NEC Celebrates Marylou

NEC Celebrates the Life of Marylou Speaker Churchill (1945—2009), April 4 at 7 p.m. in Jordan Hall

Tributes in Words and Music Offered by Family, Friends, Students, and Colleagues from Conservatory, BSO, El Sistema, Festivals

Marylou Speaker ChurchillFamily, friends, colleagues, and students will gather to celebrate the life and "radiant presence" of violinist Marylou Speaker Churchill, Sunday April 4 at 7 p.m. in NEC's Jordan Hall. Mrs. Churchill, known for her generosity of spirit, nurture of the whole student, and elegant music making, played with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for 30 years, and as Principal Second Violin of that orchestra for 23 years. She taught on the faculties of the NEC College and Preparatory School for 28 years and served as guest faculty at many festivals and youth orchestras in the United States and abroad.  She died November 10 at the age of 64.

Former Boston Globe Music Critic Richard Dyer, who followed her playing in the BSO for more than two decades, recalled Mrs. Churchill as "a radiant presence in the orchestra."  Along with leadership qualities, "she brought musicianship, command of the instrument, perfect intonation, lustrous tone.  The range of her imagination was matched only by the intense focus of her concentration on detail.  She was a both a wonderful soloist and a wonderful, interactive chamber-music player, and both of these qualities played into her role in the orchestra; she was a team player who elevated the quality of the ensemble."  As a teacher, player, and mentor, she was beloved by hundreds of students and her many colleagues.

Speakers at the celebration will include Dyer; NEC President Tony Woodcock, NEC Strings and Chamber Music Chair Lucy Chapman; Símon Bolívar Youth Orchestra Concertmaster Alejandro Carreño, and former head of the Walnut Hill School Stephanie Perrin. Musical tributes will be offered by the reconstituted Amaryllis Quartet, made up of players Mrs. Churchill taught or coached in the Preparatory School. That quartet will be joined by cellist Yo-Yo Ma for performances of quintet movements by Schubert and Boccherini. In addition, there will be ensembles comprised of musicians from the various institutions that were touched by Mrs. Churchill's indelible imprint.

The program, to which all are invited, will be followed by a reception in Williams Hall.

A complete list of the performers and repertory follows:

Schubert: String Quintet in C Major, D. 956
     Scherzo:  Presto – Trio:  Andante sostenuto
Boccherini: String Quintet in C Major, Op. 37, No. 7
     Rondo:  Allegro con moto
Amaryllis String Quartet and cellist Yo-Yo Ma
Ayano Ninomiya, Mariana Green-Hill, violin
Melissa Reardon, viola
Wendy Law, cello
Yo-Yo Ma, guest cellist

Dvořák: Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 81    
     Dumka:  Andante con moto
Simón Bolívar String Quartet
Alejandro Carreño, Eduardo Salazar, violin
Ismel Campos, viola
Aimon Mata, cello
Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, guest pianist

Massenet: Meditation from Thais
Yuki Beppu, violin
George Li, piano
Rodrigo Riera: Naive Serenate
Frank Di Polo, viola and trumpet
Rubén Riera, guitar

Richard Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier, Op. 59   Act III, Trio: Hab's mir's gelobt  
Barbara Quintilliani, soprano
Sara Heaton, soprano
Nicole Rodin, mezzo-soprano
Dina Vainshtein, piano

J.S. Bach: Concerto for 2 Violins, Strings and Continuo in D Minor, BWV 1043    
James Buswell and Daniel Heifetz, violin solo
NEC Preparatory School Faculty Chamber Orchestra

Mozart: Oboe Quartet in F major, K. 370    
    Adagio
John Ferrillo, oboe
Frank Powdermaker, violin
Katherine Sievers, viola
Ronald Feldman, cello

Ravel: Introduction and Allegro (1905)
Ina Zdorovetchi, harp
Paula Robison, flute
Bruce Creditor, clarinet
Donald Weilerstein, Lucy Chapman, violin
Kim Kashkashian, viola
Laurence Lesser, cello

Closing the program will be a recording of Marylou's own transcendent performance of the violin solo from Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time with pianist Veronica Jochum.

For further information, check the NEC Website  or call the NEC Concert Line at 617-585-1122.  NEC’s Jordan Hall, Brown Hall, Williams Hall and the Keller Room are located at 30 Gainsborough St., corner of Huntington Ave. St. Botolph Hall is located at 241 St. Botolph St. between Gainsborough and Mass Ave.

ABOUT NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY

Recognized nationally and internationally as a leader among music schools, New England Conservatory offers rigorous training in an intimate, nurturing community to 720 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral music students from around the world.  Its faculty of 225 boasts internationally esteemed artist-teachers and scholars.  Its alumni go on to fill orchestra chairs, concert hall stages, jazz clubs, recording studios, and arts management positions worldwide.  Nearly half of the Boston Symphony Orchestra is composed of NEC trained musicians and faculty.

The oldest independent school of music in the United States, NEC was founded in 1867 by Eben Tourjee. Its curriculum is remarkable for its wide range of styles and traditions.  On the college level, it features training in classical, jazz, Contemporary Improvisation, world and early music. Through its Preparatory School, School of Continuing Education, and Community Collaboration Programs, it provides training and performance opportunities for children, pre-college students, adults, and seniors.  Through its outreach projects, it allows young musicians to engage with non-traditional audiences in schools, hospitals, and nursing homes—thereby bringing pleasure to new listeners and enlarging the universe for classical music and jazz.

NEC presents more than 600 free concerts each year, many of them in Jordan Hall, its world- renowned, 106-year old, beautifully restored concert hall.  These programs range from solo recitals to chamber music to orchestral programs to jazz and opera scenes.  Every year, NEC’s opera studies department also presents two fully staged opera productions at the Cutler Majestic Theatre in Boston.

NEC is co-founder and educational partner of From the Top, a weekly radio program that celebrates outstanding young classical musicians from the entire country. With its broadcast home in Jordan Hall, the show is now carried by National Public Radio and is heard on 250 stations throughout the United States.

Contact: Ellen Pfeifer
Public Relations Manager
New England Conservatory
617-585-1143
ellen.pfeifer@necmusic.edu