New England Conservatory of Music

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The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) in Boston, Massachusetts is the oldest independent conservatory in the United States.

Today, NEC is widely known to be among the world's leading musical institutions, and is the only music school in the nation designated as a National Historic Landmark, thanks to Jordan Hall, NEC's hundred-year-old central performance space. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma once said, "I love Jordan Hall for its unbelievable acoustics. And for its warmth and intimacy. But most of all for the sense of event when you go there."^[1] The hall is home to some 600+ student performances each academic year, and is also frequently used by 3rd parties including outside organizations, touring artists and guests. Both the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and the Boston Philharmonic hold residencies at Jordan Hall.

The school is home each year to 750 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate studies along with hundreds more in its Preparatory School as well as the School of Continuing Education. The conservatory offers 5 year joint double degree programs with Harvard University and Tufts University as well as cross registration with Tufts, Northeastern University, and Simmons College.

[edit] History

NEC was founded in 1867 by Eben Tourjee, who modelled it after the European conservatories of that time. Initially located in a eastern region of Boston, in 1902 it was moved a few miles west to the present location in the Symphony/Prudential Neighborhood on Huntington Avenue. In 1881, when Henry Lee Higginson established the Boston Symphony Orchestra, he drew heavily on school's faculty to serve as section leaders. Today, the school and the orchestra continue to share a close association - nearly half of the BSO is composed of conservatory faculty and alumni, a remarkable statistic. Not surprisingly, the BSO string section is also considered the orchestra's strongest asset, representative of the strings department at NEC. When Boston established its first full-scale opera company in 1908, the manager, conductors, soloists, orchestra, chorus, library, and rehearsal rooms were all provided by the conservatory. After the demise, Boris Goldovsky's Opera Theater gave local audiences their first fully-staged performances in more than a decade. In 1958, Goldovsky's protégé Sarah Caldwell founded the Opera Company of Boston, which gained international acclaim for its innovative programming.

Jordan Hall, NEC's central performing space and one of the world's great recital halls, turned 100 in 2003.

[edit] Campus

The NEC campus consists of three buildings occupying the block on Gainsborough Street between St. Botolph Street and Huntington Avenue, one block from the corner of Huntington and Massachusetts Avenue where the world renowned Boston Symphony Hall is situated. The Jordan Hall Building whose main entrance is located at 30 Gainsborough Street with a side door at 290 Huntington Avenue is NEC's main building, home to Jordan Hall, Williams Hall, Brown Hall, the Keller Room, the Idabelle Firestone Audio Library, the Performance Library, professor studios/offices, and practice rooms. The second building, at 33 Gainsborough street, is the Residence Hall, a coed dormitary which also houses the Harriet M. Spaulding Library and the "Bistro 33" dining center. The 3rd building, entitled the "St. Botolph Building", at 241 St. Botolph street, contains the St. Botolph Hall, a computer laboratory, the electronic music studio, the office of admissions, the financial aid office, classrooms, and additional practice rooms.

[edit] Majors of Study

• Strings
• Woodwinds
• Brass
• Percussion
• Piano
• Voice
• Conducting
• Collaborative Piano
• Musicology
• Historical Performance
• Contemporary Improvisation

[edit] Preparatory School

New England Conservatory's Preparatory School is an open enrollment institution for pre-college students that offers music classes and private instruction for young musicians, and fosters over 20 small and large ensembles. Students enrolled in New England Conservatory's Preparatory School may participate in the Certificate Program, allowing students to achieve their optimum performance skills, competence in music theory, and a knowledge of the literature that includes choral, orchestral, and chamber, as well as solo repertoire. New England Conservatory's Preparatory is home to one of the world's leading youth orchestras, the highly selective Youth Philharmonic Orchestra (YPO), headed by Benjamin Zander. Recent YPO tours have included trips to Brazil, Venezuela, Panama, Guatemala, Mexico City, Havana and Cuba. The Preparatory School also houses the Massachusetts Youth Wind Ensemble (MYWE), a touring wind ensemble open to advanced high school woodwind, brass, and percussion players directed by Michael Mucci. The Preparatory School routinely sends students to the finest conservatories and universities in the world.

The Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra performing in Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory of Music.

