Performances + Events
Hank Mou, left, and Richard Giarusso
Hank Mou recently joined the New England Conservatory leadership as Dean and Chief Artistic Officer, an appointment that created an administrative partnership that reflects the College’s collaborative ethos. Mou works alongside Dean and Chief Academic Officer Richard Giarusso. “Together,” NEC President Andrea Kalyn wrote in announcing Mou’s appointment to the NEC community, “Hank and Richard will lead College faculty and staff in strengthening the student experience, advancing the continued transformation of our curriculum, and ensuring that NEC fulfills our mission of preparing musicians at the highest level for professional lives of distinction, relevance, and impact.” We spoke with Mou and Giarusso about their complementary roles and responsibilities.
Q: How does NEC’s new leadership structure further the Conservatory’s mission of preparing students for meaningful, impactful futures?
RG: The new leadership structure guarantees that both the academic and artistic “shops” have dedicated, specialized leadership to ensure the best possible opportunities and outcomes for our students, and enhanced support for our faculty.
HM: NEC continues to be the leading institution in preparing students in a transformational way for the performing arts field, and Richard and I are partners in ensuring that we progress toward the evolving landscape of higher education and the arts. By working both together and in our respective academic and artistic areas, the two of us are able to provide more holistic and detailed support in guiding students toward their goals of artistic excellence and careers in the field.
Q: How does the structure, and how will you each and together, bolster the experience students have while they’re here?
RG: While each focusing on our specific areas of priority, we will work (and are already working) closely together to build stronger connections between the artistic and academic enterprises at NEC. This is in keeping with our broader curricular philosophy of “integration,” which seeks to break down the traditional “silos” of a conservatory education and model the kind of collaborative, cross-disciplinary thinking that students will need as they build their professional identities as engaged, informed artists with an understanding of their potential to contribute something uniquely their own to the communities that they will serve.
HM: While the two of us are better equipped to focus on our specific areas, and work with the faculty associated within those areas, Richard and I are also able to strategize on new initiatives and opportunities as a team. We’re therefore not only able to meet the day-to-day, but to also look ahead to meet the demands and needs of this generation of music students and the generations to come.
Q: How will you work to advance “the continued transformation of our curriculum,” to borrow President Kalyn’s words?
HM: Prior to my start here, I was incredibly impressed and encouraged by the progress already made by NEC and its leadership toward the more Integrative Curriculum. This work has built a new framework for exciting opportunities moving forward, including in the areas of performance, community engagement, career development, and collaboration across all programs. NEC is not only looking to transform the student experience but the whole landscape of the performing arts industry, and the work being done now will better equip our students to be the future innovative leaders of the industry.
RG: While we have accomplished a great deal in recent years, there is still plenty of work to be done in moving NEC further toward its goal of an increasingly integrative conservatory experience for our students. Working together, we will refine current ideas and explore future possibilities to build more connections across the curriculum and to ensure that students have as many opportunities as possible to engage directly with models of academic and artistic cross-pollination to support their continuing development as artists.
