What's New: Summer Special
News from NEC alumni, students, and faculty members including Suubi Laurent, Julian Lage, Peter Rogers, Thomas Wilkins, Delfina Cheb-Terrab, Lucy Little, Coretta Scott King, Alyssa Wang, Nicholas Brown, and more.
 14-year-old Suubi Laurent has been named a Fortissima Fellow for 2021-2022. Fortissima is a leadership and artistic development program, open to 10 high-school-aged women of color nationwide, hosted by The Colburn School's Center for Innovation and Community Impact. Suubi is associate principal cello in NEC Prep's Junior Repertory Orchestra, and is also a student in the BEAM (Bridge to Equity and Achievement in Music) program housed at NEC.
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Incoming jazz faculty member Julian Lage was recently featured in Downbeat and The New Yorker. Julian spoke about his most recent album, Squint, which was released in June 2021.
With Downbeat, Julian discussed his process of reaching back to old inspirations:
“There is a handful of tunes I learned as a young person that I’ve always wanted to put out in the world. When it came time to put a record together, it felt like it was time to reintroduce it. It felt like what we were trying to say with this record is, ‘I’m in love with jazz, I’m in love with the culture of jazz.’”
 Peter Rogers ’06 has been named VP of Sales for Sonoma Raceway. Peter studied double bass at NEC and has a resume spanning Sony Music, Jay-Z's Roc Nation, the Life is Beautiful Festival, the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony, and the Las Vegas Philharmonic.
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 Alum Thomas Wilkins '76 was named Virginia Symphony Orchestra's Principal Guest Conductor. This position was created just for Thomas after finishing a 17-year run as Musical Director for the Omaha Symphony earlier this year. Wilkins also serves as Principal Conductor at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles and conducts for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
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 In collaboration with the LGBT Aging Project at the Fenway Institute and Neighborhood Rocks, NEC's Community Performances and Partnerships (CPP) launched a new program, NEC Virtual Senior Choir @ Fenway for LGBT Seniors. Funded by a Catalyzing Creative Aging seed grant from the National Guild of Community Arts Education, the program allowed LGBT older adult learners built core vocal skills and created a singing community and participate in a series of songwriting workshops with NEC students Delfina Cheb-Terrab '21 and Lucy Little '21. In the words of Bob Linscott, long-time CPP partner and the Assistant Director of the LGBT Aging Project at The Fenway Institute,
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 The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund has announced that they will preserving dozens of Black cultural sites, funded by a $3 million grant. One of the places include the headquarters of the League of Women for Community Service, a social services organization led by Black women in Boston's South End. African American women in Boston who weren't allowed in the residence halls of their colleges and universities in the mid-1900s instead stayed at storied brownstone building. One of the women who stayed there was NEC alum Coretta Scott King '54, '71 Hon. DM while she was a student at NEC and when started dating her future husband Martin Luther King Jr. The building is currently in a process of rehabilitation, and the new funds will go toward restoring the entry portico. |
The Boston Festival Orchestra, led by Artistic Director Alyssa Wang '17 and Executive Director Nicholas Brown '19 MM, which had its debut at the Calderwood Pavilion in Boston. The orchestra strives to enrich the summer culture of the city through high quality classical music performances featuring Boston’s best professional musicians and renowned soloists. Boston Festival Orchestra includes several other NEC alumni as well.
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Conductor and alum Roberto Kalb '14 DMA was named the winner of the 2021 Georg Solti Career Assistance Award
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Jazz alum Priya Carlberg '18, '20 MM has released a new album with her band Birthday Ass, which was reviewed in The Quietus
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Inmo Yang ’19 AD was recently featured on The Violin Channel as a VC Young Artist
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Cantor Deborah Martin '74, who served as Congregation Emanu-El in Waukesha, WI as its first female Spiritual Leader, is retiring
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Artist Diploma student Maria Ioudenitch '20 MM, '22 AD has been awarded the first prize in the senior age category and the Ysaÿe Grand Prize at the 2021 Ysaÿe International Violin Competition in Liège, Belgium
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Chris DeChiara '99 MM published a book called The Rite of Spring, A Percussionist's Guide
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Faculty member Mehmet Ali Sanlikol spoke to WBUR about the release of his new album, An Elegant Ritual
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Alumni Michael Mayo '14 and Sara Serpa ’08 MM and faculty members Miguel Zenon and Nasheet Waits are playing and participating in the Siena Jazz International Summer Seminars
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Classical guitar alum Larry Simon '79 is set to release his book, New York City Blues, Postwar portraits from Harlem to the Village and Beyond
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Zhanbo Zheng '20, Burcu Gulec '17 MM, and Andrew Barnwell '20 have been awarded St. Botolph Club Foundation Emerging Artist awards
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Faculty Jerry Bergonzi was featured on the Straight No Chaser podcast