Notable Alumni

Since graduating from Mannes, Nadine Sierra, BM Performance '10, has become a radiant presence in the world's greatest opera houses, including New York Metropolitan Opera, Berlin State Opera, and La Scala Paris. She has presented recitals at prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall's Weill Hall and the U.S. Supreme Court. Sierra has won numerous awards, including the 2017 Richard Tucker Award and the 2018 Beverly Sills Artist Award. She has been featured in Vogue, Nylon, Bon Appétit, Opera News, and Elle and on the cover of Classical Singer magazine.

In 2017, Yekwon Sunwoo, PDPL Piano '15, became the first Korean to receive a gold medal in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Sunwoo has toured the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia, and Latin America as a soloist. Previously, he won first prizes at the International German Piano Award, Vendome Prize, Sendai International Music Competition, and William Kapell International Piano Competition. Decca Gold released his celebrated performances of Ravel's La Valse and Rachmaninoff's Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 36, just after Sunwoo won the Cliburn competition.

Murray Perahia, BS Music '69, performs with leading orchestras around the world as one of the world's most sought-after pianists. He won the Leeds International Piano Competition after studying conducting and composing at Mannes. He serves as principal guest conductor of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and is an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music. In 2004, Perahia was awarded an honorary KBE in recognition of his outstanding service to music.

Soon after Semyon Bychkov, UDPL Music '76, enrolled at Mannes as a Leningrad Conservatory graduate and recent Soviet émigré, then-president Risë Stevens recruited him to conduct the school's orchestra. Bychkov proved to be an exceptional orchestra leader. Today he is the chief conductor and music director of the Czech Philharmonic and performs at legendary venues around the world. Bychkov holds honorary titles at the Royal Academy of Music and the BBC Symphony and in 2015 was named Conductor of the Year by the International Opera Awards.

Valerie Coleman, BFA Composition '99, started composing symphonies when she was just 14. As an undergraduate, she studied theory, composition, and flute and continued at Mannes as a master's student in flute performance. She is an acclaimed soloist and founder, composer, and flutist of the Grammy-nominated Imani Winds ensemble. Coleman was recently named one of the Top 35 Female Composers in Classical Music by the Washington Post. In 2011, she created a summer mentorship program that has welcomed musicians from more than 100 institutions worldwide.

The New York Times praised Yonghoon Lee, MM Performance '04, for his “big ringing voice and top notes to burn” while he was still a Mannes master's student. South Korean-born Lee soon cemented his reputation with competition wins and celebrated debuts at companies including London's Royal Opera, New York Metropolitan Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Vienna State Opera, Rome Opera, San Francisco Opera, and Opera Australia. Today he is a leading tenor of his generation, performing around the world while continuing to be mentored by Mannes professor Arthur Levy.