Press Release
For Immediate Release:
January 17, 2006
New England Conservatory Seeks to Raise $400,000 for Scholarships with A Feast of Music, February 25, 2006 at Fairmont Copley Plaza
Evening of Great Student Performances Paired with Gourmet Dinner Courses
Imagine performances by some of the world’s most gifted young musicians paired with the delectable courses in a fabulous gourmet dinner. Imagine this memorable evening taking place in the white and gold elegance of the Fairmont Copley Plaza Ballroom. Imagine convivial guests that include Boston’s most devoted supporters of music and musical training. Imagine the evening concluding with an energizing jazz orchestra performance that lifts patrons out of their seats to dance in the aisles.
That’s A Feast of Music, New England Conservatory’s gala fundraiser, which takes place February 25, 2006. An annual favorite with Boston business executives, philanthropists, and arts supporters, Feast has been numbered among “Boston’s Top 10 Parties” by the Boston Herald.
Co-chaired by NEC Overseers Barbara Burnes of Chestnut Hill, Pamela White of Needham, Suki de Bragança of Back Bay and Elizabeth Willis Leatherman of Boston, Feast seeks to raise $400,000 for scholarships to students. With the presence on two stages of extraordinary young artists, patrons can see and hear directly and vividly how their donations support the musicians of the future.
Performers will include New England Conservatory college and preparatory school students appearing in everything from instrumental solos to chamber music to opera excerpts and jazz—mirroring the broad range of specialties taught at NEC. Last year, guests heard violinist Korbinian Altenberger in a dazzling Paganini Caprice—that brilliant young artist then went on to be a prizewinner in the 2005 Tibor Vargas and ARD Munich Competitions. Feast patrons also delighted in Mark Ford’s Head Talk, a percussion piece for five players and 13 drumheads (often air-borne), a music theatre bonbon that would have been perfectly at home in a Cirque de Soleil show. Two gifted young opera stars-in-the-making offered the poignant flower duet from “Madame Butterfly,” set amid the flower-decked Copley Plaza ballroom. And the NEC Jazz Orchestra galvanized listeners with Billy Strayhorn’s Take the “A” Train.
A Feast of Music will be held at the Fairmont Copley Plaza, 138 St. James Street in Boston. A reception begins at 5:30 p.m. followed by dinner and musical entertainment at 6:30 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom. For reservations, contact Elizabeth Ryan at eryan@newenglandconservatory.edu
For more information, visit NEC on the web at http://www.newenglandconservatory.edu/feastofmusic/index.html
ABOUT NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY
Recognized nationally and internationally as a leader among music schools, New England Conservatory offers rigorous training in an intimate, nurturing community to 750 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral music students from around the world. Its faculty of 225 boasts internationally esteemed artist-teachers and scholars. Its alumni go on to fill orchestra chairs, concert hall stages, jazz clubs, recording studios, and arts management positions worldwide. Nearly half of the Boston Symphony Orchestra is composed of NEC trained musicians and faculty.
The oldest independent school of music in the United States, NEC was founded in 1867 by Eben Tourjee. Its curriculum is remarkable for its wide range of styles and traditions. On the college level, it features training in classical, jazz, contemporary improvisation, world and early music. Through its Preparatory School, School of Continuing Education, and Community Collaboration Programs, it provides training and performance opportunities for children, pre-college students, adults, and seniors. Through its outreach projects, it allows young musicians to engage with non-traditional audiences in schools, hospitals, and nursing homes—thereby bringing pleasure to new listeners and enlarging the universe for classical music and jazz.
NEC presents more than 600 free concerts each year In Jordan Hall, its world- renowned, 100-year old, beautifully- restored concert hall. These programs range from solo recitals to chamber music to orchestral programs to opera scenes. Every year, NEC’s opera studies department also presents two fully staged opera productions at the Cutler Majestic Theatre in Boston.
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.