The mission of the David Hochstein Memorial Music School is to provide our community with excellent music and dance education in an environment which nurtures and encourages personal achievement.

In fulfillment of this mission, it is the policy of Hochstein School to:

1. Serve students of all ages.
2. Admit anyone regardless of his or her financial resources.
3. Provide the highest quality instruction at affordable prices.
4. Provide a barrier-free environment accessible to those with special needs.
5. Provide an atmosphere which welcomes everyone and challenges all students to reach their highest potential.

Paul M. Nasipak, Chair
Ann Thomas, Vice–Chair
Jacqueline A. Zuber, Treasurer
Susan J. Scanlon, Secretary
 

Betsy Archibald
Elizabeth G. Bakken
Todd D. Butler
Robert Calihan, Esq.
Jane Chapman
Sarah H. Collins
Amy Elder
Betsy T. Friedman
Linda G. Gillim
Peter C. Holloran
Robert D. Hursh
David Lane
William J. Lewandowski, Esq.
C. Alan Reeve, Esq.
Judith S. Ricker
Jeffrey A. Roloson, AIA
Christopher M. Sardone
Gregory A. Saxum, Esq.
Lawrence W. Schenck
Katherine T. Schumacher
Sidney H. Sobel, M.D.
Brian S. Story
William F. Sullivan

Advisory Directors

Dr. Carl Atkins
Eileen L. Atwood
Carol Dethlefs Menchel
Karen Harkenrider
Ronald Kwasman, D.D.S.
Frances L. Marx
Marilyn Merrigan
Peggy Savlov

Honorary Board

Michael Doran
Helen Jackson
Isaiah Jackson
Christopher Seaman
Nancy R. Turner
Jeff Tyzik

David Hochstein is born in Rochester, New York to Russian Jewish immigrants, Helena and Jacob Hochstein, who meet in this country after fleeing Czarist Russia.
 

Jacob, an educated man who could read, write and speak six languages fluently, presents David with a violin for his fifth birthday and becomes his first teacher.
 

David begins studying with one of the City’s most respected musicians, Herr Ludwig Schenck.
 

Rochester patron Emily Sibley Watson hears young David practicing violin at her neighbor’s home. She is instrumental in furthering David’s musical career, becoming his benefactor and ensuring that he receives the finest training available.

David graduates with high honors from School No. 9 and the following fall begins at East High School.

David studies under Ottakar Sevcik in Vienna, with the support of Mrs. Watson, and graduates from the Meisterschule with highest honors. (Hochstein was the first American to win triple prizes offered by this institution, and the first student ever to win both the One Thousand Crown and First State Prize.)
 

David continues his studies in St. Petersburg, Russia, with Leopold Auer, considered to be the finest violinist of the time. His stay in Russia is financed by George Eastman, friend of Mrs. Watson and founder of Kodak. Eastman later purchased two violins "for the use of David Hochstein," a 1735 Carlo Landolphi and a 1715 Stradivarius, both of which are returned to Eastman upon Hochstein’s death.
 

Hochstein makes his Carnegie Hall debut and performs as soloist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and Metropolitan Opera. Also performs in Boston, Chicago and throughout the U.S., as well as in London, Berlin, Dresden, and other European cities, all to rave reviews.
 

Hochstein composes four pieces published by noted New York publisher Carl Fisher. He also transcribes two works by Brahms, "Waltz in A minor" and "Waltz in A major."
 

David Hochstein joins the army and is assigned to the Infantry Division.
 

Second Lieutenant David Hochstein is killed in the Battle of Argonne.
 

Rochester musicians rally together for a Hochstein Memorial Concert attended by an audience of thousands. Funds raised from the concert become the nucleus of support for a proposed Memorial Music School. Additional monies are contributed by Emily Sibley Watson, George Eastman, and other Rochester patrons.
 

