Incheon City has begun full-scale efforts to attract the Mannes School of Music from the United States to the Incheon Global Campus (IGC).
On the 28th (local time), Incheon City and the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the university at the New School Mannes School of Music in Manhattan, New York. The signing ceremony was attended by Yoo Jeong-bok, Mayor of Incheon, Yoon Won-seok, Head of the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority, Linda Rapaport, Chairperson of the New School Board, and Richard Kessler, Dean of the Mannes School of Music.
The Mannes School of Music expansion campus is being planned for establishment within the IGC located in Songdo. The Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority aims to open the school in 2026 by utilizing a four-story arts college building within the IGC. The student body will start with 30 students in the first year and grow to 500, including undergraduate and graduate students, by the tenth year, offering major departments such as piano, vocal music, and composition.
On the 28th (local time), at the New School Mannes School of Music in Manhattan, New York, Incheon Mayor Yoo Jung-bok and Dean Richard Kessler are taking a commemorative photo after signing a memorandum of understanding for the establishment of a campus within the Incheon Global Campus (IGC). [Photo by Incheon City]
The Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority expects that with the establishment of Mannes Korea, the IGC will have a more competitive educational structure in the fields of culture and arts alongside five other foreign universities, including the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) of the State University of New York at New Paltz.
Mannes School of Music, affiliated with the private comprehensive university The New School, was founded in 1916 and has produced many famous classical musicians such as Myung-whun Chung, Yekwon Sunwoo, Lee Yong-hoon, and Murray Perahia. It is globally recognized for its world-class faculty and systematic educational programs. Renowned pianists such as Richard Goode and Vladimir Feltsman also serve as faculty members at this university.
Mayor Yoo said, "Through attracting the Mannes School of Music, I hope Incheon will grow as an international city in the cultural and artistic sectors," adding, "We will actively support the necessary procedures for the swift establishment of the campus."
Dean Kessler also said, "I am deeply moved that the discussions have culminated in this MOU," adding, "The establishment of the first Mannes branch campus in Korea will be a great opportunity for both students and faculty. We plan to collaborate on faculty composition with professors from the main campus and world-renowned classical musicians."
The IGC is the first domestic educational model where Incheon City and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy have gathered competitive departments from foreign universities to form a comprehensive university. Starting with the opening of the State University of New York at Korea in 2012, the Korea campuses of George Mason University and Ghent University (Belgium) Global Campus, and the University of Utah Asia Campus opened in 2014, followed by the New York Fashion Institute of Technology in 2017.
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