NEC Update Vol. 1, No. 19, May 2, 2005

First woman wins conducting award

Saffer's "Lulu" is the darling of UK press

YPO's rite of summer: a tour

Nashville's Schermerhorn dies

Ran Blake's improvised birthday

NEC Commencement speaker announced

Alumni support soars

First woman wins conducting award

photo by Michael Romanos, courtesy Portland Youth Philharmonic

Mei-Ann Chen '91 PREP, '95 B.M., '98 M.M. is the first woman to win Denmark's Malko Competition for Young Conductors. Previous winners of the competition include Claus Peter Flor and Fabio Mechetti, who visited NEC last month to conduct the Philharmonia. Chen, who studied violin and conducting at NEC beginning with Prep studies at age 16, is currently conductor of the Portland Youth Philharmonic, which bills itself as "America's first youth philharmonic."

Read more about Mei-Ann Chen's competition win.

Saffer's "Lulu" is the darling of UK press

photo by Neil Libbert, courtesy English National Opera

Lisa Saffer '85 M.M., '86 A.D. is one of several NEC alumnae who have taken on the challenging title role of Alban Berg's opera Lulu. Reviewing the current English National Opera revival of Lulu, the British press was agog. Despite the fact that Saffer was singing with a throat infection, The Guardian praised her "uncommon dramatic vividness." The Times of London reported that "Lisa Saffer's performance as the disaster-zone heroine is simply staggering." Of the original 2002 production, The Observer said: "Lisa Saffer effortlessly commands the stage throughout, offering rare proof that a diva can be as sexy as the music." Lulu runs at the ENO through May 13.

Find profiles of Lisa Saffer and other NEC alumni.

YPO's rite of summer: a tour

photo by Lewis Wheeler

For many years, NEC's Youth Philharmonic Orchestra has made biannual concert tours of Latin America. In 1999 and 2001, the YPO made historic trips to Cuba, and brought some of their new musical friends back to Boston for NEC's 2001 "Cuban Rhapsody" weekend. In 1997, Brazil was a tour destination (in photo).

The 2005 itinerary includes Brazil, along with Venezuela, where visionary youth orchestra mastermind Jose Antonio Abreu '02 hon. D.M. is launching a national conservatory. Boston concertgoers will be able to preview the Venezuela/Brazil tour with a YPO concert at NEC's Jordan Hall on Friday, June 3. Concert repertoire includes Stravinsky's Rite of Spring.

This month's audio clip--John Philip Sousa's Stars and Stripes Forever--comes from the YPO's 1999 Mexico/Cuba tour, where the frothy fanfare kept company with weightier works from Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich.

Listen to the YPO's Stars and Stripes Forever.

Nashville's Schermerhorn dies

photo courtesy Nashville Symphony Orchestra

NEC alumnus Kenneth Schermerhorn '50 DP, the Nashville Symphony music director who put the country music capital on the classical music map as well, died on April 18 at age 75. In recent years, Schermerhorn led the Symphony in Grammy-nominated, best-selling CDs, as well as the orchestra's Carnegie Hall debut. Previous to his 22-year Nashville tenure, Schermerhorn led a variety of orchestras, including the American Ballet Theater starting at age 28--a position he returned to briefly later in life at the request of Mikhail Baryshnikov.

Schermerhorn's death comes as Nashville builds a major concert hall that bears his name.

Read what Nashville says about Schermerhorn.

Ran Blake's improvised birthday

photo by Andrew Hurlbut

On April 18, Ran Blake's vision and influence on other musicians were in evidence in a Jordan Hall celebration of Blake's 70th birthday. Our camera was there to capture performances ranging from some of Blake's favorite singers to reenactments of his beloved film noir scenes.

At the end of the Spring 2005 semester, Blake steps down as chair of NEC's Contemporary Improvisation department, while continuing to offer his vision, creativity, and mentorship to students as a full-time member of the faculty. During the 2005/2006 academic year, Dean of Faculty Allan Chase and Jazz Studies Chair Ken Schaphorst will be interim co-chairs of the department, and will work with President Daniel Steiner, Provost Robert Dodson, and the department's faculty to define the future direction and leadership of NEC's programs in Contemporary Improvisation.

View slides from Ran Blake's birthday celebration.

NEC Commencement speaker announced

photo by Sheila Rock/Universal Classics

Sir John Eliot Gardiner (in photo), founder and conductor of the Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, and L'Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique, will address NEC's 134th Commencement on May 22.

Commencement weekend is filled with activities for graduating students and their families. Reunion activities for alumni begin with a Boston Pops excursion on Friday night and include special masterclasses and presentations.

The Saturday night Commencement Concert is a smorgasbord of orchestral, chamber music, and jazz selections featuring some of NEC's top students.

Alumni: register online for Reunion 2005.

Alumni support soars

Few barometers are better than the Annual Fund for giving a read on how alumni feel about their school. This year, NEC's approval rating among alums is at an all-time high: alumni support has increased 32% over this time last year, with a 29% increase in donors. This translates to $188,269 from 1,092 alumni--the equivalent of 7 full scholarships!

"Supporting the next generations of performers through my own alma mater is the most direct connection I can make to ensuring great music continues to be a part of all of our lives," said Carol McKeen '83 M.M., who increased her own support by 15%.

If all NEC alumni who have not yet made a donation gave $10 or more, the NEC Annual Fund would reach the record-breaking goal of $260,000 in alumni support for the year. Help us meet this goal--and show your high opinion of NEC--with a gift now.

Make your Annual Fund gift online.