NEC Convocation 2022

WELCOME CONVOCATION 2022 Tuesday, September 6 / 9:30 am / Jordan Hall

PROGRAM ORDER

Welcome Andrea Kalyn, President Remarks by Student Representative Ariel Fei Mo, GD ’23 Piano Performance, MM ’22 Piano Performance, BM ’20 Piano Performance & Music History “Caténaires” written by Elliott Carter (1908-2012) Andrew Sijie Li, piano, Preparatory Student, Walnut Hill School for the Arts ’25 Provost’s Remarks Benjamin Sosland, Provost and Dean of the Faculty Panel Discussion Yi-Mei Templeman, GD ’23 Chamber Music, BM ’22 Cello Performance - Liberal Arts Minor Amir Siraj, MM ’23 Piano Performance - Harvard-NEC Dual Degree Matthew Shifrin, MM ’23 Vocal Performance, BM ’21 Contemporary Improvisation “Tender as a Rose” written by Phil Moore (1918-1987) Yoona Kim, zither, MM ’23 CMA, Sarah Bernadette Matsushima, voice, MM ’21 CMA, GD ’22 CMA Introduction of New Staff Benjamin Sosland, Provost and Dean of the Faculty Introduction of New Faculty Alison Garner, Associate Provost President’s Remarks Andrea Kalyn, President Closing Music I. Overture Divertimento for Brass and Percussion Karel Husa (1921-2016)

Photos by Andrew Hurlbut

NEC Wind Ensemble, Charles Peltz, conductor Horn: Paolo Rosselli, Karlee Kamminga, Hannah Messenger, Sophie Steger Trumpet: Dimitri Raimonde, David O’Neill, Sarah Heimberg Trombone & Tuba: Zachary Johnson, Lukas Helsel, Roger Dahlin, David Stein Percussion: Stephanie Krichena 2022 Convocation | New England Conservatory | 1

MEET OUR NEW FACULTY Joel Ayau Vocal Coach Joel Ayau enjoys a broad musical career spanning a wide range of genres, venues, and musical styles. Ayau has worked with the Washington National Opera, North Carolina Opera, Portland Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Aspen Opera Theatre, and the Castleton Festival. Ayau’s concert appearances include recitals at Stern Auditorium in Carnegie Hall, the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, and National Concert Hall in Taipei, in collaboration with Andrea Bocelli, Frederica von Stade, George Shirley, Charles Neidich, Ian Bousfield, and the Attacca Quartet. Ayau enjoys frequent collaboration with Renée Fleming; their concert appearances include a performance at the Kennedy Center, and virtual gala concerts for the Metropolitan Opera and the Lang Lang International Music Foundation. A coach of Russian, French, German, and Italian repertoire, Ayau also speaks Mandarin Chinese and has taught masterclasses throughout Taiwan and China.

He served as pianist for the United States Army Chorus, performing for foreign dignitaries.

Blaise Déjardin Cellist Blaise Déjardin has served as principal 2 | 2022 Convocation | New England Conservatory

cellist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 2018 and was appointed to the NEC faculty in 2022. He has performed as an esteemed cello soloist with orchestras around the world. A dedicated chamber musician, Déjardin is a member of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, and was a founding member of A Far Cry and the Boston Cello Quartet. He has arranged numerous pieces for cello ensembles, earning five ASCAP Plus Awards and receiving commissions from Yo-Yo Ma, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and A Far Cry. In 2013 he launched Opus Cello, his online sheet music publishing company. He has served as artistic director of the Boston Cello Society since its creation in 2015. Déjardin holds a first prize in Cello with highest honors from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique of Paris, as well as a master of music degree and a graduate diploma from NEC. Christina Wright-Ivanova Pianist, vocal coach, chamber musician, and NEC alumna Dr. Christina Wright-Ivanova is an Associate Professor of Music and the Coordinator of Keyboard Studies at Keene State College and serves as the Executive Artistic Director for the Redfern Performing Arts Center. She is the Artistic Director for the North End Music & Performing Arts ‘Winter Concert Series’ and spends

her summers on faculty at Boston’s Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice. As an advocate of new music, she has premiered hundreds of works by living composers around the globe. As a chamber musician, she has performed in over 25 countries throughout the Americas, UK, Europe, Asia, and Australia, and enjoys frequent performances with musicians from leading orchestras in the U.S. With her ‘duo au courant’ Art Song partner, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Weiss, she tours and presents master classes, lectures, performances, and engagements with a focus on issues of immigration, social justice, and peace.

