Who Was Jeannette Thurber?
A Biography of the Founder of National Conservatory of Music in NYC
A brief look at the of of Jeannette Thurber, who persuaded Antonin Dvorak to go to New York City and become the Director of the National Conservatory of Music.
The National Conservatory of Music was conceived by New York society matron Jennette Thurber and endowed by her huband, a wealthy grocery merchant. The school was in need of a top musical name to direct it and Thurber sent Adele Margolies, pianist and faculty member, to Europe to speak in person to Dvorak. He reluctantly agreed and in 1892 Dvorak, along with his wife Anna and two of their children left his beloved Bohemia for the new world. His arrival caused a flurry of attention in the city's musical life, as Thurber had intended.
The conservatory, situated at 128 East 17th Street, was unusual in its practise of admitting students of all races, the handicapped and those with a very rudimentary knowledge of music. The tuition was free for three years for students under the age of 24, and the faculty boasted such members as Adele Margolies and Rafael Joseffy, pianists; Leopold Lichtenberg, violinist; cellist Victor Herbert and composer Rubin Goldmark. Dvorak was expected to teach composition and orchestration to the most talented students and also to rehearse the orchestra. He was also asked to conduct 6 concerts each year of his own compositions.
New Director
Dvorak's homesickness led to his leaving the post of director for good and he sailed back to his beloved homeland on April 16,1895. Thurber lost no time in securing the services of conductor Anton Seidl, who directed the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. He was followed by Emil Paur, who was the Conservatory's director from 1899 to 1902.
Prize for American Compositions
To encourage new works, Jeannette Thurber inaugurated a prize for American composers in 1894. Some of the winners were George Whitefield Chadwick, Horatio Parker, and a woman, Marguerite Merington, for her opera Daphne. The school continued to flourish and in 1898-99 began its first series of performances in Madison Square Gardens. These concerts featured the conservatory orchestra, with guest conductors and soloists.
The National Conservatory, by 1910, had become as famous and as revered as the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. However, the money soon gave out and it fell upon Thurber and a few friend to pay the tuition for the students. After limping along for several years the conservatory finally closed its doors in 1928.
Thurber as Composer and Educator
Jeannette Thurber was interested in every aspect of musical life and did some composing herself, limiting her output to songs. She did so very much to set a higher standard of musical education in the United States and constantly encouraged American composers, and for those reasons alone, should hold a high place in musical history. However, when she died at the age of 95 on January 2,1946, she received a tiny two-inch article in the New York Times.
For further reading about American composers see Composer Lorraine Nelson-Wolf, Pianist -Composer Mana-Zucca and Composer Gena Branscombe.
Sources
Jeannette Thurber : A National Vision, by Karen Shaffer and Anya Laurence, Signature Magazine, Winter 1997.
Women of Notes , by Anya Laurence Richards Rosen Press, NYC, 1978
