The Stone at The New School, led by artistic director John Zorn, will present performances five nights a week in the Glass Box Theater.

At The Heart of The Stone

At the heart of The Stone is John Zorn, who has established a venue almost unimaginable in today’s world of music presenting, one that is run exclusively through a network of volunteers. John Zorn, admired by many for knowledge of and ability to think and work across an extraordinarily wide range of styles and genres, draws heavily on his own orbit of artists in the curation of The Stone’s season. From Laurie Anderson, Susie Ibarra, Steve Coleman, Bill Laswell, The Jack Quartet, Bill Frisell, Uri Caine, Wadada Leo Smith, and countless others across the past 19 years,

The Stone at The New School will continue to be the same venue it always has, where artists and audiences can gather together to create a community around serious music making.  “From the beginning, the driving idea behind The Stone has been to provide a home for avant-garde musicians to perform in an intimate and supportive environment. The New School and The Stone are natural partners in their fundamental belief in the importance of freedom of thought and expression.

What is more, the venue has always been, and will remain, artist-centric,” says Richard Kessler, Executive Dean of College of Performing Arts and Dean of Mannes School of Music. “It has been a joy to work with my hero, John Zorn, to bring The Stone and The New School together.”

The partnership between The Stone and The New School began in 2013 when Kessler and Zorn began a monthly series of half-day residencies at The New School, “The Stone Workshops at The New School, Curated by John Zorn.” With The Stone itself now in residence, the partnership will deepen and will also include opportunities for students at The New School to attend performances, attend open rehearsals, work with The Stone through production internships, collaborate and learn from Stone artists, and more.

CoPA and a Unique Culture of Excellence

The New School’s College of Performing Arts (CoPA), formed in the fall of 2015, brings together Mannes School of Music, the iconic 100-year-old conservatory; the legendary New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, and the innovative and ground-breaking School of Drama. With each school contributing its unique culture of excellence, the College of Performing Arts creates opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration, innovative education, and world-class performances. As part of the formation of The College, Mannes has moved into the newly renovated Arnhold Hall in Greenwich Village, a state-of-the-art facility designed especially for the performing arts. Also housed in Arnhold Hall are The School of Jazz and the School of Drama’s BFA program.

As a part of The New School, students and faculty across the College of Performing Arts experience a supportive and rigorous environment with enhanced opportunities to collaborate with colleagues in a wide array of disciplines, from the visual arts and fashion design, to the social sciences, to public policy and advocacy, and more. CoPA has over 900 degree and diploma seeking students, including a variety of programs at the undergraduate and graduate level, as well as an additional 400 pre-college students at Mannes Prep.

A Hub for Experimental Performances

The Stone was founded in 1998 by the composer-performer John Zorn, who also serves as artistic director. Soon after opening, The Stone quickly established a reputation as a hub for performances by a wide range of experimental musicians-artists that defy conventional categorization.

A no-frills and no-nonsense space, The Stone was designed intentionally to focus attention on the artists and their music. Many have come to see The Stone as a sort of temple of music, where there are none of the distractions of food being sold or hustle and bustle of waiter bringing drinks to the table.  In a small and intimate environment, artists are free to perform whatever they choose and receive 100% of the ticket revenue for every show.

Over the years The Stone has presented a literal who’s who of experimental music, including many who received some of their first bookings before other venues would consider them, as well as those you would not ordinarily be able to witness in such an intimate environment through any other venue.

Contributed by The New School’s Mannes School of Music. To learn more, visit www.newschool.edu/mannes.