NEC Symphonic Choir, Symphonic Winds, Navy Band Northeast + Erica J. Washburn, William Drury, Lt. Matthew Shea

NEC: Jordan Hall | Directions

290 Huntington Ave.
Boston, MA
United States

NEC Symphonic Choir, Symphonic Winds, and Navy Band Northeast present a joint program saluting the contributions of US veterans, "Of Courage and Valor, from Here to Beyond."

Kile Smith's The Consolation of Apollo sets the words of the crew of Apollo 8 (all Air Force officers) as they became the first astronauts to leave Earth’s orbit, circle the moon, and photograph the entire Earth.  Alternating with these transcripted moments are selections from The Consolation of Philosophy by the 6th c.  philosopher Boethius.  The chorus is accompanied by percussionists Nga ieng Sabrina Lai and Eli Reisz; Erica J. Washburn conducts.

NEC Symphonic Winds and Navy Band Northeast perform a Veteran's Day Medley of stirring music from the 19th-21st centuries, including an arrangement by Ian Wiese '24 DMA.  William Drury and Lt. Matthew Shea conduct.

View the concert program in light mode & dark mode, recommended for in-person audiences.

This is an in-person event with a private stream available to the NEC community here: https://necmusic.edu/live.

Ensembles
  • NEC Symphonic Choir
  • NEC Symphonic Winds
  • Navy Band Northeast
Conductors

  1. Kile Smith | The Consolation of Apollo (2014)

    Thou may'st know, if thou wilt notice
    Yes, it's beautiful
    Wings are mine
    The Sea of Tranquillity
    While the bright sun
    In the beginning
    The stars shine

     

    Program note

    Commissioned by Eric Owens for The Crossing, Donald Nally, conductor, The Consolation of Apollo was premiered at Princeton University and Philadelphia on October 10-12, 2014.
              ….The spine of Apollo is…the 1968 Christmas Eve broadcast by the crew of Apollo 8, as they became the first astronauts to leave Earth’s orbit, circle the moon, and photograph the entire Earth.  With the transcript of their communications I interspersed selections from The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius (480–524).  Philosopher, Christian apologist, and translator of Aristotle, Boethius was one of the greatest thinkers and authors prior to the Middle Ages, combining Classical thought and theology.  In the Consolation he considers good and evil, our place in creation and on fortune’s wheel, and, at times, Apollo (Phoebus), the mythical charioteer of the sun….
              The 1968 Christmas Eve television broadcast…included the recitation by the astronauts of the first ten verses of Genesis. …This text is mixed together with the prosaic chatter among the crew and Houston as they position the craft for what are now the iconic photos of Earth.  The setting of the prose was the tallest musical hurdle for me, as I wanted to convey the informal, even chaotic quality of the speech without sacrificing lyricism… I assigned Commander Frank Borman to the basses, Command Module Pilot James Lovell to the tenors, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders to the altos.  Astronaut Ken Mattingly [in Houston] is voiced together by the altos, tenors, and basses….I decided to employ the sopranos in a halo of pre- and post-echoes of the lower three voices….The bass drum drives the rhythm here and there, and the crotales are mostly simple–even simplistic– bell-like heralds of the astronauts, resolving into an evocation of the sincerest wishes for A Merry Christmas for all.  This [mvt. 6], I believe, is the emotional center of the piece.   
    – Kile Smith, 2014

     

    Personnel

    NEC Symphonic Choir
    Oluwanimofe Akinyanmi
    Aislin Alancheril
    *‡Andrés Almirall
    *Charleen Andújar Ortiz
    ‡Stellan Connelly Bettany
    *Alexis Boucugnani
    ‡Lila Brucia
    ‡Brittany Bryant
    Isabella Butler
    Peter Butler
    *‡Ashley Chen
    Chen Chen
    ‡Jing Chen
    Su Cong
    Patrick Dempsey
    ‡Andrew Minoo Dixon
    Yuxin Duan
    *Edward Ferran
    ‡Molly Flynn
    Rachel Fredette
    *‡Michelle Ganson
    Solomon Ge
    ‡Abisal Gergiev
    Jiawei Gong
    *Aidan Gorrell
    *Killian Grider
    Rachel Gu
    Siyuan Guan
    *‡Lauren Guthridge
    ‡Jialin Han
    Yujin Han
    ‡Thatcher Harrison
    Cameron Hayden
    Jinyu He
    **Riccardo Lucas Hernandez
    Chenzhejun Hu
    *Weza Jamison-Neto
    *Gabrielle Jaques
    Owen Johnson
    Dohyun Kim
    Loren Kim
    Song Hyeon Kim
    Wanjoong Kim
    *Molly Knight
    *Marnen Laibow-Koser
    Jordan Chun Kwan Lau
    Che Li
    Lucci Zimeng Li
    Qianqian Li
    Shawn Xiangyun Lian
    Bairun Liu
    *‡Corinne Luebke-Brown
    Mei Luo
    *Sally Millar
    Hannah Miller
    Yechan Min
    Sianna Monti
    Daniel Oslin
    Qiu Qiu
    Eric Qu
    *Elliott Ronna
    Samuel Schwartz
    Xingrong Shao
    Yide Shi
    ‡Tamir Shimshoni
    ‡Rachel Solyn
    Claire Stephenson

