Giving

Carol Lieberman is easing the financial burden of future violinists by endowing a Precollege Scholarship in her name.

Carol Lieberman is a multi-faceted violinist, chamber musician, concerto soloist, concertmistress, recording artist, educator and lecturer.

Appearing in concert venues from Carnegie to Caracas to Krakow, she has played with such ensembles as the Mostly Mozart Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Handel & Haydn Society, Toronto Symphony and Israel Philharmonic. In addition to her expertise in the traditional violin repertoire, she is recognized as one of America’s leading exponents of Baroque violin performance and noted for championing contemporary works. The scope of Lieberman’s versatility can be seen in her many recordings of music by J.S. Bach, C.P.E. Bach, J.C. Bach, Simon LeDuc, Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Erno Dohnanyi, Franz Schubert, Vittorio Rieti, Elliott Carter and Olivier Messiaen. A review of her most recent album, The Art of Carol Lieberman, a two-CD compilation of the recordings she made throughout her career, lauded her as “a world-class artist with a bold, distinctive sound…a violinist’s violinist.” 

A dedicated educator, Lieberman taught modern and Baroque violin at Boston University for two decades, while concurrently teaching at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, from which she retired after 34 years of distinguished service as Professor of Music emerita.

Carol Lieberman credits her time as a student at Manhattan School of Music’s Preparatory Division (now the Precollege) as laying the foundation for her 60-year career as a violinist.

With degrees from the City College of New York (B.A. in History) and Yale University (where she was the first violinist to earn the Doctor of Musical Arts), Lieberman has had many mentors and influences throughout her long career. And yet, she points to the seven years she studied at Manhattan School of Music’s Preparatory Division (now the Precollege) in the early 1950s as pivotal. “There’s absolutely no way I would have become a professional violinist if not for MSM,” she proclaims. “Even at that young age (I was there from age 7 to 14), I always felt that I was taken seriously as a violinist and that my performances were professional. I received great encouragement from my teachers Alfred Troemel, Fannie Levine and Rachmael Weinstock.”

To show her gratitude, Lieberman has made very generous plans in her will to endow a Precollege Scholarship in her name. “MSM gave me what has shaped my life as a performer,” she explains. “I want to pass on to future generations of violinists what was provided for me: the chance to study music regardless of financial status. I hope to inspire others to leave a similar planned gift—however much they can afford to give and whether or not they became professional musicians.”

You can impact the future of Manhattan School of Music students, too, when you include a gift to the School in your will or other estate plan. Please contact Susan Madden at 917-493-4115 or smadden@msmnyc.edu to learn more about how to create a legacy that meets your financial needs and charitable goals.