NEC 2021 Commencement Concert
- Virtual Reception: May 22, 2021 | 7:00 p.m. ET
- Commencement: May 23, 2021 | 10 a.m. ET
- 2021 Honorary Doctoral Recipients and Commencement Speaker:
Carl J. Atkins, Deborah Borda, Mavis Staples, Wu Man, and Emanuel Ax will be receiving honorary degrees, and Mavis Staples will give a virtual commencement address. Read more
The 2021 Commencement Concert will celebrate our graduates with performances by graduating students, pre-recorded and broadcast via YouTube.
Watch Concert Stream:
Introduction:
Artists- Margie Apfelbaum, Tyler Bouque '21 BM and Afarin Nazarijou '21 MM, speakers
Georg Philipp Telemann | Fantasia No. 9
Artists- Daniel Veglar '21 BM, trumpet
- Robyn Smith '21 MM, trombone
Gabriela Martina '21 MM | Alpha Bird
Artists- Gabriela Martina ' 21 MM, voice
- Massimo Paparello '21 MM, trumpet
- Moshe Elmakias '21 MM, piano
- Pritesh Walia '21 MM, guitar
- Chris Worden '21 MM, double bass
- CJ Schrieber, percussion
Charles Gounod | "Mab, la reine des mensonges" from Roméo et Juliette
Text
Mab, la reine des mensonges
Mab, la reine des mensonges
Préside aux songes.
Plus légère que le vent décevant,
À travers l'espace, à travers la nuit,
Elle passe, elle fuit!
Son char, que l'atôme rapide
Entraîne dans l'éther limpide,
Fut fait d'une noisette vide
Par ver de terre, le charron!
Les harnais, subtile dentelle,
Ont été découpés dans l'aile
De quelque verte sauterelle
Par son cocher, le moucheron!
Un os de grillon sert de manche
À son fouet, dont la mèche blanche
Est prise au rayon qui s'épanche
De Phœbé rassemblant sa cour.
Chaque nuit, dans cet équipage,
Mab visite, sur son passage,
L'époux qui rêve de veuvage
Et l'amant qui rêve d'amour!
À son approche, la coquette
Rêve d'atours et de toilette,
Le courtisan fait la courbette,
Le poète rime ses vers!
À l'avare en son gîte sombre,
Elle ouvre des trésors sans nombre,
Et la liberté rit dans l'ombre
Au prisonnier chargé de fers.
Le soldat rêve d'embuscades,
De batailles et d'estocades,
Elle lui verse les rasades
Dont ses lauriers sont arrosés.
Et toi, qu'un soupir effarouche,
Quand tu reposes sur ta couche,
Ô vierge! elle effleure ta bouche
Et te fait rêver de baisers!
Jules Barbier & Michel CarréMab, the queen of lies
Mab, the queen of lies.
Presides in dreams.
Lighter than the deceiving wind,
Through space, through the night,
She passes, she flees!
Her chariot, that fast atom
Trains through the limpid ether,
Made of an empty hazelnut
by the earth parter, the earthworm!
The harness, subtle lace,
was cut from the wing
of some green grasshopper
By her coachman, a gnat!
A cricket bone serves as a handle
for her whip, whose white lash
Is taken from a ray shed
by Phoebe gathering his court.
Every night, in this carriage,
Mab visits, on her way,
The husband who dreams of widowerhood
And the lover who dreams of love!
At her approach, the coquette
Dream of attires and toilette,
The courtier bows,
The poet rhymes his verses!
To the miser in his dark lodging,
She reveals treasures without number,
And freedom laughs in the shadows
at the prisoner loaded with iron chains,
The soldier dreams of ambushes,
Battles and thrusts,
She pours him sweet wine
that waters his laurels.