The David Hochstein Music School Settlement is granted a Provisional Charter by the State of New York and opens in the Hochstein family home on Joseph Avenue to 250 eager students. Graduated fees for lessons range between 10¢ and 75¢ per hour. Harold Gleason is named the first Executive Director.
 

Quickly outgrowing the modest Hochstein home, several interested citizens raise funds and select a site for construction of a new Hochstein School on 12 Hoeltzer Street, where the school thrived for nearly 50 years. (The Hoeltzer Street site was destroyed by fire in 2004.)
 

Samuel Belov replaces Harold Gleason as Executive Director.
 

Emanuel Balaban is named Executive Director, followed in 1944 by Charles Riker.
 

Ralph Bigelow is named Executive Director.
 

Paul Freeman is named Executive Director.
 

Hochstein joins the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts.
 

Hochstein becomes a member agency of the Community Chest, now the United Way of Greater Rochester. United Way funds are specifically designated to support financial assistance for both our Music & Dance and Music Therapy Programs.
 

Alice Conway is named Executive Director, followed by Interim Director Allen McHose (1968-70) and Paul Burgett (1970-71).
 

Helen Tuntland Jackson is named Executive Director.
 

Hochstein becomes the first non-degree granting community school in the country to be awarded accreditation by the prestigious National Association of Schools of Music. Hochstein is now one of only thirteen schools, nationwide, to be so honored.
 

Again, bursting at the seams, Hochstein moves to its current location in the former Central Presbyterian Church on Plymouth Avenue.
 

Dr. Carl Atkins is named President & Executive Director.
 

Dr. Margaret Quackenbush is named President & Executive Director.
 

The renovated "Performance Hall at Hochstein" opens, the final phase of a 9-year plan to renovate the entire facility.
 

Opening of the Hochstein at Canandaigua extension program, a partnership with the Canandaigua CIty School District, which serves the Finger Lakes region.
 

Central Presbyterian Church

Established in 1836 as the Bethel Church, the Central Presbyterian Church took on its new name with its move to the corner of Church Street and Sophia Street (now Plymouth Avenue N.). The church was built on the site of the home of Quaker abolitionists, Isaac and Amy Post, who used their home as station on the Underground Railroad, providing a safe haven for slaves passing on their way to freedom.

The church prospered, and in 1890 it was necessary to expand its facilities to accommodate its growing Bible school. The design of that expansion marked a change in traditional church architecture which reflected a new focus on "the community of God." In keeping with this new style, Central Presbyterian’s "auditorium" was built in the round so that everyone could gather, greet and sing together. Subsequently, a church school wing was also added.

As the largest auditorium in Rochester at the time, the church was host to traveling preachers, lecturers, and visiting choirs and soloists. In 1895, it was the site of a massive funeral service for Frederick Douglass, and in following years it was the scene of citywide memorial services for President William McKinley and Susan B. Anthony.

However, as the years passed, an increasing number of people moved from the city to the suburbs, and membership in downtown churches began to dwindle. Other groups then gathered to fill the pews. During the 1960’s, angry African American Rochesterians, led by Franklin Florence and Bernard Gifford, rallied there to challenge Eastman Kodak and the Rochester School Board, and later it was the site of Vietnam War protests.

In 1974, three of the City’s Presbyterian churches, including Central Presbyterian, merged to form the congregation of the Downtown United Presbyterian Church (also called Brick Church and located on North Fitzhugh Street). Soon thereafter, Hochstein School became the major tenant of the Central Presbyterian Chuch. With help from the Presbyterian Church, the United Way and the Rochester Department of Community Development, $180,000 was contributed to repair the exterior of the building. An additional community fund drive raised $35,000 for minor remodeling of the interior before the school moved in.

In 1978, Hochstein purchased the building for $1, considered to be an appropriate fee in light of the long tradition of the importance of music in that house of worship. Further renovations to the lower level studios were accomplished in the 1980’s, and two major capital campaigns followed, the first to renovate the entire educational facility, the second to renovate the "auditorium," now known as the Performance Hall at Hochstein.