Its President Colin Murdoch , was appointed in 1992, and that same year the Conservatory celebrated its 75th anniversary with distinguished visiting faculty that included John Adams and Elliott Carter . Composers John Corigliano , Witold Lutoslawski , Ursula Mamlok , George Perle , and Lou Harrison , who lives in the San Francisco area, have lead other recent master classes. A festival in honor of Harrison took place recently, and periodically throughout a full school year Harrison spoke, gave master-classes and his music was programmed often. The school is quite small with only about 300 students, and there is a large faculty.
Every student gets a lot of attention.
An effort is made to provide a nurturing and supportive atmosphere. When I spoke with Conrad Susa , he told me that he was astounded at the difference in his experience at San Francisco Conservatory as compared with Juilliard . He said there is much less pressure, but the same high standards. In addition to Susa, the composition faculty includes Elinor Armer , David Conte , Andrew Imbrie , and Alden Jenks . Student composers study with one teacher at a time, but they have no restrictions and change at will.