NEC Update Vol. 3, No. 6, November 20, 2006
 |
| News from NEC |
Vol. 3, No. 6, November 20, 2006 |
Welcome to your free subscription to NEC Update, coming to you twice each month with news from New England Conservatory. Scroll to the bottom to send us a message if you wish to end your free subscription. |
|
|
|
New streaming audio: opera teaser |
|
NEC launches its 2006/2007 opera season with two double bills, one farcical, the other tragic.
December performances at Boston's Cutler Majestic Theatre pair Puccini's Gianni Schicchi with Poulenc's The Breasts of Tiresias. Every opera lover knows Schicchi, but what about the Poulenc? Give this surrealist gender bender a whirl by listening to our streaming audio preview.
In February, opera returns to NEC with two stories that culminate in the title character's death: Milhaud's The Misfortunes of Orpheus and Purcell's Dido and Aeneas.
Also on the opera horizon: a spring production of Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld. |
Listen to a scene from Poulenc's Breasts of Tiresias.
|
|
|
Stravinsky: Firebird was just the beginning ... |
 |
courtesy Harvard Theatre Collection |
In 2007, New England Conservatory will celebrate the 125th birthday of Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) by performing music stretching all the way from his early steps (Firebird, 1910) to his later years (Agon, 1957; Elegy for JFK, 1964). This is a rare opportunity to hear the complete range of Stravinsky's musical language.
A special presentation on February 14 will use Firebird as a launching pad for a discussion of the young Stravinsky's past and future, and the key role that ballet played in the development of his career and his musical thinking. |
Read details of NEC's Stravinsky concerts.
|
|
|
Concord's Fenn School gets NEC visit |
 |
| photo by Tim Morse |
On November 8, NEC took the music out to Concord, Mass., with a special evening event cohosted by Cambridge Trust Company and Concord's Fenn School. NEC's award-winning Ariel Quartet (see next story) performed music by Haydn and Shostakovich for the Fenn community, bank employees, and other Concordians.
In photo: Cambridge Trust President and CEO Joseph V. Roller 2nd with NEC interim CEO Laurence Lesser. |
Read about an upcoming NEC special event.
|
|
|
Honors Ensembles announced |
|
NEC Honors Ensembles for 2006/2007 have been chosen, and include the Ariel Quartet, a second string quartet, harp, clarinet, and piano trios, the 9-member Tiny Orchestra, and Everything's a Little Glorious, a sax/trombone/guitar/bass combo. |
Read details of the 2006/2007 Honors Ensembles.
|
|
|
Awards to NEC musicians in Israel, France |
 |
photo by Lois Schoenbrun
|
Recent accomplishments by NEC musicians include Israel's 2006 Prime Minister Award for Composers, which went to five individuals, including Yitzhak Yedid '98 M.M., with an award in the Jazz category going to Eli Degibri, a 1999 graduate of NEC's Thelonious Monk Institute for Jazz Performance.
Classics Abroad, which honors the legacy of Alfred Cortot by running the Paris Piano Program at the Ecole Normale de Musique, gave one of two $10,000 Project Awards to Constantine Finehouse, a student of Bruce Brubaker.
In photo: Yitzhak Yedid (behind vocalist) at a December 2005 performance in Haifa, Israel. Also in photo, fellow alum Ora Boasson Horev '00 on bass.
|
Read more about these awards at NEC Today.
|
|
|
Lennon award again goes to NEC composer |
|
For the second year in a row, a student from the NEC/Tufts double degree program has won Grand Prize in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest's Jazz category. "The Morning Shuffle" by tenor saxophonist Daniel Blake '04 TU can be heard online, and will soon be eligible for online voting to advance in the contest's prize rounds. A song by NEC/Tufts student Bridget Kearney, from last year's Grand Prize session, continues to hang in the balance pending results of that competition. |
Listen to Daniel Blake's song.
|
|
|
Annual Fund phonathon raises $50K |
|
The NEC Annual Fund's fall phonathon was a huge success, and we have you to thank for it. Hundreds of NEC alumni, friends, parents, and School of Continuing Education students answered our call for support with contributions totaling more than $50,000--a 15% increase in donations over last year's phonathon. Thank you for helping NEC meet its most pressing day-to-day needs and for making a strong statement that great music matters.
Missed our call? Make your 2006 contribution online now. |
Make a gift online.
|
|
|
Just booked: light opera |
 |
| photo by Andrew Hurlbut |
The NEC Light Opera Club (NECLOC) offers opera performance opportunities for undergraduates under faculty direction. Performances are free, and have been booked for November 21, 28, and into 2007. |
Explore NEC concerts and programs day by day.
|
|
|
Coming up at NEC |
November
20 NEC Opera Workshop
21 Shostakovich quartets, NEC Jordan Winds, NEC Light Opera
27 Contemporary Improvisation soiree
28 Keller Jazz Series, NEC Light Opera
29 Keller Jazz Series, NEC Symphony Orchestra
30 Keller Jazz Series, Heidi Skok vocal chamber music, nec shivaree
December
1 Donald Berman "Pianist's Projects," Arnold Steinhardt masterclass
3 NEC Percussion Ensemble
4 First Monday, NEC Jazz Composers Ensemble
5 Keller Jazz Series, Tuesday Night New Music, masterclasses with Jim McNeely, Keith Underwood
6 Managing Money, Keller Jazz Series, NEC Sinfonietta
7 Chamber Music, NEC Jazz Orchestra |
Surprise me with an upcoming concert.
|
|
Escape the ordinary when you come to NEC to hear our faculty, guests, and the best young pre-professionals perform live. And bring a friend to escape with you for the same ticket price: Free!
New England Conservatory is located at 290 Huntington Avenue (at the corner of Gainsborough Street), Boston--a block from Symphony Hall. |
|
