Open Letter to President Kalyn and members of the New England Conservatory community

June 19, 2020

This open letter was received on Juneteenth, 2020 and is reprinted here for reference and transparency. View the original here

Juneteenth, 2020

To President Kalyn and members of the NEC community:

We, the undersigned alumni of the New England Conservatory write in response to President Kalyn’s recent statement of solidarity with the Black community. In addition to the requests outlined by our academic siblings in the Black Student Union, we write to demand a number of long overdue policy actions the Conservatory can take to bring its newfound rhetoric in line with its policies and practices. Although we are heartened to see NEC recognize the systemic nature of anti-Black racism, we agree with President Kalyn’s assertion: statements alone are insufficient. While it is easy to initiate a conversation about the forms of institutionalized racism that exist elsewhere, it is apparently much harder for the Conservatory to acknowledge how it has been implicated in reproducing the social conditions it claims to abhor.

It is time for the Conservatory’s leadership to be courageous in addressing its history and sustained role in promoting the purported supremacy of Eurocentric musical traditions. This history has informed the institution’s organizational DNA, and current racialized inequalities, exclusions, and silences at the Conservatory can be traced back to this legacy. Above and beyond hiring a single consultant, we urge the New England Conservatory to substantiate its solidarity statement by developing mechanisms to address trenchant and systemic institutional issues. We call on the Conservatory’s leadership and Board of Trustees to dismantle the Conservatory’s cultural caste system by adopting six anti-racist policy actions in its diversity, equity, and inclusion work.

The policy actions articulated below represent a systematic response to the forms of institutionalized racism embedded within NEC’s organizational culture. When taken together, these actions will (1) support NEC’s mission to advance the public good by cultivating diverse, equitable learning experiences for all students, (2) advance NEC’s espoused commitment to creating an institutional culture of respect, equity, and justice, and (3) build NEC’s organizational capacity to provide a more culturally relevant, anti-racist music education. These policy actions are as follows:

1. Create a public timeline of steps the Conservatory will take to address the three demands outlined by the Black Student Union, no later than the start of the 2020-2021 academic year.

As you are aware, the Black Student Union has outlined three modest demands in their request to President Kalyn: (1) “We demand that mental wellness resources that are tailored for the Black experience be made available at an institutional level; (2) We demand that NEC recognize Black culture and music through creating virtual programming and future programming that fortifies and highlights Black artists’ contribution to both classical and contemporary music; (3) We demand institutional support for economically and socially at-risk Black students.”

We are deeply appalled and embarrassed that these basic material supports are not already in place. There is truly no excuse. We stand in solidarity with the Black Student Union and reiterate these demands. We consider this to be the bare minimum—an incredibly low bar in addressing decades of gaslighting, othering, and collective trauma experienced by Black students at the Conservatory.

2. Collect and share vital baseline data and vest NEC’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion taskforce with the authority and resources needed to eliminate all racial disparities.

At this time, NEC has signaled a willingness to confront ongoing injustices and work to create a more egalitarian organizational culture. In light of these goals, and to better inform the community conversations that the Conservatory is planning, we are calling on NEC to (1) collect and share vital baseline data that will illuminate objective inequalities, and (2) vest NEC’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion taskforce with the authority and resources needed to define and pursue new performance benchmarks during the upcoming academic year. Pursuant to these objectives, we are calling on NEC’s Chief Strategy Officer to collect and share descriptive statistics in connection with the following questions:

a. How many of NEC’s Trustees are Black (out of what total number)?
b. How many members of the NEC faculty are Black (out of what total number)? What is the current level of compensation for Black faculty as compared to non-Black counterparts?
c. How many senior leadership staff (i.e. staff with policy making power) are Black (out of what total number)?What is the current level of compensation for Black senior leadership as compared to non- Black counterparts?
d. How many students are Black (out of what total number)? What is the average financial aid package awarded to Black students as compared to non-Black counterparts? How many institutionally-supported recruitment efforts prioritize recruitment in Black communities?
e. What percentage of NEC’s annual budget over the past 20 years has been devoted to the production of non-Eurocentric music as compared to Eurocentric music?
f. How many courses center non-European musical traditions and aesthetic values (out of what total number of courses currently offered)? How many courses center Black and African diasporic musical traditions and aesthetic values?
g. How many works of Black composers from the African diaspora have been performed at NEC over the past 20 years as compared to White American and European counterparts?
h. How many Black guest artists have been contracted by the Conservatory over the past twenty years as compared to White American and European counterparts?
i. What is the current number of Black and African-centered books and audio materials in library holdings as compared to White American and European counterparts?

The answers to these questions are a clear reflection of the Conservatory’s values. For accountability purposes, it will be necessary to establish a clear picture on these issues in order to advance an effective diversity, equity, and inclusion agenda. Therefore, we urge NEC to be transparent about the current state of affairs and to share this data within 30 days. Following receipt of this data, we call on the Conservatory to support a more robust Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion taskforce. This taskforce should (1) consist of a diverse cross-section of the NEC community, including members of the leadership, faculty, staff, students, and alumni, (2) be compensated for their work, (3) be vested with resources and policymaking authority, and (4) conduct their work in a transparent and public fashion. Pursuant to our larger goals, we call on this taskforce to define, publicly share, and pursue new performance benchmarks needed to eliminate all racial disparities. NEC cannot claim to maintain a meaningful moral commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion without undertaking this work and developing accountability metrics.