Akram Haddad Pianist, arranger, composer and Arabic Music Scholar Akram Haddad studied at Haifa University and the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, where he received his Master’s Degree in music composition. He has taught at Brandeis University’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, the Jerusalem Academy of Music, Haifa University, and Ono College. He recently earned his Graduate Diploma in Contemporary Improvisation at NEC, where he worked with Anthony Coleman, Ran Blake and Hankus Netsky. At commencement he received the Peter Lyman Row Award. He has composed and orchestrated music

for orchestras, chamber ensembles, electronic and psychoacoustic media, and chorus. His music has been featured in numerous theatrical and cinematic productions, and he has been recognized as a composer deeply in touch with the music of his Arabic heritage and the richly complex contemporary global musical landscape.

In 2022, his orchestrations of Arabic vocal music classics were featured in International Women’s Day broadcasts.

Amanda Monaco Amanda Monaco has performed at venues including Jazz at Lincoln Center, Birdland, The Jazz Standard and The Blue Note with artists such as Milt Hinton and The Mingus Orchestra. She’s released eight albums and leads her all-female sextet Lioness, organ quartet Glitter, eclectic quartet Deathblow, and the Pirkei Avot Project. Monaco’s guitar playing is “utterly unique, a breath of fresh air in the cookie-cutter climes of both mainstream and free jazz” (Clifford Allen, NYC Jazz Record). In addition to her work at NEC, she serves as an Associate Professor at Berklee and is the author of “Jazz Guitar for the Absolute Beginner” and Artistic Director of Convergence Arts, Inc. which shares the art of improvisation with people of all ages. She received her M.A. from City College of New York

and her B.M. from William Paterson University.

She’s studied with Ted Dunbar, Kenny Barron, Rufus Reid and Harold Mabern.

Pavel Nersessian Pavel Nersessian was a pupil of the famous Central Music School of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatoire and joined the faculty upon his graduation in 1987. Nersessian has been touring since age eight, performing in cities including London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Cannes, Leipzig, Vienna, Budapest, Madrid, Tokyo, Seoul, Dublin, Caracas, Rio de Janeiro, Cairo, Kiev, and Beijing. Nersessian has collaborated with the Borodin and Glinka Quartets, National Symphony Orchestra in Russia, Thomas Sanderling, Alexandr Chernushenko, Evgeny Petrov, Stepan Yakovich, Ani Kavafian, Andrei Gridchuk, Alena Baeva, Yana Ivanilova, Nina Kogan, Mikhail Bereznitsky, Maxim Emelyanychev, Diana Vishneva, Philippe Cassard, Alexandre Lazarev, and many others.

He has recorded numerous albums and given masterclasses in the USA, Russia, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Ireland, Germany, Spain, Italy, Korea, Brazil and Japan. In 2005 he became a merited artist of the Russian Federation. He is on the faculty at NEC as well as Boston University.

Alison Cotti-Lowell Alison Cotti-Lowell joined the Liberal Arts Department at NEC after teaching at Boston College, where she completed her PhD in English Literature. She holds a BA in English from Brown University and MA in English from New York University. Her scholarly work focuses on British literature and culture of the 18th and 19th centuries. Her book “Home and Away: Romantic British Citizenship and the Transatlantic World” illuminates the literary history of citizenship as shaped by events in British colonial spaces. As a teacher, Cotti-Lowell aims to bring students into literary histories of empires to empower them to engage with the world in newly informed ways.