And you, whom a sigh frightens,
When you rest on your couch,
O virgin! she touches your mouth
And makes you dream of kisses!Artists- Jonathan Lawlor '21 BM, baritone
- Alice Chenyang Xu, piano
Györgi Ligeti | Etude No. 13: The Devil's Staircase
Artists- Yutong Sun '21 MM, piano
Alyssa Morris | Brushstrokes for Flute, Oboe and Bassoon
Monet
Seurat
Van Gogh
PollockArtists- Hyo Jin Park '21 MM, flute
- Gillian Bobnak '21 BM, oboe
- Jazmyn Barajas-Trujillo '21 MM, bassoon
Felix Mendelssohn (arr. Sergei Rachmaninoff) | Scherzo from A Midsummer Night's Dream
Artists- Zhiqiao Zhang '21BM, piano
Lavell Blackwell '21 MM | Palette #1
Artists- Kristy Chen, violin
- Lillian Yim, cello
- KeXin Tian, piano
- Taylor Lents, percussion
Sun Ra (arr. Kelly Bray '21 MM) | Angels and Demons at Play
Artists- Kelly Bray '21 MM, trumpet
- Delfina Cheb Terrab '21 MM, voice, guitar
- Isabel Crespo Pardo '21 MM, voice
- Farzin Dehghan '21 MM, kamancheh
- Lucy Little '21 MM, violin
- Afarin Nazarijou '21 MM, qanun
- Caleb Duval, double bass
- Miguel Landestoy, piano
- Joseph van Leeuwen '21 MM, drums
Elliott Carter | Caténaires (2006)
Artists- Nan Ni '21 BM, piano
Moshe Elmakias '21 MM | Winter Painting
Artists- Moshe Elmakias '21 MM, piano
- Chris Worden '21 MM, double bass
- Joseph van Leeuwen '21 MM, drums
Vincent Youmans | Without a Song from Great Day
Text
Without a Song
Without a song, the day would never end
Without a song, the road would never bend
When things go wrong, a man ain't got a friend
Without a songThat field of corn would never see a plow
That field of corn, would be deserted now
A man is born, but he's no good no how
Without a song
I got my trouble and woe, but sure as I know,
The Jordan will roll
And I'll get along, as long as a song
Strong in my soul
I'll never know what makes the rain to fall
I'll never know what makes the grass so tall
I only know, there ain't no love at all
Without a song.
Billy Rose & Edward EliscuArtists- Anthony León '21 MM, tenor
- Miles Fellenberg, piano
Joey Rosin '21 MM | Picture Six: Going Home
Text
Picture Six: Going Home
Riding high on your ox, leisurely you head for home.
Trilling on a nomad’s flute, you leave in the evening mist.
In each beat and verse, your boundless feeling,
To a close companion, what need to move your lips?|
Lowing at mind
limpid and soaring
sky.
White clouds are coming back to the peaks.
Yamada Mumon, Oxherding Pictures
Translated by Victor Sōgen HoriArtists- Stephanie Borgani '21 MM, voice
- Joey Rosin '21 MM, baritone saxophone
- Pritesh Walia '21 MM, guitar
- Moshe Elmakias '21 MM, piano
- Nadav Friedman, drums
Alexander Matheson '21 MM | Cat & Dog
Artists- Andrew Barnwell, piano
Milton Nascimento (arr. Isabel Crespo Pardo '21 MM) | Saídas e Bandeiras
Artists- Isabel Crespo Pardo '21 MM and Stephanie Borgani '21 MM, voice
Giacomo Puccini | Donde lieta uscì from La Bohème
Text
Donde lieta uscì
Donde lieta uscì
al tuo grido d'amore,
torna sola Mimì
al solitario nido.
Ritorna un'altra volta
a intesser finti fior.
Addio, senza rancor.
Ascolta, ascolta.
Le poche robe aduna
che lasciai sparse.
Nel mio cassetto
stan chiusi quel cerchietto d'or
e il libro di preghiere.
Involgi tutto quanto in un grembiale
e manderò il portiere...
Bada, sotto il guanciale
c'è la cuffietta rosa.
Se vuoi serbarla a ricordo d'amor!
Addio, senza rancor.
Luigi Illica & Giuseppe Giacos
Where once, happily, she came
to your cry of love,
Mimi returns alone
to the solitary nest.
