ABOUT

Cornerstone Music is a genre-melding chamber music series in the heart of upper Manhattan, centering the intersection of local artists and community through live performance in the light-filled sanctuary and garden spaces of Our Saviour’s Atonement/Cornerstone Center (178 Bennett Avenue, New York, NY). 

Our team at Cornerstone Music is driven by the belief that live music performance by a diverse array of contemporary local artists provides our community with a place to commune, reflect, and uplift. We focus on programming ny-based composers + performers, highlighting creative chamber music and collaborations.

Cornerstone Music began in 2002 as “Music at Our Saviour’s Atonement”. Our venue, nestled in the heart of Washington Heights in upper Manhattan, has provided our community with a welcoming and light-filled space for music for over two decades. The current team aims to continue to create a comfortable and cozy environment for our audience members.

OUR TEAM

Lauren Conroy

Executive Director

Violinist and composer Lauren Conroy is a New York-based musician who is passionate about performing contemporary music in dynamic multidisciplinary contexts. She performs solo and ensemble works spanning traditional to modern. An avid performer of new music, she is a co-founder and co-Artistic Director of Magpie Duo, and a member of the BlackBox Ensemble.

As a non-profit leader, Lauren has been the Managing Director of Ariel Rivka Dance, the Managing Director of BlackBox Ensemble, and the Program Coordinator at the 92NY School of Music and School Engagement in the Arts. Lauren brings her non-profit experience to Cornerstone Music in a way that focuses on long-term sustainability, as well as accessibility and engagement. 

Artistic Director

Matthew Schultheis

Composer and pianist Matthew is a C. V. Starr Doctoral Fellow at The Juilliard School, having completed his master's degree there in 2022. His work is driven by a love of visual art and literature, a preference for dramatic, rich, sometimes opulent textures, a reverence for present-day musicians’ inheritance of past musical idioms, and a fascination with the connections performers and listeners make between deeply familiar and newly-heard pieces.

Matthew is a co-founder and co-Artistic Director of Magpie Duo and has collaborated with the Tokyo Symphony and Juilliard Orchestras; Ensemble intercontemporain; Attacca, Mivos, JACK, and Hausmann Quartets; Indiana University New Music Ensemble, and Sound Icon. As Artistic Director of Cornerstone Music, Matthew brings his wide-ranging interest in repertoire and performance to the forefront of the organization, allowing Cornerstone Music to push the boundaries of the contemporary concert experience in New York.

get involved

Volunteers are critical to making our concerts and events series — let us know if you’d like to lend a hand.

    • check and scan tickets

    • help guests find the bathroom

    • arrive 45 minutes before the concert

    • distribute flyers in the neighborhood and with your own community

    • share event details on social media

    • invite friends + neighbors to attend