NEC Update Vol.1, No.9, January 10, 2005

New streaming audio: Gandolfi's Pinocchio

Meet the Borromeos

NEC amplifies BSO Babbitt celebration

BMOP: in search of the modern at NEC

Benjamin Zander and YPO tour the planets

Pianist on the radio and on stage

Online donors step up

New streaming audio: Gandolfi's Pinocchio

photo by Paul A. Cortese '92 M.M.

In concerts beginning January 27, the Boston Symphony Orchestra will be introducing Boston audiences to a new work by Michael Gandolfi of the NEC composition faculty (in photo), based on the book The Garden of Cosmic Speculation.

Gandolfi has also been inspired by a more familiar book--Pinocchio--and you can get to know Gandolfi by listening to his Pinocchio music as streaming audio on NEC's Web site during the month of January.

Listen to Pinocchio's Adventures in Funland.

Meet the Borromeos

photo by Susan WIlson

The Borromeo String Quartet (in photo) has emerged as one of America's top quartets, with performances around the world. But as NEC's quartet-in-residence, they offer Bostonians a unique opportunity to experience their music in an intimate setting, through "Early Evenings with the Borromeo String Quartet." The Borromeos bring the warmth of Schubert to a January evening, and in April they explore Schoenberg--an early opportunity to bone up on one of the featured composers of the 2005/2006 Boston Symphony Orchestra season.

Explore NEC concerts and programs day by day.

NEC amplifies BSO Babbitt celebration

Milton Babbitt's score for About Time

NEC composition faculty Malcolm Peyton remarks that you shouldn't always have to wait for a birthday to honor our great composers. So, for a January 19 "Composer Series" concert at NEC, Peyton has put together a tribute to Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Milton Babbitt, with Babbitt's music performed by NEC students, alumni, and faculty.

This concert may serve as the icing on the cake for Boston Symphony Orchestra ticketholders, who are treated to the world premiere of Babbitt's Concerti for Orchestra the previous week.

BMOP: in search of the modern at NEC

Gil Rose conducting BMOP

Since 1998, Boston Modern Orchestra Project has been NEC's affiliate orchestra for new music. In an annual collaborative concert, BMOP presents works by NEC composers, past, present, and future. Featured in this year's concert (Saturday, January 22, in NEC's Jordan Hall) are Murder by NEC doctoral student Michael McLaughlin, the selected score from the 7th annual NEC/BMOP composition contest, and undergraduate saxophonist Eliot Gattegno, winner of the 6th annual NEC/BMOP concerto competition, performing Elliott Schwartz's Chamber Concerto IV.

Benjamin Zander and YPO tour the planets

photo by Peter Schweitzer

Benjamin Zander (in photo) has toured with NEC's Youth Philharmonic Orchestra in at least half the countries of Latin America--most recently, Guatemala and Panama. But on Sunday, January 23, Zander and the YPO stay right here in Boston and tour The Planets--courtesy of composer Gustav Holst.

Also on the program: works by Ravel and Tchaikovsky, and NEC Preparatory School student, cellist Jacqueline Choi.

Read more about this concert.

Pianist on the radio and on stage

photo by Jeff Thiebauth

Pianist Gabriel Chodos, co-chair of NEC's piano department, is sought out by concertgoers and students for his understanding of the monuments of the piano literature. Appearing in NEC's Jordan Hall on Monday, January 24, he presents two of those monuments: Liszt's Sonata in B Minor and Beethoven's Sonata in B-flat Major, Op. 106, "Hammerklavier." Chodos also performs live on WGBH radio's "Classical Performances" on Thursday, January 13, at 3pm.

Explore NEC's faculty, starting with Gabriel Chodos.

Online donors step up

Last month, we put out the call for online donations to NEC's all-important Annual Fund, and you answered. More than seven thousand dollars in gifts and pledges flowed in from alumni, students, parents, and friends. NEC thanks you for this regular, annual support, which we count on  to maintain our commitment to excellence. There are no "small" gifts. A gift that is significant to you is significant to NEC.

Support from NEC's alumni has enormous impact on the Conservatory, and from 2002 to 2004, NEC graduates increased their total annual gift by almost half. During this same time period, alumni participation in the Annual Fund jumped from 12 to 14%.

Keep your New Year's resolution to make a gift online.