Commencement Concert

The night before NEC's 142nd Commencement Exercises, a grand concert in Jordan Hall puts our graduating students on display before they go off to take their place on the world's stages.

The repertory includes student composers, jazz and Contemporary Improvisation, vocal and instrumental soloists, chamber music, and large-scale works.

Graduating orchestral instrument majors form the core of an orchestra conducted by orchestral conducting major Matthew Szymanski. Just a few weeks after a triumphant performance of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring at which a "packed Jordan Hall erupted in spontaneous shouting and an extended ovation" (Boston Musical Intelligencer), we'll hear a lighter side of this composer with selections from his Pulcinella Suite, which alludes to Italy's ancient clown tradition.

Eden MacAdam-Somer 14 Miles
Sail Away Ladies:
Eden MacAdam-Somer, fiddle, voice
Sarah Jarosz, mandolin, voice
Mia Friedman, fiddle, voice
Ari Friedman, cello, voice

Sergei Prokofiev
Scene: The Street Awakens from Romeo and Juliet: Ten Pieces for Piano
Etude in D Minor, Op. 2, No. 1
Wesley Chu, piano

Igor Stravinsky excerpts from Pulcinella (1949 revision) 
Sinfonia - Tarantella - Toccata - Gavotta - Duetto - Minuetto – Finale
NEC Commencement Orchestra
Matthew Szymanski, conductor

Randal Despommier Go Down Moses
Arrangements of three spirituals and a gospel hymn
Go Down Moses - His Eye is on the Sparrow - Deep River - Every Time I Feel the Spirit
Tim Ayres-Kerr, tenor
Yelena Beriyeva, piano

Charles Koechlin Trio
Alicia Mielke, flute
Peter Bauer, clarinet
Ali Eaton, bassoon

Igor Stravinsky The Owl and the Pussycat
Susanna Su, soprano
John Heiss, piano

Johannes Brahms Adagio from Clarinet Quintet
John Diodati, clarinet
Amy Galluzzo, Ryan Shannon, violin
Danielle Wiebe, viola
Seungsei Kim, cello

Ben Eunson Awakening
Ben Eunson, guitar
Carlos Fernandez Averhoff Jr., tenor saxophone
Zwelakhe-Duma Bell le Pere, bass
Joe Musacchia, drums

Burt Bacharach arr. Simon Hanes Nikki
Daniel Pencer, alto saxophone
Jake Baldwin, Kai Sandoval, trumpet
Rachel Panitch, Abigale Reisman, Mia Friedman, violin, vocals
Eden MacAdam-Somer, Alexandra Simpson, viola, vocals
Valerie Thompson, Ari Friedman, cello, vocals
Jussi Reijonen, oud
Sarah Jarosz, mandolin, vocals
Evan Allen, keyboard
Andria Nicodemou, marimba, glockenspiel
Arian Shafiee, guitar
Jesse Heasly, bass
Vessela Stoyanova, timpani
Ethan Parcell, drums

Sergei Rachmaninoff Prelude in B-flat Major, Op. 23, No. 2
Jae-Weon Huh, piano

Raymond Premru Two Pieces for Three Trombones
Felicity - Episode
John Elizondo, Gregory Platt, trombone
Christopher Bassett, bass trombone

Randall Thompson Choose Something Like a Star
from Frostiana for mixed chorus
Adrienne Arditti, A-Larenée Davis, Brandon Delgado, Christina DeMaio, Carly Hayes, Erika Littlejohn, Christine Lutes, Stephanie Mardjetko, Julia Partyka, Joshua Quinn, Patrick Shelton, Joseph Smith, Laura Soto-Bayomi, Michelle Sugiarto, Rebecca Wright, Mallory Zakeosian
Nicholas Loh, piano
Suzanne Jalbert, conductor

Stevie Wonder arr. Joseph Copeland Come Back as a Flower
Joseph Copeland, Natalie Cadet, Michael Mayo, Arielle Armstrong, vocals
Abigale Reisman, Rachel Panitch, violin
Valerie Thompson, viola
Eunyoung Kim, piano
Joe Musacchia, drums

artwork from Milton Glaser's classic Columbia Masterworks record sleeve for Stravinsky's Pulcinella Suite, conducted by the composer