Third Street Music School Settlement

Third Street Music School Settlement

Founded in 1894, Third Street Music School is the oldest community school of the arts in the United States and traces its roots to the late 19th century settlement house movement. As part of this settlement movement in which young university graduates “settled” in poor, immigrant communities to improve the quality of life, Third Street originally employed live-in social workers and gave baths to children along with their music lessons. It was the unique inspiration of Third Street founder Emilie Wagner to make high quality music instruction the centerpiece of a community settlement house that also provided social services to the immigrant population of the Lower East Side.

In this context, music would provide a source of spiritual and cultural nourishment, inspire achievement in its young students, and serve a universal language to unite the community's Jewish, Irish, Italian, Russian, Greek, and Hungarian immigrants. Third Street soon grew to include an extensive library of books and music, a rooftop playground and a summer camp in New Jersey, and provided help with housing, employment and medical care. By 1915, Ms. Wagner's vision had inspired similar music school settlements in thirty American cities.

Over the years, graduates of Third Street have joined the rosters of major symphony orchestra and opera companies across the country. The School's most famous graduates include concert violinist and music educator Josef Gingold, and renowned songwriter Irving Caesar, whose more than 2,000 works include Tea for Two, Swanee and I Want to Be Happy.