School of Music. As well as the honor of advising the Black Student Union. Duncan Williams is the pinnacle of this work.
They hold a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the Manhattan School of Music.
While at Manhattan School of Music, Chira served in many community leadership roles, including two-term Presidencies of both the Student Government Association and Queer People for the Betterment of Society, along with working with the Black Student Union and founding multiple community groups. They were also in active leadership roles with ClassiX Arts and Virginia Governor’s School of the Performing and Visual Arts and Humanities.
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In addition to being a recognized leader in arts administration, Blair Boone-Migura is also an educator, classical musician, and was the public radio show host of Singing & Other Sins on NPR-Hawaii. He is also a published music and film journalist whose written many reviews and profiles as well as interviewed a wide range of personalities that include Grammy-winning artists, American composer, Dominick Argento and Haitian-American artist, Wyclef Jean, along with Grammy-nominated artists, American composer, Ned Rorem, German Baritone, Matthias Goerne, American classical and jazz pianists, Fred Hersch and Mark Markham. Blair is a guest lecturer at the University of Hawaii, where he teaches courses in French & German song literature and private voice lessons. He has also taught courses in vocal pedagogy, coached the opera workshop, and given masterclasses in French song. Additionally, Blair has worked as an adjunct faculty member at The New School, Hunter College, and Queensborough College in New York. In 2010, Blair founded the nonprofit arts organization The Art Song Preservation Society of New York (ASPS) where he also serves as Executive Director. ASPS is dedicated to revitalizing the art song tradition through education and performance. Blair has adjudicated the NATS vocal competitions, the Mary Trueman Art Song Vocal Competition, the Duncan Williams Vocal Competition (song division), and numerous talent shows like the semi-finals of the Ms. Teen USA competition in NYC. Blair has a bachelor’s degree in Voice Performance (honors) and a master’s degree in French Language, Literature and Culture from Syracuse University. He also studied voice and piano at the Strasbourg Conservatory of Music in Strasbourg, France, and he holds a second master's degree in Vocal Pedagogy from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, where he graduated with honors and distinction. Blair is also a recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award bestowed by the office of President Barack Obama during his administration for a demonstrated commitment to building a stronger nation through community and volunteer service. Blair is also the President of the Hawaii chapter of the Alliance Française where he has been a Board member since 2017, and he is married to Dr. Anthony Migura. They divide their time between New York City and Honolulu, Hawai'i.