[edit] School of Continuing Education

New England Conservatory's School of Continuing Education allows members of the surrounding community to experience the benefits of New England Conservatory's world class instruction, offering classes, lessons, and ensemble opportunities to musicians of any background. At NEC's School of Continuing Education members can participate in chamber, jazz, and vocal ensembles, an opera studio, an adult chorale, a Klezmer Band, and a Community Gospel Choir. In addition, NEC's School of Continuing Education offers classes in several fields including music history, music theory, and Alexander technique, many of which are instructed by members of the New England Conservatory college faculty.

[edit] Also of note

NEC is co-founder and educational partner of From the Top, a weekly radio program that celebrates outstanding young classical musicians from the entire country. With its broadcast home in Jordan Hall, the show is now carried by National Public Radio and is heard on 250 stations throughout the United States.

The official mascot of NEC is the Fighting Penguin.

[edit] Notable alumni

• Ted Atkatz, percussionist
• Herbert Blomstedt, Conductor Laureate, San Francisco Symphony
• Lon Bronson, trumpeter and bandleader
• Don Byron, jazz clarinetist and composer
• Sarah Caldwell, conductor
• Colin Carr, cellist
• Marilyn Crispell, jazz pianist
• Regina Carter, violinist
• John Clark, jazz horn player and composer
• Phyllis Curtin, soprano
• Roberto Diaz, violist, Curtis Institute president
• Marty Ehrlich, saxophonist
• Halim El-Dabh, composer
• Frank Epstein, percussionist
• David Franco, music producer
• Anthony Glise, classical guitarist, composer, author
• Fred Hersch, jazz pianist
• Christopher O'Riley, pianist (From the Top host)
• Dave Douglas, jazz trumpet
• Everett "Vic" Firth, percussionist
• Michael Gandolfi, composer
• Reed Gratz, jazz pianist, composer, educator
• Denyce Graves, mezzo-soprano, Metropolitan Opera's "Carmen of Choice"
• Bud Herseth, trumpet, Chicago Symphony
• Stefan Jackiw, violinist
• David J. Kim, violist
• Louis Krasner, violinist
• Yura Lee, violinist
• Max Levinson, pianist
• John Medeski, jazz pianist
• John Moriarty, conductor, stage director, pianist
• Susie Park, violinist, Eroica Trio
• Parker Quartet
• Amit Peled, cellist, Peabody Conservatory faculty
• Timothy Pitts, bassist, Principal Houston Symphony, Rice University faculty
• Marcus Rojas, tubist
• Eleanor Steber, soprano
• Coretta Scott King, voice (civil rights leader)
• Luciana Souza, Jazz vocals
• Marylou Speaker-Churchill, violinist
• Jupiter String Quartet
• Biava String Quartet, 2003 Naumburg Chamber Music Award
• Stephen Ferrera, music producer
• Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, Kennedy Family matriarch
• Lara St. John, violinist
• Cecil Taylor, jazz pianist
• Tom Varner, jazz French hornist, composer
• Raymond Wilding-White, composer
• Bernie Worrell, pianist/rock musician
• Rachel Z, jazz performer

[edit] Notable present and former faculty

• Jeanne Baxtresser
• Jerry Bergonzi
• Ran Blake
• Natasha Brofsky
• Bob Brookmeyer
• James Buswell
• Jaki Byard
• Wha-Kyung Byun
• Robert Cogan
• Vinson Cole
• Francis Judd Cooke
• Dorothy Delay
• John Ferrillo
• Eliot Fisk
• Miriam Fried
• Michael Gandolfi
• George Garzone
• Bernard Greenhouse
• Billy Hart
• John Heiss
• Lee Hyla
• Veronica Jochum
• Kim Kashkashian
• Martha Katz
• Paul Katz
• Nicholas Kitchen
• Laurence Lesser
• Joe Maneri
• Ossian Everett Mills
• Michael Mucci
• Donald Palma
• Ann Hobson Pilot
• Danilo Perez
• Malcolm Peyton
• Quincy Porter
• Paula Robison
• Carol Rodland
• Peter Row
• Eric Rosenblith
• George Russell
• Charlie Schlueter
• Gunther Schuller
• Joseph Silverstein
• Lucy Stoltzman
• George Russell
• Russell Sherman
• Richard Stoltzman
• Lawrence Wolfe
• Vivian Hornik Weilerstein
• Donald Weilerstein
• Douglas Yeo
• Edward Zambara
• Benjamin Zander

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• New England Conservatory of Music
• Art of the States: New England Conservatory Festival Orchestra