NEC Musicians Take to the Digital Stage: Music for Adults and Children
Amid COVID-19 social distancing, NEC alumni and students have leapt forward to create and perform in digital concert experiences. Here, we highlight just a few of the new online offerings created by our community.
 Last week, NEC Community Performances & Partnerships was delighted to share a virtual version of our popular Musical Storytelling Showcase for young children & families. We premiered five new videos of "meet the instrument" and musical storytelling sessions, which will continue to be available online. Each video shows the unique creative work of one of NEC's Musical Storytelling Fellows, who spent the school year training as teaching artists in preschools and early elementary classrooms. Viewers sent notes, exclaiming "My son loved this in Texas!" and "Thank you from Iowa!," highlighting one of the silver linings of moving the showcase online: while several hundred viewers might be able to participate on campus in Boston, over 2,000 viewers were able to tune in online, from all over the world. Another silver lining: the Fellows were able to include some very special guests as story narrators—their own moms and dads! |
 Boston-based chamber orchestra A Far Cry, which includes many NEC alumni, has created a series of digital programming for both children and adults. Recent videos include live streams of NEC alumni Robyn Bollinger performing a home concert for adults, and Miki-Sophia Cloud (with a screen-in-a-screen assist from Karl Doty) introducing young listeners and their grownups to the importance of the bass. "The bass notes, the notes that support all the other music that's happening—are kind of like the bread in a peanut butter sandwich," explains Cloud, as she assembles both a sandwich and a blues tune from her dining room. |
 Celebrity Series of Boston at Home has featured a number of NEC alumni. Next up is Shaw Pong Liu, performing on both violin and erhu on Friday, May 1st from 8 – 8:30 p.m. The series has also included alum Aoife O'Donovan, faculty member Mike Block, and a virtual world premiere by alum Anthony R. Green. |
More digital creations from our community:
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Sarah-Hadley Yakir performs May 24th with Lake George Music Festival's Quarantine Concert Series
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Scott Moore '86 MM, principal trumpet, and Ruthie Valente Burgess '08 MM, principal cello are featured in the Memphis Symphony Orchestra's delightful socially distanced recording of the overture from Rossini's William Tell
- Guitarist Raley Beggs and cellist Marza Wilks collaborated cross-country to welcome April. "This April arrived to us under the strangest of circumstances," says Raley. "Even though music needs to be performed from a distance, I'm continuously amazed at the ability of musicians to adapt and share their art. "
- Contemporary Improvisation alum Damon Isaac Smith has taken the opportunity to collaborate with his brother, Brendan Jacob Smith in a series of live stream Quarantunes concerts
- And many, many more. Have news like this to share? Email news@necmusic.edu