She has published articles on topics ranging from the graphic novel and 20th-century Irish fiction, to the role of the Caribbean pineapple in 17th-century propaganda, and has taught courses on the gothic novel, utopia/dystopia, coming of age, academic writing and writing for real-world rhetorical situations.

Sarah Flanagan Sarah Flanagan (she/her and they/them) is a freelance Fight Director and Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors (SAFD). Sarah is also the Coordinator of the annual National Stage Combat Workshop, the

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MEET OUR NEW FACULTY

(Cont'd)

largest workshop of its kind in the world. At New England Conservatory, Sarah teaches stage combat classes in the Opera Performance graduate program. Sarah lives and works primarily in New England, though this past year has seen them working for theatres and universities in Tennessee, Mississippi, North Carolina, Michigan, Illinois, Kentucky, and Louisiana. Sarah choreographs fights, sound effects, and movement sequences for plays, musicals, and ballets, and has begun making forays into film and stunt work. The bulk of Sarah’s training is with the SAFD; she has also tested/trained with the British Academy of Stage and Screen Combat, Stage Combat Deutschland, the Association for Renaissance Martial Arts, and the Historical European Martial Arts Alliance.

Keith Jones Keith Jones’s poetry chapbooks include blue lake of tensile fire, shorn ellipses, the lucid upward ladder, Fugue Meadow, and Surface to Air, Residuals of Basquiat. His poetry and prose has appeared in journals including Barrow Street, Chicago Review, Denver Quarterly, Harvard Review, Let the Bucket Down, Verse, HERE, 4 | 2022 Convocation | New England Conservatory

Consequence Magazine and Stylus. His first full-length book of poems, Echo’s Errand, is forthcoming from Black Ocean. A scholar of African diasporic and multi-ethnic literatures, decolonial theory, critical pedagogy, and poetry and poetics, he teaches at NEC and in the Africana Studies Department at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. He has over 20 years of teaching experience across a broad range of educational spaces and student communities. In 2021, he received the Chancellor’s Distinguished Service Award from UMass Boston. He holds a B.A. from the University of California at Santa Cruz, an M.A. from California State University, Long Beach, and a Ph.D. from Duke University.

Andrew Sandwick Clarinetist Andrew Sandwick was recently appointed to the position of Bass Clarinet/ Clarinet of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Sandwick previously held the same position with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. He has performed with The Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and San Francisco Opera. As a teacher, Sandwick has given masterclasses at Southern Methodist University, the University of North Texas, and Baylor University, and has served on the faculty of the Clarinet Maestro Festival, the Greater Dallas

Youth Orchestra, and the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts. Sandwick’s awards and honors include the Gino B. Cioffi Memorial Prize for Outstanding Woodwind Performance at the Tanglewood Music Center, the Vandoren Emerging Artist Competition, and the Pasadena Showcase House Instrumental Competition. He has participated in the Lakes Area Music Festival, Bravo Vail, Pacific Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival, and the National Repertory Orchestra.

Aaron Trant Deemed an “engaging” composer and a “sure, adept, and nuanced” percussionist (Boston Music Intelligencer), Aaron Trant’s knowledge of classical, jazz, rock, contemporary and improvised music has made him an asset to many ensembles.

He created the original score and solo percussion performance for Chris Marker’s film “La Jetée” and is cofounder, performer and composer for the After Quartet, dedicated to the art of live musical accompaniment for silent film. Trant is assistant director, percussionist and composer for Firebird Ensemble and Primary Duo. Commissions and performances include collaborations with visual artist Yu-Wen Wu, soprano Lisa Saffer, Endy Emby, Boston Modern Orchestra Project’s Club Cafe Series and UMass Lowell Percussion

Ensemble. His percussion trio Spiral can be found on Bachovich Music Publications. Trant has twice received funding from New England Foundation for the Arts/Meet the Composer. His playing can be heard on the Tzadik, Mode, New World, Red Chook, and BMOP/Sound labels.

Farayi Malek Farayi Malek is a jazz and contemporary vocalist, composer and educator. She received a 2017 bachelor’s in Contemporary Improvisation from NEC, where she studied with Dominique Eade.

