News

New England Conservatory is delighted to announce that three musical luminaries will receive honorary degrees during its 153rd Commencement exercises on May 19 in Jordan Hall. Songwriter, recording artist, and philanthropist Paul Simon, who will also be the featured speaker; five-time Grammy-winning soprano, educator, and MacArthur Fellow Dawn Upshaw; and conductor Robert Spano, a four-time Grammy winner who is Music Director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Music Director Laureate of the Atlanta Symphony after 20 seasons at the helm, and who has served as Music Director of the Aspen Music Festival and School since 2011, will all receive honorary Doctor of Music degrees.

NEC alumni ​​Yoon-Ji Lee ’06 MM, ’07 GD and Nicole Rampersaud ’06 MM were awarded 2024 Guggenheim Fellowships in the “Music Composition” category, announced on April 11. Lee and Rampersaud are two of 14 composers among the list of 188 total artists, scholars, and scientists selected for the honor by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

In an insightful reflection, NEC voice faculty member J.J. Penna shared his reactions to March's Liederabend performance, This is the Place - Voices of Exile and Exodus. Curated by Tanya Blaich and featuring NEC student vocalists and pianists, this Liederabend explored displacement through the voices of travelers, immigrants, and refugees across the ages. 

NEC violin faculty and founding member of the Borromeo String Quartet Nicholas Kitchen was featured in a recent piece in The Atlantic for his work decoding Ludwig van Beethoven's original manuscripts. 

In late March, Grammy-nominated flutist and composer Valerie Coleman came to campus as NEC’s 2024 Malcolm Peyton Artist-in-Residence. During her residency, Coleman led a colloquium, engaged in a Q&A session, and conducted a master class with students in NEC's Composition Department. Additionally, she provided valuable coaching to NEC's Honors Wind Ensemble, which performed in her residency showcase. 

New England Conservatory’s Jazz Studies Department has appointed Grammy Award-winning trombonist and composer Kalia Vandever to its faculty beginning in the fall of 2024. 

Soprano So Young Park ’12 MM, ’14 AD sang the role of Juliette in the Metropolitan Opera's final performance of Gounod's Romeo and Juliette on Saturday, March 30, under the baton of conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin. Park took the leading role after a casting change

Visitors to the Nilüfer Municipality Dr. Hüseyin Parkan Sanlıkol Musical Instruments Museum (MEM) in Bursa, Turkey, can now enjoy a brand-new exhibit comprising 52 rare, historic musical instruments—some as old as 400 years—donated from New England Conservatory’s collection. NEC faculty member Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol is the curator and project director for MEM. 

Cellist Andrew Byun ’25 GD won first prize at the 9th Windsor Festival International String Competition (WFISC) on March 15. The Duke of Edinburgh, Patron of the Windsor Festival, presented Byun with the trophy at Eton College following the competition’s final round. 

Recipients of the 2024 Avery Fisher Career Grant were announced last Wednesday, March 20. Among the honorees to receive the prestigious grant, three are either current students or alumni of New England Conservatory: the Balourdet Quartet, violinist Julian Rhee ’22, ’24 MM, and pianist Clayton Stephenson ’23 Harvard/NEC, ’25 GD.