I return again
to make flowers and bouquets.
Goodbye, and no hard feelings.
Listen, listen.
The few things I’ve collected
I’ve left behind.
In my drawer
is a small band of gold
and the prayer book.
Wrap them in an apron
and I will send the concierge…
Look, under the pillow
there is a pink bonnet.
If you want you may keep it in memory of our love!
Goodbye, no hard feelings.
Artists- Elaine Daiber '21 AD, soprano
- Alice Chenyang Xu, piano
Felix Mendelssohn | from Octet in E-flat Major, op. 20
IV. Presto
Artists- Leonard Fu '21 MM, Isabelle Durrenberger '21 MM, Emma Carleton '21 MM, and Tiffany Chang '21 BM, violin
- Haneul Park '21 BM and Aidan Garrison '21 BM, viola
- Jung Eun Sally Kim '21 MM and Sameer Apte '21 MM, cello
Delfina Cheb Terrab '21 MM | Diez Mil Gorriones
Text
Diez Mil Gorriones
Si tuviera las armas para enfrentarme con todo lo
que me asusta
Te miraría a los ojos y te diría que no hay manera
de irme de acá
brillando en la oscuridad sanando
Vos me miras de cerca
Me hablas de héroes de iliadas
De los planetas
Yo pienso que es mentira que no hay manera de
verme siendo de mil colores
Por tus vitral yo me reflejo en 10 mil colores
Yo me transformo en 10 mil canciones
Y siento el fervor de diez mil gorriones volando juntos…
Cómo tengo las armas para enfrentarme con todo lo
que me asusta te lo digo de cerca
que sos el viento que pinta todo Boston violeta
Mirá cómo está violeta mi amor!Ten Thousand Sparrows
If I had the weapons to face everything that
scares me
I would look in your eyes and tell you there
is no way I am leaving you
as you glow in the dark while you heal.
You talk to me quietly
about heroes and the iliads,
about the planets,
I can't believe my eyes, there is no way my
life can be so colorful!
Through your stained glass I reflect ten thousand colors.
I get transformed into ten thousand songs.
And I feel the fervor of ten thousand sparrows flying home
together, once again.
Because I now have the weapons to face everything
that scares me, I can tell you confidently
that you are the wind that paints Boston violet,
look at how everything is violet my love!Artists- Delfina Cheb Terrab '21 MM, voice, guitar
- Isabel Crespo Pardo '21 MM, voice
- Lucy Little '21 MM, violin
The graduating students performing in this evening’s concert have benefited
from the following named scholarship awards:
Alice Canaday Endowed Scholarship
Henry Morton Dunham Organ Scholarship Fund
Ruth T. George Endowed Piano Scholarship
Gregor Piatigorsky Fund
Wilhelmina C. Sandwen Scholarship
Scovell Family Scholarship Fund
Wendy Shattuck ’75 Presidential Scholarship Fund for Vocal Studies
Abraham Skernik Memorial Presidential Scholarship
Kimball P. Stickney Memorial Scholarship
Joan and Henry Wheeler Presidential Scholarship
Lynne and Frank Wisneski Fund
Cecilia Youngdahl Artist Diploma Scholarship Fund
Thank you to the following members of the NEC community who made this program possible:
Margie Apfelbaum, David Apostolides, Peter Bauer, Tyler Bouque, Ashton Bush,
Bruce Brubaker, Wha Kyung Byun, Luke Camarillo, Greta DiGiorgio, Eric Engler,
Michael Gandolfi, Ian Howell, Josalyn Hruska, Andrew Hurlbut, Perry Johnson, Peter Lanza,
Eden MacAdam-Somer, James Markey, Sally Millar, Sean Mulcahy, Afarin Nazarijou,
Hankus Netsky, Lisa Nigris, Tom Novak, Merry Peckham, Claudia Robaina Winston, Ken Schaphorst, Johnathan Smith, Jacob Steingart, Cameron Stowe, Richard Svoboda, Elizabeth Van Voorhis,
Bradley Williams, and Bob Winters