In 2018 she earned a master’s degree in Contemporary Performance from the Berklee Global Jazz Institute under the tutelage of Danilo Perez.

Since 2018, Farayi has been a member of Perez’s Global Messengers. A passionate music educator, Malek founded Allegro Virtual Preparatory Instruction, LLC, an online platform providing students with the highest level of preparation for music study in higher education and inspiring them to use their music to make a positive impact in their communities. In September 2021, Farayi joined the faculty at Berklee College of Music as Assistant Professor in the Ensemble Department and Pop Ensemble teacher at Berklee’s City Music Boston High School Academy. In January 2022, she joined the NEC faculty as an ensemble coach and private studio instructor.

Matt Smallcomb Matt Smallcomb is a percussionist with Alarm Will Sound, a collaborative ensemble at the forefront of contemporary music. With a career spanning across diverse genres, Smallcomb has performed with leading artists including Tyondai Braxton, Rashad Becker, The Knights, Regina Carter, Madeski Martin and Wood, Tyshawn Sorey, Wordless Orchestra, King Britt, Novus NY, and has recorded on Nonesuch, Sony, Bedroom Community, Tzadik, and Cantaloupe. Smallcomb recently held the drum chair at West Side Story on Broadway, was the percussionist at The Cher Show, and has performed on Broadway in Moulin Rouge, The Music Man, Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, War Paint, Spongebob Squarepants, and Something Rotten. He was Principal Percussionist with Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra and section percussionist with Symphony in C, and has also performed with the Seattle Symphony, Malaysian Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Vermont Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Lukes, and has performed with ensembles across the world.

spans all musical genres. Reardon is the newest member of the Borromeo String Quartet, Artistic Director of the Portland Chamber Music Festival in Portland, ME, Artist in Residence at Bard College and Conservatory, and a founding member and the Executive Director of the East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO). As a member of the Ensō String Quartet from 2006-2018, Reardon toured internationally, with highlight performances in Sydney, Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro, New York’s Carnegie Hall, and Washington, DC’s Kennedy Center. She won first prize at the Washington International Competition, and is the only violist to win top prizes in consecutive HAMS International viola competitions. A sought-after collaborative musician and teacher, Reardon has appeared in numerous festivals around the world, and has toured with Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, and with Musicians from Marlboro.

Melissa Reardon Grammy-nominated violist and NEC alumna Melissa Reardon is an internationally renowned performer whose solo and chamber playing 2022 Convocation | New England Conservatory | 5

MEET OUR NEW STAFF

Carol Abizaid, Director of Counseling Services Andrés Almirall, Performance Librarian Joseph Borsellino, Cultural Equity and Belonging Fellowship

THE PRESSER AWARDS

Jasmine Caamano, Concert Stage Manager Richard Giarusso, Dean of Academic Affairs Stephanie Gozali, Associate Director of Annual Giving Lauren Guthridge, Interim Research Manager, Voice & Sound Analysis Lab Matthew Henegan, Advancement Assistant

The Presser Foundation was formally established in 1939 under various deeds of trust of Theodore Presser, founder of the oldest continuing music publisher in the United States and an NEC alumnus. The Foundation’s purposes are primarily set forth to promote the cause of music education and music philanthropy, including providing scholarships to promising students.

The foundation annually gives two awards to NEC students, one for a returning graduate student and one for a fourth-year undergraduate.

tional graduate music students who have the potential to make a distinguished contribution to the field of music. The Undergraduate Scholar Award is given to a student in their senior year on the basis of merit and achievement.