    Margaret Storm
    Wanrou Tang
    *‡Chloe Thum
    Truman Walker
    Calvin Wamser
    Chenzou Wang
    Qizhen Wang
    Yuehan Echo Wang
    Tianyou Wang
    *‡Sylvie Weinstein
    Shanshan Xie
    Ian Yan
    *Aimee Yermish
    Yuki Yoshimi
    Jessica Yuma
    Zhaoqian Ellie Zhong
    Jiarui Zhou
    ZhuoYa Zhu

    *community member
    **solo tenor
    ‡small group

    The NEC Symphonic Choir is the Conservatory’s resident community chorus. Ranging from 80 to 100 members and open to all students, regardless of major and year, as well as community members by audition, this ensemble offers its musicians the opportunity to perform music from all styles and periods of choral literature, extending beyond traditional Western masterpieces to the music of non-European cultures. The Symphonic Choir performs a cappella repertoire, as well as in collaboration with NEC’s large instrumental ensembles.

     
    Ensembles
    • NEC Symphonic Choir
    Artists
    • Nga ieng Sabrina Lai and Eli Reisz, percussion

  2. INTERMISSION

  3. Veterans' Day Medley, set one - Lt. Matthew Shea, conductor

    Francis Scott Key

    Michael Donovan

    Camille Saint-Saëns     

    Eric Whitacre    		The Star-Spangled Banner

    Fanfare for the SWs

    Marche Militaire Française

    October     (2000)

  4. Veterans' Day Medley, set two - William Drury, conductor

    John Williams

    Claude Debussy
    arr. Ian Wiese '24 DMA



    John Philip Sousa    		Liberty Fanfare (1986)

    Danse sacrée et danse profane

    Morgan Mackenzie Short, harp


    Who's Who in Navy Blue (1920)

  5. Veterans' Day Medley, set three - Lt. Matthew Shea, conductor

    Claude T. Smith

    George Cray, arr.    		Eternal Father, Strong to Save

    Salute to the Armed Services
    Ensembles
    • NEC Symphonic Winds
    • Navy Band Northeast

  6.  

    Personnel

    Navy Band Northeast
    Lt. Matthew Shea, conductor

    Flute
    MU1 Matthew Aiello

    Oboe
    MU2 Rachel Mortenson

    Clarinet

    MU1 Philip Martin
    MU1 Jessica Schneider

    Alto Saxophone
    MU1 Everett Cencich

    Tenor Saxophone
    MU2 Mark Larosa

    French horn
    MU3 Benito Medrano

    Trumpet
    MU1 Chris McGann
    MU2 Mike Brehm
    MU2 Jonathan Starr

    Trombone
    MU3 Nathan Cooper

    Tuba
    MU2 Curtis Thornton

    Percussion
    MU2(AW) Ray Laffoon

    Navy Band Northeast

    Established in 1974, Navy Band Northeast is based on board NAVSTA Newport and is one of 11 official Navy bands worldwide, providing musical support for military ceremonies, recruiting, morale and retention programs, and community relations. The primary components of Navy Band Northeast are: Marching and Ceremonial Bands; Rhode Island Sound (popular music group); Top Brass (brass quintet); and Crosswinds (woodwind trio).  Other units consist of various smaller protocol ensembles: solo pianist; solo guitarist; jazz combo; and solo vocalist and guitarist.  All ensembles perform a wide range of music from patriotic, classical, contemporary, big
    band swing, country, and the latest top-40 hits.

    Lt. Matthew Shea is a native of Ellington, Connecticut. He enlisted in the Navy in 2004 and has served as trumpet instrumentalist for the U.S. Naval Academy Band and U.S. Fleet Forces Band, and as an instructor at the Naval School of Music. He received his commission in 2016. As a Limited Duty Officer, he served tours as assistant fleet bandmaster for U.S. Fleet Forces and for U.S. Pacific Fleet prior to arriving at the U.S. Naval War College in July of 2020. He currently serves as director for Navy Band Northeast. Lt. Shea holds Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in jazz performance from the University of North Texas.

     

    NEC Symphonic Winds
    William Drury, conductor

    Flute
    Isabel Evernham
    Anna Ridenour

    Oboe

    Yuhsi Chang
    Alexander Lenser

    Clarinet
    Tristan Broadfoot
    Xianyi Ji
    Hugo Hyeokwoo Kweon
    Chenrui Lin

    Bassoon
    Adam Chen
    Garrett Comrie
    Kangwei Lu
    Carson Meritt
    Jialu Wang

    Saxophone
    Vladyslav Dovhan
    Ethan Shen
    Juchen Wang

    French horn
    Mattias Bengtsson
    Graham Lovely
    Xiaoran Xu

    Trumpet
    Matthew Mihalko
    Alexandra Richmond

    Trombone
    Rebecca Bertekap
    Alexander Russell
    Kevin Smith

    Bass Trombone
    Roger Dahlin

    Euphonium
    Jack Earnhart

    Tuba
    Jordan Jenifor

    Percussion
    Isabella Butler
    Doyeon Kim
    Nga ieng Sabrina Lai
    Mark Larrivee
    Eli Reisz
    Rohan Zakharia

    Harp
    Morgan Mackenzie Short


    Wind Ensemble Graduate Assistants
    Weizhe Bai
    Rachel Brake
    Minchao Cai
    Iverson Eliopoulos
     

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