Who We Are
The Filomen M. D’Agostino Greenberg (FMDG) Music School is a community school of the arts founded in 1913. Our mission is to empower individuals of all ages to pursue their interest and study of music while addressing the challenges posed by vision loss. Our students are children and young people enrolled in public and private schools, professional musicians, college-bound students and people who wish to enrich their lives through lifelong learning in music. Through performance and public presentations, our students demonstrate what can be achieved with accommodation and accessibility.
Student and Teacher Voices
Visionary Philanthropy
The FMDG Music School owes its existence to a series of visionary female philanthropists. The Music School was founded by the Holt sisters, Winifred and Edith, in 1905 after they returned to New York from a trip to Florence. While attending a violin recital, the sisters observed a group of children who were blind and entirely absorbed in the music. Winifred and Edith subsequently created a free ticket bureau for concert-goers who were blind. Quickly realizing that basic services were needed just as much as free tickets, the Holt Sisters began a service organization, New York Association for the Blind (later Lighthouse International), dedicated to assisting individuals who were blind and visually impaired.
In 1913 the Music School was officially established. As the Music School grew, so did the student’s needs. In the late 1930s, Florence Dix Kronsky, a dedicated benefactor of the Music School, established a volunteer program focused solely on music transcription. Working with the team of volunteers she produced beautifully hand-drawn, enlarged music, much of which is still housed within the Music School library collection to this day. The Music School continues to provide this service to students and outside musicians using music technology to produce both large print and braille music.
Established as an incorporated, independent entity in 2018, and receiving 501(c)(3) status in 2019, the FMDG Music School is proud to be named for the philanthropist and self-made stock trader Filomen M. D’Agostino Greenberg. As one of the first women to graduate from New York University Law School, Filomen’s name graces several buildings on the NYU campus today. A piano student of the Music School in her later years, her generous donation has allowed the FMDG Music School to thrive for generations of students beyond her lifetime.
For a list of our current donors, or to make a donation yourself, visit our donate page.
A Special Relationship with The Metropolitan Museum of Art
A fixture of the Music School’s contemporary history entitled ‘The Fil at the Met’ has gained recognition and a large following since its inception in 1997. A collaborative venture this annual concert was developed in an effort to provide individuals with vision loss the opportunity to experience visual art through music.
Music is selected to coincide with paintings, sculpture, decorative arts, and photographs, and accompanying verbal descriptions provide an objective perspective of the selected art. Artistic interpretation is left to the observer and listener. Often, the elements of poetry and dance are included as additional catalysts to drive the selection of art and music.
Each year the theme is diverse. The innovative concept of the concert and its high quality has developed its own loyal audience following. Over 14,000 individuals have filled Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium in The Metropolitan Museum of Art for the event. FMDG Music School is thrilled to return each year with ‘The Fil at the Met’.
