The School of Jazz and Contemporary Music

05/01/2026

11/28/2025

New School Studio Orchestra

"What a Little Moonlight Can Do"

Soloists:
Alan Acosta, soprano saxophone
Alfie Jackson, voice
Tianxiao Wang, guitar
Jonathan Telesin, trumpet
Itay Harel, drums

Recorded in May 2025 at Bunker Studios, Brooklyn

09/10/2024

Dean Keller Coker spoke with DownBeat Magazine about how we support new students as they transition to life on campus.

“Orientation week is great,” said Coker. “The new students move into dorms in the greatest jazz neighborhood in the world, the West Village. Then they start orientation, and we have a jam session for everyone that wants to play. We also host a singer/songwriter gathering. The new students start to get to know one another, and at the end of the week all students — undergrad and grad — get together for an introductory ceremony."

High school seniors interested in studying jazz at the collegiate level have undoubtedly begun investigating a variety of collegiate music school programs around the country. Once they’ve been accepted into a jazz studies program, what…

02/23/2024

Professor Marlon Saunders brought the community together for Black Broadway, celebrating musical theater and the contributions of Black artists, performers, and composers.

Performances by Wanyana Njuki, Maya Price, Chloe Robinson, Dakota Mack, Keishona Weekes, Jazmine James, Harper Jones, Donnie T. Smith, and the amazing Broadway actor/singer Rashidra Scott.

Stream the entire performance on our YouTube channel!

Professor Marlon Saunders and singers from the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music and the School of Drama celebrate musical theater and the contributions ...

02/22/2024

The College of Performing Arts is thrilled to host a wonderful event tomorrow at the New School's John L. Tishman Auditorium: A Celebration of Black History Month, Curated by Charlotte Small.

Friday, February 23, 2024, 7:30PM

This special event will feature performers, artists, and activists, including Keynote speaker Dr. Cornel West, Arturo O’Farrill, the Buster Williams Trio, Ethel Calhoun, Mannes Orchestra performing Alvin Singleton, Charlotte Small, and more!

This event is open to the public and free with registration!

RSVP: https://event.newschool.edu/acelebrationofblackhistorymont

02/15/2024

Earlier this month, Professor Fay Victor and alum Samantha Kochis organized the Performer-Composer Alumni and Student Showcase. MMPC community members showcased innovative projects pushing the boundaries of tradition and small group improvisation.

12/04/2023

We're excited to share that Marlon Saunders has received a one-year appointment as Assistant Professor of Jazz!

Composer, Singer, Producer, and Playwright Marlon Saunders has worked with artists, including Michael Bublé, Sting, Angelique Kidjo, Graham Nash, Elvis Costello, Kesha, Cynthia Erivo, Michael Jackson, Lauryn Hill, Javier Colon, Billy Joel, Bobby McFerrin, Joe Henderson, Ron Carter, Shawn Colvin, Nine Inch Nails, Jane Siberry, Shania Twain and Martha Wash.

Saunders composed the musical work, “ISAAC: A Musical Journey,” based on the published autobiographical narrative “Life of Isaac Mason as a Slave.” This new work is part of a partnership between the Kent Cultural Alliance and Chesapeake Heartland: An African American Humanities Project at Washington College’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience. In May 2023, Saunders and the cast of “ISAAC: A Musical Journey” headed to The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for an invited workshop residency through the REACH Social Impact Theater development project.

Marlon is the CEO and founder of The Seamless Voice, a vocal coaching and artist consulting company whose clients include Broadway actress, singer, producer, and Tony-nominated actor LaChanze, “The Color Purple,” “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical,” and “Trouble In Mind,” Tony Award Nominee, Jaquel Spivey: “A Strange Loop,” Kimberly Marable: “Sister Act,” “The Lion King” and “Hadestown,” Rashidra Scott: “Company,” “Ain’t Too Proud-The Life And Times Of The Temptations,” and “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical,” Tony Award Nominee Celia Gooding: “Jagged Little Pill,” Dyllon Burnside: “Thoughts Of A Colored Man”, the tv series “Pose” and pop recording artist, Elle Winter. Marlon is the voice coach and vocal consultant for the animated Netflix series, “Spirit Rangers.”

From 2015 to 2017, Marlon toured with Stevie Wonder on The Songs In The Key of Life Tour as choir director. He has served as a vocal contractor for Sam Smith, Bastille, Logic, Mondo Cozmo, and Andrea Bocelli.

Marlon appears in the film Enchanted as The Calypso Singer who sings the Academy Award-nominated song "How You Know" with Amy Adams.

Photo by Rinako Sakamaki

11/15/2023

Congratulations to the faculty and alumni from the Mannes School of Music and the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music for their 2024 Grammy Award nominations!

Cécile McLorin Salvant, JoAnn Falletta, Robert Glasper, Julian Lage, Dave Glasser, Lakecia Benjamin, David T. Little, Emilio Solla, Darcy James Argue, Toyin Spellman-Diaz, Bobby Sanabria

https://blogs.newschool.edu/news/2023/11/faculty-and-alumni-from-the-college-of-performing-arts-mannes-jazz-drama-earn-variety-of-2024-grammy-nominations/

11/03/2023

Students performed at The New School's inaugural City Visionary Awards this week.✨ The event celebrated visionaries who strive to make New York City more equitable, sustainable, and joyful through their high-impact work.

📸 by MacKenna Lewis