Performances + Events
In his inaugural Commencement address in 1870, New England Conservatory’s founder, Eben Tourjée, told graduating students,“Be loyal to your art. In your hands may it ever be a reformer, an educator, a symbol of all that is beautiful, noble, and good … Let your aims be lofty and your lives a perpetual rebuke to this superficial age.”
Tourjée, NEC President Andrea Kalyn told the Class of 2026 this past Sunday, “believed that music could heal a nation” and that “today is the moment where that legacy meets the future.”
NEC’s 155th Commencement celebrated the artist’s voice and its potential to transform the individual and our shared experience.
NEC President Andrea Kalyn.
“You’ve chosen a life in which you get to tell the truth — in sound, in time, in the wordless language that human beings have been speaking to one another since before we had words,” Kalyn said. “Share everything you’ve learned. Defy a few things you’ve been taught. Find the audiences that no one else has found. Teach. Collaborate. Fail bravely. Make something new.”
Tom Blumenthal, Chair of NEC’s Board of Trustees.
Tom Blumenthal, Chair of NEC’s Board of Trustees, also extolled the virtue of bravery. “The world needs dreamers, creators, and innovators to remind us what it means to be human,” he said, “and to light the path to a better future. Graduates, we need you to use your artistry as a guiding beacon to shape your future, your community, and the world. Go forth with optimism and bravery, make a difference, have an impact.”
Undergraduate and graduate degrees were conferred during a ceremony that also included the presentation of honorary degrees to jazz saxophonist Gary Bartz and Vivo Performing Arts (formerly Celebrity Series of Boston) President and Executive Director Gary Dunning.
Gary Bartz, left, and Hankus Netsky.
Gary Dunning and Andrea Kalyn.
“Each of these extraordinary individuals shows us, in their different ways, what lives of artistry, creativity, and community really look like at the highest levels,” Kalyn said.
Clarinetist Carla Fortmann ’26 MM, the afternoon’s Student Speaker, acknowledged the potential of the musician’s voice, the uncertainty each artist faces, and the community that creativity can foster.
“We all have the passion of pursuing a discipline that is much bigger than ourselves,” she said. “After today, we will move on to our next chapter. As we face uncertain times, remember that you are never alone. Your peers, even your mentors here, know exactly how you feel, because we all decided to follow this path.
Carla Fortmann ’26 MM.
“For some of us, we know exactly where we’re going, while others are still in the works,” Fortmann said. “Within the chaos of the outside world, we can find solace in creating something beautiful. No one can take away your music. Your voice is your voice alone … Embrace that, let it be yours. Sing when no one is listening. Wail in the moments you want to scream.”
In spite of expected uncertainty, Fortmann told the Class of 2026 to find joy in what they do. She quoted composer John Cage, saying, “The purpose of music, as it always was, is to bring about an enjoyment of the life you’re living.”
Alumni Speaker Matthew Shifrin ’21, ’23 MM also addressed uncertainty — and also implored graduating students to have fun on their chosen path, wherever it leads. “When NEC asked me to be your Alumni Speaker, I was puzzled,” Shifrin said. “Since I’d graduated from NEC, I hadn’t won any major competitions or released any new albums.” What he had done was found Bricks For the Blind, a nonprofit that creates text-based instructions that allow blind children to build LEGO sets.
Matthew Shifrin ’21, ’23 MM.
Shifrin explained, “While doing my masters in opera at NEC, I realized I couldn’t be an opera singer. I’m a blind, accordion-playing countertenor who almost fell into the orchestra pit during rehearsal. So, I got a grant and wrote My Grandma’s Mind is Like an Ocean, a musical in English and Yiddish which won the award for best musical at the United Solo Theatre Festival in NYC. And I wrote it not just because I wanted to, but because it plugged the hole that not being able to be an opera singer had left behind.
“We will all have these holes open up in our lives,” Shifrin said, “and we will need to figure out how to fill them — what projects we can take on to keep our creativity flowing, make us feel whole, and help us have fun.”
“Find your fun,” he said. “Find what fulfills you.”
As part of Commencement, awards were presented to students and faculty, two of whom, Roger Graybill and Richard Stoltzman, were made Faculty Emeriti in recognition of their contributions to the Conservatory. Graybill, Stoltzman, and Paul Burdick are retiring after years of dedicated service.
NEC’s New Orleans-style jazz band.
Countertenor Ricky Owens ’26 GD and collaborative pianist Rafe Schaberg ’23, ’25 MM, ’27 GD.