3. Diversify the NEC Board of Trustees.

Because the conservatory is a non-profit organization tasked with advancing the public good in the context of a pluralistic democracy, we are calling on NEC to diversify its Board of Trustees, a governing body that is uniquely responsible for establishing and “advocat[ing] for NEC’s cultural and educational mission.” To enhance the capacity of the Board to address this important task, we are calling on NEC to engage members of Black cultural communities in its Board of Trustees. Ultimately, the direction that the Conservatory pursues reflects the interests and values of the Board, which is currently composed of an overwhelmingly White group of moneyed elites. Therefore, we call on NEC to (1) abolish its discriminatory “pay-for-play” Board selection criteria; (2) develop and share more inclusive criteria for Board membership, and (3) identify and recruit new candidates this upcoming academic year. Having a diverse and inclusive Board that reflects a broader array of interests will ensure that the organization is better equipped to fulfill its public charter as a non-profit educational organization.

4. Charge NEC’s Curriculum and Planning Committee with decolonizing the curriculum. Construct a more critical and culturally responsive curriculum suitable for educating musicians in the 21st century.

Curriculum is never neutral. What an institution chooses to teach is a clear reflection of what the institution values in terms of knowledge and creative production. At present, all but a small number of courses at NEC are centered around European musical traditions—a fact that in turn suggests the supremacy of such cultural traditions and establishes the conservatory’s core cultural and intellectual focus. For an institution that purports to uphold and promote the “highest standards of excellence” throughout the entirety of “human civilization” in its mission statement, the current state of affairs is deeply reductionist, discriminatory, and unacceptable. Therefore, we call on NEC to decolonize the curriculum by (1) renaming the Jazz Department the Department of Black American Music, (2) expanding the library’s holdings of Black and African-centered books, audio materials, and anti-racist literature, (3) increasing the number of required courses that engage and honor non-Western musical traditions, (4) establishing and requiring new music history courses that examine the historical, social, and political roots of music, and (5) requiring all NEC students to engage in coursework and musical experiences that center Black historical, intellectual, and cultural traditions. Specifically, we note the need for NEC to offer mandatory courses in Black history and anti-racism education for all students, faculty, and staff. Such coursework and musical experiences are necessary for eliminating aesthetic biases, deepening students’ conceptions of the relationship between music and culture, and gaining a fuller understanding of the role of musicians in society. Because these developmental outcomes are central to an excellent and inclusive music education, we call on NEC’s Curriculum Planning Committee to work in consultation with the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion taskforce to redress NEC’s curricular shortcomings.

5. Diversify the faculty, increase the number of Black staff in leadership and counseling positions, and appoint a full-time Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Developing a more equitable organization and inclusive intellectual community will require the talents of a more diverse faculty and staff in leadership positions (e.g. staff with policymaking authority) throughout all departments at NEC. We are calling on NEC to begin the work of diversifying its ranks by recruiting and retaining Black faculty, leadership, and counseling staff—leaders who will be strongly positioned to mentor Black students, sustain new curricular offerings, and develop ongoing anti-racist policy initiatives. In addition, we call on NEC to appoint a full-time Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion—a senior-level change agent who will ensure that NEC’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is systemic, sustained, and ongoing. We call on NEC to provide equitable compensation to faculty and staff appointed to these leadership positions, compensation that is commensurate with their White male counterparts.

6. Recruit, retain, and support Black students.

Despite the Conservatory’s insistence that Black Lives Matter, Black students are disproportionately and quite conspicuously under-represented at the Conservatory. And yet, many of our nation’s most robust musical traditions (e.g. Jazz, Blues, Gospel, R&B, Hip-hop, Rock & Roll) find their roots in Black communities, where there is an abundance of cultural knowledge and expertise. Therefore, we demand that NEC work to immediately resolve this incongruity by taking the following actions: (1) we call on the Conservatory’s Department of Community Performances and Partnerships to develop new robust programming (e.g. workshops, masterclasses, concerts, and teaching opportunities) in local Black communities, and (2) we call on the Conservatory to begin recruiting young people from Black communities and supporting their continued musical development by providing full financial support, mentorship, resources for mental health and wellness, professional development opportunities, internships, and employment opportunities. In addition, we call on NEC to provide immediate financial compensation to all students involved in diversity, equity, and inclusion work in order to recognize and support this crucial labor. These steps are necessary in developing a modern conservatory that reflects the full diversity of our nation’s rich musical ecologies and in equitably advancing the Conservatory’s stated mission of “reinforc[ing] and expand[ing] the position of music in society by educating the next generation of music leaders.”

