The American Institute of Applied Music was a music school based in New York City. The Institute was incorporated in 1900 as an amalgamation (merger) of the following educational institutions:
- The Metropolitan College of Music (founded 1891)
- The Metropolitan Conservatory of Music (founded 1886)
- The Synthetic Piano School (founded 1887), and
- The American Institute of Normal Methods
Kate Sara Chittenden founded both the Metropolitan College of Music and the Synthetic Piano School. She served as Dean and head of the piano department at the founding Metropolitan College in 1892, and continued in both capacities at the American Institute until 1933.
The school aimed for systematic thoroughness, with emphasis upon pedagogical method, largely with reference to those expecting to teach. The average enrollment was about 350 per year. The Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians published in 1920 stated that more than 1000 teachers had received certificates. The Institute was located at 212 West 59th Street.
The National Association of Schools of Music, at its fifth annual meeting in 1928, accepted the Institute's application for membership.
New York's thirty-eighth University Convocation assembled June 25, 1900, in Albany and, among other things, granted a provisional charter to the American Institute of Applied Music, authorizing the issued of $15,000 capital stock. The University of the State of New York represents colleges, academies and other institutions subject to the visitation of the Board of Regents.
Governance
Edgar Oscar Silver (1860–1909), PresidentJohn B. Calvert, D.D., PresidentDean
Kate Sara Chittenden (1856–1949) was the founding Dean and head of the piano department from 1892 to 1933. During her lifetime, she taught more than 3000 students.Faculty
Modest Altschuler (1873–1963), Russian-American cellist, conductor, and composerPaul Ambrose (1868–1941)H. Rawlins BakerWalter S. Bogert (1865–1959)Dudley Buck (1839–1909), composer, author, organistMary Fidelia Burt ( –1928), taught voice, sight singing, and ear trainingAdrienne Remenyi von EndeHerwegh von Ende (1877– ), director violin departmentTom Karl (1846–1916), Irish-American tenor who, for a period, headed the vocal departmentGeorge Coleman Gow (1860–1938), song composer, theory professorJohn Cornelius Griggs, PhD (1865–1932)Henry G. Hanchett, professor of musical analysis and pedagogyJohn Leslie Hodgson (1880– ), pianistHarry Benjamin Jepson (1870–1952), organistMcCall L. Lanham (1877–1959), baritone voice teacher, director of the voice divisionDaniel Gregory Mason (1873–1953), composerWilliam Mason (1829–1908), composerE Presson Miller (1864–1950), voice teacherFlorence Viola OsbornAlbert Ross Parsons (1847–1933)Janet Daniels Schenck (1883–1976), founder of the Manhattan School of MusicHenry Schradieck (1846–1918), violinistHarry Rowe Shelley (1858–1947), organist and composer who taught harmony and counterpointWilliam Fairchild ShermanRaymond Huntington Woodman (1861–1943), organist, composer; 1889–1898 head of organ department Metropolitan College of Music; 1909–1941 head of theory department American Institute of Applied MusicHarry H. Sukman (1912–1984), composer and arranger for the TV western series, The High ChaparralGeorge King Raudenbush (1899–1956), violinist, orchestra conductor, and composerEster Brooke, née EberstadtAlfred Piccaver (1884–1958), British-American operatic tenor