The National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) is an association of post-secondary music schools in the United States and the principal U.S. accreditor for higher education in music. It was founded on October 20, 1924, and is based in Reston, Virginia. The association's accreditation of schools of music began in 1939. It is currently headquartered in Reston, Virginia.

NASM is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation as a programmatic accreditation organization for institutions offering degree and non-degree educational programs in music and music-related disciplines.^[1][2] It currently has approximately 625 accredited institutional members, including specialty schools of music, conservatories, and universities offering music programs.

On June 10, 1924, leaders from six music schools met to organize the inaugural convention of the "National Association of Schools of Music and Allied Arts", which was held on October 20, 1924 in Pittsburgh. The six founding schools were:

1. Burnet Corwin Tuthill (1888–1982), Cincinnati Conservatory of Music
2. John James Hattstaedt (1851–1931), American Conservatory of Music (1886–1991)
3. Kenneth McPherson Bradley (1872–1954), Bush Conservatory of Music, which merged in 1932 with The Chicago Conservatory College under duress of the Great Depression
4. Arthur Wright Mason (1866–1955), Louisville Conservatory of Music, which merged in 1932 with the University of Louisville under duress of the Great Depression
5. Charles Newell Boyd (1875–1937), Pittsburgh Musical Institute, which merged in 1963 with the University of Pittsburgh
6. Edwin John Stringham (1890–1974), Wolcott Conservatory of Music, founded in 1920 and in 1925 was reorganized and renamed as the Denver College of Music

The attendees at the first NASM Convention of October 20, 1924, decided to officially form the "National Association of Schools of Music and Allied Arts." The accreditation aspect of NASM, though, did not launch until about 1929. The charter members currently in existence are:

• The Music Conservatory of Chicago College of Performing Arts
• Cleveland Institute of Music
• Converse College, Spartanburg, South Carolina
• Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester
• New England Conservatory of Music, Boston
• Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
• Oberlin College
• Syracuse University
• University of Cincinnati
• University of Iowa, Iowa City
• University of Kansas, Lawrence
• University of Michigan
• University of Nebraska, Lincoln
• University of Oregon
• University of the Pacific, Stockton, California
• University of Southern California
• Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, Milwaukee
• Yale University

NASM's founding officers were Kenneth M. Bradley, President; Burnet C. Tuthill, Secretary; and Charles N. Boyd, Treasurer.^[3][4]

• 1924–1928 — Kenneth McPherson Bradley (1872–1954), Bush Conservatory of Music
• 1928–1931 — Harold Lancaster Butler (1874–1957), Syracuse University, University of Kansas
• 1932–1935 — Earl Vincent Moore (1890–1987), University of Michigan
• 1935–1944 — Howard Harold Hanson (1996–1981), Eastman School of Music
• 1944–1948 — Donald Malcolm Swarthout (1894–1962), University of Kansas
• 1948–1952 — Price Asher Doyle (1896–1967), Murray State University
• 1953–1962 — Thomas Artur Gorton, PhD (1910–1997), University of Kansas (served 4 terms as president)
• 1955–1958 — Erza William Doty PhD (1907–1994), University of Texas at Austin
• 1962–19?? — Charles Brownlow Hunt, Jr. (1916–2002), Peabody College
• 1968 - Robert Hargreaves, Ball State University^[5]
• 1971–1972 — Carl Melvin Neumeyer (1911–1972), Illinois Wesleyan University
• 1976–1978 — Warner Imig (1910–2005), University of Colorado at Boulder
• 1983–1985 — Thomas W. Miller, Northwestern University
• 1986–1988 — Robert Burr Glidden (born 1936), Florida State University
• 1989–1991 — Robert J. Werner, University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music
• 1992-1994 — Fred Miller DePaul University
• 1995–1997 — Harold M. Best, (born 1931), Wheaton College, Illinois
• 1998–2000 — J. William Hipp (born 1934), University of Miami School of Music
• 2001–2003 — David J. Tomatz, PhD (1935–2014), University of Houston
• 2004–2006 — Karen Lias Wolff, University of Michigan, Oberlin Conservatory of Music
• 2007–2009 — Daniel Sher, University of Colorado at Boulder
• 2010–2012 — Donald Gibson, Florida State University
• 2013–2015 — Mark Wait, Vanderbilt University
• 2016–2018 — Sue Haug, Pennsylvania State University
• 2019-2021 — Robert Earl Bays (born 1921)

• List of recognized accreditation associations of higher learning
• United States Department of Education
• European Association of Conservatoires (AEC)
• National Association for Music in Higher Education, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

General references

• Carl Melvin Neumeyer (1911–1972), "The History of the National Association of Schools of Music," Doctor of Music Education dissertation, Indiana University, Bloomington (1954) OCLC 9483822
• Carl Melvin Neumeyer (editor) (1911-1972), By-laws and regulations, National Association of Schools of Music (1965) OCLC 4558345
• Bulletin of the National Association of Schools of Music OCLC 3537484 OCLC 592934302 OCLC 613197394
• Burnet Corwin Tuthill (1888–1982), NASM, the first forty years; a personal history of the National Association of Schools of Music, National Association of Schools of Music (1973) OCLC 624531 LCCN 73-159574
• Sheila A. Barrows (born 1931) (compiler & editor), Historical Perspectives, 1924-1999: National Association of Schools of Music, Seventy-Fifth Anniversary, National Association of Schools of Music (1999) OCLC 43434388ISBN 1879120054 ISBN 9781879120051 ISBN 1-879120-05-4

Inline citations

• Official website