San Francisco Conservatory of Music To Offer Postgraduate Diploma In Auxiliary Winds

The San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) will add a focused professional studies diploma (PSD) program to its curriculum in the 2019-20 academic year for students wishing to specialize in auxiliary wind instruments. Designed for postgraduate students, the Auxiliary Wind Instrument PSD will act as a "finishing degree" for students proficient with their primary instrument and who want to specialize in an auxiliary instrument.

"We are thrilled to offer this new degree program," says SFCM Woodwinds Chair Jeff Anderle. "No other school in the US offers a program like this, and the expertise of our faculty is extraordinary. Students will have performance opportunities in our orchestra, new music ensemble, and chamber music programs, as well as coachings and side-by-side performances with wind faculty."

Students with an orchestral focus will study with the four auxiliary wind players of the San Francisco Symphony (also on faculty at SFCM): Steven Braunstein (contrabassoon), Russ deLuna (English horn), Catherine Payne (piccolo), and Jerome Simas (bass clarinet). Jeff Anderle will oversee the diploma track and will open up a new contemporary music option for bass clarinetists who study with him.

SFCM's PSD is a one-year postgraduate diploma program designed to offer honed instruction in a specific area of study. PSD programs are available for all instruments, Technology and Applied Composition, and Historical Performance. Other postgraduate programs (beyond the master's degree) include a postgraduate diploma in vocal performance and an artist certificate in chamber music. A specialized PSD geared toward concertmasters was introduced into the curriculum in the 2017-18 academic year.

Founded in 1917, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) is a global destination for musical excellence, earning an international reputation for producing musicians of the highest caliber. Located in the heart of San Francisco's Civic Center, SFCM's faculty includes nearly 30 members of the San Francisco Symphony as well as Grammy Award-winning artists in fields ranging from orchestral and chamber performance to classical guitar. The Conservatory offers its 400-plus collegiate students fully accredited bachelor's and master's degrees and professional diplomas in composition and instrumental and vocal performance, as well as in newly established, groundbreaking tracks such as Technology and Applied Composition and Roots, Jazz, and American Music.

SFCM's collaborations with major Bay Area arts presenters, including the San Francisco Symphony, Opera, Ballet, and SFJAZZ Center, present an unprecedented learning environment for Conservatory students to engage with the world's leading artists. The Conservatory's relationships with Sony Playstation, Skywalker Sound, and other Silicon Valley companies also offer unique opportunities that reinforce the institution's innovative curricular approach in artistic, intellectual, professional, and individual development, a connected learning sequence that gives students an education for life. SFCM's collegiate and Pre-College students have appeared at such storied venues as Carnegie Hall and Davies Symphony Hall and have performed on national radio programs including NPR's Live from Here and Performance Today. Notable alumni include violinists Yehudi Menuhin and Isaac Stern, conductor and pianist Jeffrey Kahane, soprano Elza van den Heever, the Naumburg Award-winning Telegraph Quartet (on faculty as SFCM's Quartet-in-Residence), Blue Bottle Coffee founder James Freeman, and Ronald Losby (President of Steinway & Sons - Americas), among others. For more information, visit sfcm.edu.

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