The Crane School of Music was founded in 1886 by Julia Etta Crane (1855-1923) as the Crane Institute of Music, and was one of the first institutions in the country to have programs dedicated to preparing specialists in teaching music in the public schools.
“Is there any one thing more universally demanded by mankind than music? Nothing brings greater return in real understanding and development, for the time spent, than music.”
Founder, The Crane School of Music
Throughout Crane's history, the School's primary mission has been to educate music teachers with an emphasis on excellence in performance. At Crane, learning to be a teacher does not exclude or limit music performance, but uses excellence in performance as the foundation on which teaching is based. Over the years, Crane’s mission has expanded to include degrees in performance, music business, composition, theory and history, as well as programs in jazz studies, music technology, musical theatre, music in special education and piano pedagogy. Crane is proud to have many of the finest music educators, scholars and performers in the United States among its faculty and alumni.
More information about Crane history:
- The SUNY Potsdam College history page has many stories related to Crane.
- The Crane History Project is a multimedia project created in honor of the 125th anniversary of The Crane School of Music in 2014, and updated for SUNY Potsdam’s bicentennial in 2016.
- The Crane Faculty History Project documents faculty and staff members who have been associated with Crane over the years.
- A complete Crane Chorus Chronology has been compiled and updated by Gary Galo (Audio Engineer Emeritus, Class of '73) .