Performances + Events
As the academic year begins, this year’s Convocation emphasized the power of listening—not just as a musical skill but as a crucial practice for navigating and enriching our complex world. In her address, NEC President Andrea Kalyn highlighted how this foundational element of musicianship extends beyond the concert hall to foster collaboration, understanding, and growth across the Conservatory community.
Student speaker Elgin Lee, ’23 GD, ’24 GC, DMA 1, opened the day with advice for incoming students about how deep listening and the collaborative spirit of NEC allowed him to more fully translate his humanity through sound.
“We are here because we each have something to say,” he said. “We’re not here to sit alone in a practice room and wait to be instructed on how to achieve perfection in a particular piece or passage. We’re here to learn how to translate our instincts onto our instruments and into sonic emotions.
“As you begin this new chapter in your life, try and find comfort in being challenged. Listen to the community and the music that you’re surrounded by, and give yourself permission to fail, to make mistakes, because they’re the foundations of learning.”
Lee’s words were followed by a performance of Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s Louisiana Blues Strut: A Cakewalk for Violin by Joshua Brown ’22, ’24 MM, ’26 AD, Violin.
Later, a faculty panel discussion titled “The Echoes of the Place We’re In” further explored the idea of listening. Moderator Richard Giarusso, dean and chief academic officer, guided the conversation with Bruce Brubaker, co-chair and curator of piano programming; Yeesun Kim, strings and chamber music faculty; Nicholas Kitchen, strings faculty; and Anna Webber, co-chair of Jazz Studies.
Webber captured the essence of the discussion when she noted, “We live in this world that is constantly vying for our visual attention. Our phones are trying to grab our attention at all moments of the day. Everything is bright lights. Developing practice as a listener—through being a musician— allows us … to perceive all of these other things that are happening in the world.”
Addressing the gathering of faculty, staff, and students, President Kalyn reflected on the broader significance of listening in today’s world. “We live in a complex and complicated world,” she said. “There’s no shortage of ambiguity, discord, or challenge. But I believe that musicians—and by extension, everyone who works with musicians—are better prepared than most, not just to navigate such a world, but to strengthen and elevate it because we practice listening.
“In our best moments, when we’re practicing it daily, our ability to listen deeply enables us to work across our differences, to collaborate powerfully, and to advance shared goals—musical and otherwise. To function as an ensemble, if you will, to create something beautiful and meaningful together.”
The ceremony concluded with a performance by a student jazz quartet comprising Gabriele Nieves ’25 MM, tenor sax; Nick Isherwood ’25 MM, bass; Victor Giraldez ’27, drum; and Peter Vazquez ’27, piano, later ushered NEC into its 157th academic year after Kalyn closed the ceremony with four strikes of a bell and a final message to the room.
“It’s going to be a glorious explosion of music, of community, and of growth, and it’s a real privilege to share it with you,” she said. “I hope this is a year of profound discovery, inspiration, and joy for all of you.”