Graduate Delfina Cheb Terrab, Contemporary Musical Arts (CMA); Voice Undergraduate Natalie Boberg, Violin

The Graduate Music Award program is designed to encourage and support in a special way the advanced education and career of truly excep-

Luis Herrera Albertazzi, Administrative Assistant, Preparatory School Juliana Jordan, Advancement & Strategy Patrick Quinn, Research & Instruction Librarian Naomi Robinson, Human Resources Coordinator John Spinard, Chief Administrative and Financial Officer Gregory Tolwinski, Associate Director of Administration, Preparatory School Tennison Watts, House Manager Juliana Willis, Advancement & Engagement Coordinator Benjamin Yee-Paulson, Concert Stage Manager Sara Stern, Chief Communications Officer Grace Sexton, Patron Experience Manager

THE PRESIDENTIAL DISTINCTION AWARDS The Presidential Distinction Award recognizes exceptional performance ability and potential, and is granted solely to incoming students as a special NEC Merit Scholarship.

Dane Bennett, MM, Oboe Performance

Rituparna Mukherjee, MM, Viola Performance

Peter Butler, BM, Composition

Erik Paul, BM, Bassoon Performance

Itay Dayan, MM, CMA - Clarinet

Christa Reed, BM, Violin Performance

Fei Mo, GD, Piano Performance

Koki Renwick, BM, Jazz Performance

Kearston Gonzales, BM, Violin Performance

Samuel Schwartz, BM, Percussion Performance

William Graham, BM, Viola Performance

Truman Walker, BM, Piano Performance

Ga-Yeon Kim, MM, Cello Performance

Yangfan Xu, DMA, Composition

Shion Kim, MM, Double Bass Performance Mary Letellier, DMA, Vocal Performance

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THE PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS

Dorothy Hinton Congleton Memorial Presidential Scholarship Zhiqiao Zhang, MM, Piano Performance The Dorothy Hinton Congleton Memorial Presidential Scholarship was established in 1976, and elevated to a Presidential Scholarship in 2007 through the generous support of NEC President’s Council member William H. Congleton and his wife, Margaret A. Congleton. The scholarship is named in memory of Mr. Congleton’s mother, an accomplished musician and teacher.

Edward Hyde Cox Presidential Scholarship Anatol Toth, BM, Violin Performance The trustees of Mr. Cox’s estate established the Edward Hyde Cox Presidential Scholarship in 2001. An amateur pianist and longtime friend of poet Robert Frost, Mr. Cox requested that the gift be used to support an outstanding student pursuing the study of classical music.

Friedlaender Family Presidential Scholarship Fund Vladyslav Dovhan, MM, Saxophone Performance The Friedlaender family has been ardent supporters of NEC for over 40 years. Clara May Friedlaender served on the Board of Trustees for close to three decades, and was followed by her

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son, Stephen, to continue the family’s volunteer service. Stephen served as a Life Trustee and was instrumental in the planning and building of NEC’s Student Life and Performance Center.

The family’s passion for music and education led them to create a classical music scholarship in 1986, which was elevated to the Presidential level in 2018.

Francis W. Hatch, Sr. Presidential Scholarship Fund Pualina Lim, MM, Collaborative Piano The Francis W. Hatch, Sr. Presidential Scholarship Fund was established in 1983, and elevated to a Presidential Scholarship in 2005 through a gift from the late Life Trustee Francis W. Hatch and his wife, Serena. The fund, named in memory of Frank’s father, provides full tuition support to a deserving musician.

Helena Foundation Presidential Scholarship Fund John Stanmeyer, MM, Jazz Performance The Helena Foundation Presidential Scholarship Fund was established in 1999, and elevated to a Presidential Scholarship in 2006 through the additional generosity of James A. Earl and his son, Jimmy C. Earl. The Scholarship is named in memory of James Earl’s mother,

Margaret Helena Earl, and represents NEC’s first Presidential Scholarship awarded to a jazz student.

Donna Hieken Flute Presidential Scholarship Fund Anna Kevelson, MM, Flute Performance Charles and Donna Hieken were steadfast supporters of NEC, establishing the Donna Hieken Flute Chair in 2005 to honor Mrs. Hieken and her career as an instructor and flautist. The Hiekens’ passion for education and lifelong love for music led to the endowment of the Donna Hieken Flute Scholarship in 2015 to memorialize Mrs. Hieken. It was elevated to a Presidential Scholarship in 2017 through the generosity of Charles and his son, Seth Hieken.

