Leaving legacies that last
more than a lifetime
The exceptional faculty and gifted students of New England Conservatory are the most visible signs of NEC’s enhanced strength and vigor. Behind the scenes, however, are scores of volunteers whose donation of time and resources has been critical to the Conservatory’s transformation. For some of these individuals, advancing the mission of NEC is one of their life’s chief priorities.
On this page, we celebrate the memories of distinguished friends who not only helped shape the future of NEC during their lifetimes, but have left legacies that will impact New England Conservatory for generations.
Emily Frelinghuysen Bilkey McFarland
1910–2006
Emily McFarland was an active board member and friend of NEC, supporting the conservatory through both the Emma Eames Scholarship Fund and the Matilda E. Frelinghuysen Scholarship Fund. Her aunt was Matilda Frelinghuysen, a former NEC Trustee from 1957 to 1960.
Emily McFarland studied voice at NEC from 1950 to 1964. She was a Trustee from 1955 until 1970, an Associate Trustee from 1970 through the early 1980s, and then an NEC Life Overseer until her death December 1, 2006 in Twin Falls, Idaho. 1/08
Clara May Friedlaender
1906–2006
Volunteering for causes she believed in was not merely a pastime for Clara May Friedlaender, it was her life’s work. NEC became her primary interest virtually from the time the New Orleans native moved to Cambridge, Mass., in the 1960s until her death, just shy of her 100th birthday.
Friedlaender was first a highly valued member of NEC’s Board of Trustees for nearly 20 years. Then, at the age of 81, she moved onto the Board of Overseers. Advancing age did not diminish her interest in the affairs of NEC. After being elected a Life Overseer in 1992, she spent the remaining 14 years of her life as the Conservatory’s unofficial ambassador to her retirement community, North Hill, arranging for NEC students to perform annual concerts at the facility. The concerts were free, but residents knew Friedlaender appreciated donations to the scholarship she had created in 1986—one of the first funds at NEC endowed at a level to permit full tuition abatement to its recipient.
The Clara May Friedlaender Endowed Scholarship Fund is not Friedlaender’s only legacy to NEC. She passed along her love of music and NEC to her son Stephen, who serves on the Board of Trustees. Stephen Friedlaender, an architect, has been deeply involved in preliminary planning for the Conservatory’s eventual expansion and renovation. 3/07
Nancy Milender Bower
1939–2006
In a busy life filled with family, work as a research assistant at Harvard and, for 16 years, a battle following brain surgery, Nancy Bower managed to make support for New England Conservatory a priority.
Nancy and her husband, NEC Life Trustee Joseph Bower, were first introduced to the school in the late 1970s at a “friends” house concert hosted by the late Priscilla England (see story below). Such concerts perform the valuable service of introducing potential new supporters to NEC while raising scholarship dollars at the same time. Soon the Bowers were hosting concerts in their own home in Lincoln and on Martha’s Vineyard. “Nancy loved these concerts and the chance to interact with great musicians,” said Joe. “The Borromeo String Quartet played at her memorial service, but she had met the quartet years before at one of our house concerts.”
Last year the couple endowed a fund that will keep them both members of the NEC family forever. The Joseph and Nancy Bower Family Travel Fund supports students invited to attend competitions all over the world—important exposure that can sometimes be the springboard to a successful career. “As a Trustee, I have been aware that covering these expenses can be a problem for students,” said Joe. “This was our way of helping, however modestly, some of NEC’s best musicians to build their careers.” 3/07
Albert England and his late wife, Priscilla (who passed away in 2005), were the original NEC power couple. Both brought the same drive and commitment to their support of the Conservatory as they had to their professions. (Al was a neurologist; Priscilla, a mathematician.)
Priscilla England’s dynamism and “can do” spirit at NEC, first as a Trustee and then as an Overseer, led to her designation as a Life Overseer. And when she retired after 20 years of NEC Board service in 1999, Al England stepped in to take her place, volunteering for committees and always searching for different ways to be of service.
When Al and Priscilla sat down, many years ago, to plan how their assets would be divided when they passed away, they treated the Conservatory like a member of the family. The couple established two Charitable Remainder Trusts, a planned giving arrangement that transfers funds to a trust that pays one or both spouses or other loved ones income for life or for a set term of years. When the trusts ended, the remaining assets were distributed to NEC and added to unrestricted “Gift of Music” campaign expenses.
Thanks to the Englands’ care and foresight, New England Conservatory has received two gifts that will continue the couple’s legacy for many more lifetimes to come. 3/07
updated 4 January 2008