What's New: Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol in Downbeat, Due Donne in the Boston Globe, and More
News about NEC students, alumni, and faculty members including Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol, MaryAnn McCormick, David Loebel, Celeste Pellegrino, Larisa Bainton, Melissa White, Laurel Barnett, and more.
Alum and faculty member Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol ’00 MM, ’04 DMA releases a new album this week, The Rise Up, conducted by Ken Schaphorst and featuring Dave Liebman as well as members of NEC's Jazz Orchestra. Says Sanlıkol: “I have been saddened and personally affected by the recent political turmoil and malignant stereotyping of Muslims and minority communities in the U.S. lately. As a result, I decided to construct this piece around three episodes from Middle Eastern history which chronicle dark and traumatic events followed by human inspiration and/or transcendental creation in order to demonstrate my belief and hope that we, humanity will rise up and above these difficult times too.” |
MaryAnn McCormick was profiled in Opera News, discussing her performing career, her development of stagecraft and technique, and her teaching approach.
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David Loebel, conductor of NEC's Symphony and Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, penned a piece for the Cleveland Orchestra in honor of George Szell, his “North Star among conductors:”
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Celeste Pellegrino ’20 MM and Larisa Bainton ’20 MM were highlighted in The Boston Globe for their staging of the first opera to be performed in Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
The Boston Globe: 3 Boston music groups thinking outside the Zoom box |
Violinist Melissa White ’12 of the Harlem String Quartet was interviewed on the Performing Labor podcast about virtual performances, conservatory training, breaking down barriers, and what she learned from touring with jazz musicians. “The audience wants to be in on the experience,” she says. |
Laurel Barnett, a rising senior at Westwood High School and NEC Preparatory School student, has earned the Girl Scout Gold Award for her music program at the Westwood Senior Center:
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A new documentary, Legacy of Love, tells the early story of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and NEC alumna Coretta Scott King, who met in Boston while he attended Boston University and she attended New England Conservatory. WBUR: Boston Brought Them Together: Documentary Explores The Early Days Of MLK And Coretta Scott WGBH: A Conversation With 'Legacy of Love' Filmmaker Roberto Mighty |
- Joshua Weilerstein ’09, ’11 MM hosted Opus 2020, a benefit concert to aimed at ensuring voting access for potentially disenfranchised Americans. Performers included Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, Jonathan Biss, Alisa Weilerstein, Noah Bendix-Balgley, and Anthony McGill.
- Katherine Balch ’14 Tufts/NEC has been awarded the 2021 Elliott Carter Rome Prize for Composition.
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Conductor Lina González-Granados ’14 MM has been awarded the Twenty Questions has featured recent interviews with jazz and contemporary improvisation faculty members including Ran Blake, Joe Morris, Jason Moran, and Anthony Coleman.
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Grace Clifford ’21 MM spoke to Limelight Magazine about the joy of returning to chamber music after quarantine.
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Yitzhak Yedid ’98 MM has won the Azrieli Music Prize.
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Colorado Symphony oboist Nicholas Tisherman ’16 used music to advocate for COVID-19 economic relief.