Carol T. and Robert P. Henderson Presidential Scholarship Motti Fang Bentov, GD, Piano Performance Life Trustee Carol Henderson and her husband, Robert, established the Carol T. and Robert P. Henderson Presidential Scholarship in 2002 in recognition of NEC’s ongoing priority to provide increased financial aid for its students.

Laurence Lesser Presidential Scholarship Fund Jonathan Swensen, AD, Cello Performance Former Trustee Edward Phillips and his wife, Margaret, along with The New England Mutual Life Insurance Company, established the Laurence Lesser Presidential Scholarship in recognition of the artistry and leadership of President Emeritus Lesser.

supporter of NEC’s students through financial aid and countless hours as a dedicated volunteer from 1970 until her passing in 2000.

John Moriarty Presidential Scholarship Fund Hyungjin Son, MM, Vocal Performance Interested in the career development of young professionals, NEC Life Trustee and longtime supporter Lee Day Gillespie established the John Moriarty Presidential Scholarship to honor John Moriarty’s many years of work with young artists and his contribution to the training of young singers at NEC. Charlotte F. Rabb Presidential Scholarship Fund Changyong Shin, AD, Piano Performance This fund was established in 1989 by Irving Rabb in honor of his wife, Charlotte, “Dolly,” on their 50th wedding anniversary. Mrs. Rabb was a Trustee, President’s Council member, and

Edward P. and Margaret Richardson Presidential Scholarship Leland Ko, AD, Cello Performance Margaret Eustis Richardson and her late husband, former NEC Trustee and President’s Council member Dr. Edward Peirson Richardson, established the Edward P. and Margaret Richardson Presidential Scholarship in 1989 after many years of family involvement.

Wendy Shattuck ’75 Presidential Scholarship Fund for Vocal Studies Yeonjae Cho, AD, Vocal Performance The Wendy Shattuck ’75 Presidential Scholarship Fund for Vocal Studies was established in 2004 by Life Trustee Wendy Shattuck and her husband, Sam Plimpton. Ms. Shattuck graduated from NEC in 1975 with a degree in vocal performance, and both Wendy and Sam have been active and generous members of NEC’s Board committees and events.

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THE PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS (Cont'd)

Abraham Skernick Memorial Presidential Scholarship Yiliang Jiang, GD, Violin Performance The late Dr. Marjorie McDonald endowed this scholarship in 2001 on the occasion of her 75th birthday. A retired psychiatrist and former violist with the Boston Philharmonic, Dr. McDonald served on NEC’s President’s Council.

She established this scholarship to honor the skill and talent of her teacher, violinist Abraham Skernick, principal violist of the Cleveland Orchestra for 27 years.

Helen Haxton Stare Presidential Scholarship in Voice Allyson Bennett, GD, Vocal Performance The Helen Haxton Stare Voice Scholarship was established in 1980 by NEC Life President’s Council member, the late Dr. Frederick Stare and Mrs. Irene M. Stare, to honor Dr. Stare’s late wife and NEC Trustee, Helen Haxton Stare. Following the passing of Dr. Stare, violinist Irene Stare elevated this endowed fund to a Presidential Scholarship in 2007.

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Irene M. Stare Presidential Scholarship in Violin SooBeen Lee, MM, Violin Performance This scholarship was established in 1986 as the Irene M. Stare Violin Scholarship Fund by the late violinist Mrs. Irene M. Stare and NEC Life President’s Council member Dr. Frederick Stare.

It was elevated to a Presidential Scholarship in 2007 through a generous gift from Mrs. Stare.

Joan and Henry Wheeler Presidential Scholarship Il Hee Lee, GD, Vocal Performance Former Board member and longtime friends of NEC, the late Joan and Henry Wheeler endowed the Joan and Henry Wheeler Presidential Scholarship in 2001. The fund, established in honor of NEC’s Opera Program, provides financial aid for talented students that apply to study in the program.

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