Kaufman Music Center was founded by Dr.
Tzipora Jochsberger in 1952 as a community music school. Located at 129 W. 67th St. on Manhattan's
Upper West Side, today's Kaufman Music Center is home to Merkin Hall; Lucy Moses School, New York's largest community arts school; Special Music School (PS 859), a K-12 public school that teaches music as a core subject; and the teen new music program Face the Music. First known as the Hebrew Arts School for Music and Dance, the school moved to its permanent home, the Goodman House, on W. 67th St. in 1978. Named after Abraham Goodman, the building was designed by Ashok Bhavnani in the
Brutalist style and received the
Albert S. Bard Trust Award for excellence in architecture. Merkin Hall opened its doors in 1978, and in 1991 the organization was renamed the Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center in recognition of a major gift by Elaine and
Henry Kaufman. At that time the Hebrew Arts School was renamed Lucy Moses School. In 1996, Kaufman Music Center partnered with the New York City Department of Education to open Special Music School/PS 859, a K-8 public school for musically gifted children that expanded into grades 9-12 in 2013. Major renovations by architect
Robert A.M. Stern Architects (RAMSA) in 2007 significantly improved Merkin Hall and the exterior of the building. During the early 1980s, the HAS benefited from a large influx of Jewish
émigrés leaving the
Soviet Union and arriving in New York City. Many music instructors were not allowed to take their credentials with them when they left, and having a difficult time finding equivalent positions in the United States, found a home at the Hebrew Arts School. Their former students came to the HAS to study, and the school made scholarships available for these students. Dr. Jochsberger retired in 1986 and was succeeded by Lydia Kontos until 2018, when Kate Sheeran took over as the Executive Director of Kaufman Music Center. Hedge fund manager and philanthropist
Roy Niederhoffer has served on the board of trustees of the Kaufman Center. From January to April 2021 during the
COVID-19 pandemic, Kaufman Music Center hosted the Musical Storefronts series, which presented 107 socially distanced performances inside empty storefronts on the Upper West Side, providing employment for artists impacted by the lockdowns. == Architecture and renovation ==