The graduation ceremony, which was preceded by a Commencement Concert on Saturday night featuring performances by graduating students, included a processional led by a New Orleans-style jazz band that played “When the Saints Go Marching In,” “Down By the Riverside,” “St. James Infirmary,” and “Just a Closer Walk with Thee.” That ensemble, augmented with additional musicians — including faculty member Hankus Netsky — led the recessional, too, with a spirited performance of Klezmer music.
The graduation ceremony also featured a captivating performance by countertenor Ricky Owens ’26 GD, with collaborative pianist Rafe Schaberg ’23, ’25 MM, ’27 GD, of “Sein wir wieder gut” from Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos.
Denyce Graves ’88 UD, ’14 hon DM.
Owens’s performance was followed by an empowering address to the Class of 2026 delivered by the afternoon’s distinguished Commencement Speaker, acclaimed mezzo-soprano and NEC alumna Denyce Graves ’88 UD, ’14 hon. DM. Graves reflected on the legacy of Mary Caldwell Dawson, who graduated from NEC in 1925 with degrees in voice and piano. It was rare, Graves said, for an African American woman to pursue an education in classical music.
“Mary Caldwell Dawson understood something that every artist in this room must understand,” Graves said. “Talent is not enough.”
Dawson, Graves said, “built something greater than herself.” That included the founding of the National Negro Opera Company in Pittsburgh.
“I did not learn about Mary Caldwell Dawson in music-history class,” Graves said, “but she was important.”
Graves encouraged members of the graduating class to use their voice, and to use it now.
“You are all called here,” she said, “because the world needs you, specifically. … Do not wait for permission.
“Artists have always carried civilization through its darkest hours,” she said. “Never underestimate the importance of what you do. Madam Mary Caldwell Dawson’s legacy is a powerful reminder that courage and vision can outlive obstacles.”
In a nod to Shifrin’s remarks, Graves also encouraged the Class of 2026, to “find your own fun,” and she quoted writer David Mitchell, saying, “We are bound to others, past and present,” before urging graduates to “go forward boldly” — to “be brilliant, be generous, and be impossible to ignore.”
“As you leave here,” Kalyn said, “carry with you your passion and turn that passion into purpose.” In closing, she said, invoking the Conservatory’s longtime mascot, “My penguins, remember: You are forever part of the NEC family. You are part of the history of this institution, your sounds will always be part of its resonance and impact. NEC will always be your home.”
Awards Bestowed on Students and Faculty
Pianist Jessica Yuma ’24, ’26 MM received the Tourjée Alumni Award.
The Donald Martino Award for Excellence in Composition, which is given to an outstanding composition student, was awarded to Peter Butler ’26.
Arson Fahim ’26 received the Lyman Row Global Musicianship Award, which is presented to a student who demonstrates a deep commitment to and in-depth study of a world music tradition.
The Award for Excellence in Liberal Arts, which is given to seniors who complete outstanding work across multiple disciplines in the liberal arts and who serves the NEC community through extracurricular activities that extend beyond their musical studies, was given to violinist Tara Hagle ’26, who completed a Teaching Artistry and Music Education Concentration, and violist Charlie Picone ’26, who minored in Liberal Arts.
The Entrepreneurial Musicianship Spark Award, which grants each recipient $1,000 in recognition of their entrepreneurial spirit, was given to jazz saxophonist Emma Blanc ’26, cellist Lexine Feng ’24, ’26 MM, who completed a Teaching Artistry and Music Education Concentration, and clarinetist Maxwell Reed ’26 MM.
The George Whitefield Chadwick Medal, which is awarded to an exceptional undergraduate, was presented to violinist Tara Hagle ’26.
The Gunther Schuller Medal, which honors a graduate student who has made extraordinary contributions to the conservatory, was presented to percussionist Samuel Kerr ’25 MM, ’26 GD.
Faculty member Nicholas Kitchen, a violinist in the Borromeo String Quartet, NEC’s faculty ensemble-in-residence, received the Louis and Adrienne Krasner Teaching Excellence Award. Kitchen teaches the popular and insightful NEC course Creativity and Manuscripts.
2026 Commencement Concert Highlights
NEC’s 155th Commencement was preceded the previous evening by a Commencement Concert featuring performances by graduating students. Here are some images from that festive event.
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Clancy Ellis ’26 GD leads a performance of the Overture to Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro.”
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Graduating students perform Toshiko Akiyoshi’s “Long Yellow Road.”
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Graduating students perform F. Mendelssohn’s String Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20.
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Graduating students perform an arrangement by Lucy Geller ’26 MM of “For Good” from Stephen Schwartz’s “Wicked.”
