NEC Update Vol 1, No.22, June 20, 2005

BSO principal flutist to teach at NEC

photo by Betsy Basset

Elizabeth Rowe, who joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra this season as principal flute, will teach at NEC beginning this fall. Rowe is former assistant principal flute of the National Symphony Orchestra, and studied at University of Southern California with Jim Walker, the Los Angeles Philharmonic's former principal flute.

At NEC, she joins an exceptionally strong flute faculty that includes her BSO colleague Fenwick Smith, former New York Philharmonic solo flutist Jeanne Baxtresser, composer John Heiss, Boston Musica Viva flutist Renee Krimsier, baroque specialist Christopher Krueger, and Paula Robison, recently named to the Donna Hieken Flute Chair at NEC.

Explore NEC's faculty, beginning with Elizabeth Rowe.

ASCAP honors NEC musicians of all ages

In Concert Music Awards presented May 26, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) recognized 10 past and present NEC students with Morton Gould Young Composer Awards, and named four Concert Music Honorees, among them NEC alumnus David Gockley '65, who recently left Houston Grand Opera after 33 years with the organization. As Houston's General Director, Gockley oversaw 30 world premieres and 6 American premieres, "to become the leading builder of opera repertory for our time," according to the ASCAP citation. Gockley will be general director of the San Francisco Opera beginning January 2006.

Young Composer Awards and Honorable Mentions went to Christopher Trapani, who studied at NEC with Malcolm Peyton before enrolling in undergraduate studies at Harvard, and a number of junior composers, including pairs of siblings from the Galler-Rabinowitz and Tse families who study in the NEC Preparatory School with Alla Cohen.

Along with the 70 young composers honored this year, awards were given to two NEC Prep teachers, Alla Cohen and Rodney Lister, who have sent many of their students on to ASCAP awards, including Cohen student Natasha Sinha and Lister students Julia Scott Carey and Stephen Feigenbaum.

Find biographies of the ASCAP winners.

TBC hires youngest-ever department chair

photo by Mikki Ansin

Saxophonist and conductor Eric Hewitt '97 PREP, '01 B.M., '03 M.M., whose NEC studies extended from age 13 to graduate work, has been appointed by the Boston Conservatory (TBC) to the position of Chair of the Woodwind Department and Conductor of the Conservatory's Wind Ensemble, effective fall 2005. TBC reports that Hewitt, age 26, will be the youngest department chair in the school's history.

As an NEC student, Hewitt played in all the major Prep and College ensembles, and re-enrolled as a conducting major. In 2001, he was orchestra manager for NEC's Youth Philharmonic Orchestra on its historic tour of Venezuela and Cuba (in photo).

Read more about Eric Hewitt's hire.

David Kim takes Primrose viola prize

photo by Dwight Pounds

Violist David Kim '05, a student of Kim Kashkashian and Carol Rodland, shared second prize at the 2005 Primrose Memorial Scholarship Competition at the end of May. The competition is named in memory of violist William Primrose, who was renowned as a soloist, chamber musician, and pedagogue, and who was known to millions as principal violist for Toscanini's NBC Orchestra.

Read more about David Kim's prize.

NEC composers win MCC grants

photo by Susan Wilson

The Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Grants Program announced earlier this month that it will award $5,000 grants to 33 artists from across the state, working in a variety of disciplines. Among a total of four composers receiving grants are two NEC alumni--David Harris '81 and Scott Wheeler '78 M.M. (in photo).

Harris is known to local jazz fans as a member of Boston's Jazz Composers Alliance. Wheeler taught at NEC this year during composition chair Lee Hyla's sabbatical, and had an exciting year as a composer with the premiere of his opera Democracy: An American Comedy at Washington National Opera--the company's first mainstage commission in a decade.

Also receiving an MCC grant is David Kechley, whose music is available on a 2001 recording by the NEC Orchestra and Chorus, The Skylark Sings, funded by an earlier MCC grant.

New England Conservatory itself has received funding from the Massachusetts Cultural Council since that organization's inception.

Read about composition studies at NEC.

Lights - Camera - Annual Fund

The lights are often dark in Jordan Hall this time of year, but NEC is fueling up for next year's concerts through the Annual Fund. We're $300,000 away from meeting the goal of $2.4 million for the fiscal year ending June 30, and every dollar you give will bring us closer to success. No gift is too small to make an impact!

Gifts to the Annual Fund help support every aspect of the educational experience at NEC, from financial aid and faculty salaries to piano upkeep, opera costumes, and even the electricity bill.

Help keep the lights on and the music making strong at New England Conservatory by supporting the Annual Fund.

Make your Annual Fund gift online.