| Parent company | Carl Fischer Music |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1883 |
| Founder | Theodore Presser |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Headquarters location | King of Prussia, Pennsylvania |
| Publication types | Sheet music |
| Official website | www.presser.com |
The Theodore Presser Company is an American music publishing and distribution company located in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania and formerly based in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. It is the oldest continuing music publisher in the United States.
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Theodore Presser was born July 3, 1848 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As a young man he worked in an iron foundry helping to mold cannon balls for the army during the Civil War, then later at the Strokosch Opera Company in Pittsburgh. He eventually achieved the position of sheet music department manager at C.C. Mellor's music store in Pittsburgh, where he had begun working as a clerk.
Presser studied music at Mt. Union College, Ohio Northern University, Miami Conservatory of Music, the New England Conservatory, and the Leipzig Conservatory in Germany under Reinecke, Jadassoh, and Zwintscher. In addition, he is credited as the founder of the Department of Music at Ohio Wesleyan University. In October 1883, while serving as Director of Music at Hollins College in Roanoke, Virginia, Presser began publication of The Etude music magazine with only $250 in cash. The immediate success of his new magazine prompted him to seek larger publishing facilities in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1884. His need for music content within The Etude resulted in his establishment as a dealer and publisher.
The publishing company that Presser founded was so successful that in 1906 Presser was able to express his appreciation to those who made this success possible by establishing the Presser Home for Retired Music Teachers located on West Johnson Street in the Mount Airy section of Philadelphia. His philanthropic zeal is continued to this day through his foresight in forming the The Presser Foundation in 1916, nine years before his death. Each year, the Presser Foundation awards scholarships, grants and funds specifically to further the cause of music and music education in America.
Following the purchase of the John Church Company in 1930, the Theodore Presser Company acquired the Oliver Ditson Company in 1931. Through this acquisition, Presser traces its origins to 1783, when Batelle's Book Store (later the Oliver Ditson Company), began a music publishing business in Boston, Massachusetts.
In 1972, the Theodore Presser Company acquired Elkan-Vogel and its locally represented agencies (including Hamelle et cie., Henry Lemoine et cie. and others), making the Theodore Presser Company a major distributor of French music in the United States.
On August 31, 2004, Presser closed its retail music stores in both King of Prussia and Center City Philadelphia. The company now focuses primarily on publishing and distribution activities from its headquarters in King of Prussia.
In addition to its own catalog, Presser represents the music of more than 70 U.S. and foreign publishers including Universal Edition, Peermusic Classical, Éditions Alphonse Leduc, and Bärenreiter-Verlag.