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| Welcome to Third Street | Our Mission | A Brief History |
| A Brief History 
Founded in 1894, Third Street traces its roots to the late 19th century settlement house movement. 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 would also provide 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 - and even baths for neighborhood residents. 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 2000 works include Tea for Two, Swanee and I Want to Be Happy. Emerging professionals today include violist Masumi Per Rostad of the acclaimed Pacifica String Quartet and violinist Jessie Montgomery of Community MusicWorks, which was hailed by Alex Ross in The New Yorker for its "revolutionary" melding of professional performance with instruction for low-income urban youth (September 4, 2006 issue). Distinguished past directors of Third Street have included David Mannes, concert violinist and founder of the Mannes College of Music, and conductor Julius Rudel. Over the years, as the ethnic makeup of the Lower East Side has changed and government agencies have taken on many of the social services once shouldered by settlement houses, Third Street has evolved to meet the changing needs of the community. When the budget crises of the 1970s forced the New York City School Board to cut virtually all arts education, Third Street stepped in to provide music instruction in public schools on the Lower East Side. In 1983, Third Street established a fully licensed nursery school program to address neighborhood demands for an arts-infused preschool program. Today, as they always have, Third Street's programs of high quality arts instruction help children thrive in school and in life by promoting healthy personal and academic development, by opening avenues to further study and eventual careers, and by encouraging a lifelong love of music, dance and the visual arts. back to top |
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