History
History
The Network of Music Career Development Officers (NETMCDO) was founded in 1995 by Angela Beeching, of New England Conservatory at the time, and John Blanchard, of Manhattan School of Music.
The original goal was simply to gather together colleagues at similar music schools throughout the U.S. to discuss issues and get to know each other. When we began to widen our circle and advertise our annual meetings in New York, we saw more and more interest from schools without career centers for musicians or course work on the business of music. We have grown into an inclusive organization where “veterans” and “novices” alike share viewpoints, experiences, and knowledge.
NETMCDO is now a thriving network with members across the world. The Network holds an annual two-day conference to delve into vital topics of the field. For several years now, John Steinmetz has be an integral ingredient in our successful organization.
Our conference locales:
- For the first 11 years, the New York conferences were held at Manhattan School of Music.
- To celebrate our tenth anniversary in 2005, a conference in London was convened for April 6–8 — coordinated by Sue Sturrock of the Royal College of Music — in addition to our January meeting in New York.
- Beginning in 2007, we moved our venue to the historic Players Theatre in Greenwich Village.
- We returned to Manhattan School of Music for 2012–15.
- The Colburn School in Los Angeles was the site of our 2016, 2017, and 2018 events.
- We returned to NYC and Manhattan School of Music in May 2019.
- Our plans for 2020 were interupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and a Virtual Zoom conference was created in its place for June 2 & 3.
We hope that you will consider becoming a part of our history as well, by joining our discussions online (Facebook) or at an annual conference.