It is crucial to note that these demands are not new. Members of our community, including students, faculty, and alums have been calling for these reforms for decades. We have been met with forceful silencing, intimidation, and years of opaque institutional rhetoric designed to maintain the Conservatory’s cultural caste system. We understand NEC’s failure to address these demands as a willful strategy for maintaining the status quo, and we will no longer tolerate stalling, denial, and other pacification tactics.

We also expect that leaders of the Conservatory will use the current public health crisis as yet another excuse for evading our demands. We want to be clear that the time for excuses is over. And in fact, we see the conditions caused by COVID-19 as an unprecedented opportunity to radically re-imagine the Conservatory and the purpose of music in society. We also wish to be clear that we are not calling for NEC to seek additional funds to support these actions. Rather, we demand that the Conservatory begin redistributing existing resources and shifting its political economy to support these demands.

President Kalyn, as the first woman to assume the Presidency of the New England Conservatory, we applaud you for shattering an indefensible glass ceiling. Now we’re calling on you to use the full power of your office to repair the harms that have been caused by ensuring that NEC becomes a more inclusive institution for all. As alumni of the Conservatory, we urge you to bring your solidarity statement to fruition by taking actions that ensure that Black Lives Matter and Black Culture Matters at the New England Conservatory. Begin enacting this anti-racist policy agenda without delay.

We request an official, public response by no later than one week following receipt of this letter. Until these demands are met to a substantial degree, we invite all musicians, cultural leaders, and community members to stand with us in our demands and efforts to hold the Conservatory accountable.

Signed,

David Adewumi, BM 2016

Jordan Bak, BM 2016

Brad Barrett, MM 2010, DMA 2018

Robin Betton, BM 2012

David Cordes, MM 2011

Adam Eccleston MM 2010

Mario Layne Fabrizio, BM 2018

Ariel Friedman, MM 2011

Mia Friedman, BM 2012

Ashleigh Gordon, MM 2008

Kevin Harris, MM 2000

Leah Hennessy, BM 2008, MM 2012

Raquel Jimenez, BM 2008

Shaw Pong Liu, MM 2008

Jacob Means, MM 2014

Peter Moffett, BM 2010

Nick Morrison, MM 2011

Jason Palmer BM 2001

Robert ‘Robbie’ Pate, BM 2016

Neil Patton, MM 2015

Nedelka F. Prescod, NEC Faculty, MM 2012

Rachael Price, BM 2007

Abigale Reisman, MM 2013

Ryan Sands, BM 2016

Borey Shin, BM 2011, MM 2014

Kristin Slipp, BM 2008

Jose Soto, BM 2014

Abby Swidler, MM 2020

Omar Thomas, MM 2008

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We, the undersigned, stand in solidarity with the alumni listed above and pledge to re-evaluate our engagement with the Conservatory until these demands have been met to a substantial degree.

Ken Schaphorst, Chair of Jazz Studies, NEC
Tanya Maggie, Dean of Community Engagement and Professional Studies
Dominique Eade, NEC Faculty
Carla Kihlstedt, NEC Faculty
John Lockwood, NEC Faculty, Berklee College of Music Faculty
Jerry Leake, NEC Faculty
Felicia Sandler, NEC Faculty
Ted Reichman, NEC Faculty
Ben Schwendener, NEC Faculty
Mehmet Ali Sanlikol, MM 2000, DMA 2004, NEC Faculty
Frank Carlberg, NEC Faculty
Suzanne Hegland, NEC Faculty
Henrique Eisenmann, NEC Faculty, MM 2012 DMA 2017
David Zoffer, Chair of Jazz, NEC Prep and Continuing Education
Joshua Peckins, NEC Prep Faculty, BM 2007
Caio Afiune, NEC Prep Faculty, MM 2013
Danilo Perez, Former NEC Faculty, Founder & Director, Berklee Global Jazz Institute
George W. Russell Jr., MM 1990
Patricia Perez, Executive Director, Panama Jazz Festival
Terri Lyne Carrington
Nicholas Payton
Sara Serpa, MM 2008
Lihi Haruvi Means, MM 2015
Bridget Kearney, BM 2007
Aubrey Johnson, MM 2009
Ben Levy, Boston Symphony Orchestra, BM 2002
Brian Freidland, MM 2009
Paul Geresy, MM 2009
Jolee Gordon, BM 2020
Bethany Worrell, MM 2011
Michael Sachs, MM 2012
Allegra Levy, BM 2011
Katya Dreyer-Oren MM 2013
Gyasi Barber, MM 2013
Matthew Sheens, MM 2011
Brian Kauffman, MM 2010
Sean Lair, MM 2011
Sami Stevens, BM 2014
Alex Asher, MM 2007
Lindsay Conrad, MM 2011
Emily Tweedy, MM 2013
Emily Wolf, MM 2010
Clara Reitz, MM 2014
Michelle Doolittle, MM 2013
Asha Carroll, MM 2013
Annie Simon, MM 2014
Paul Lueders, MM 2014
Tami Papagiannopoulos, MM 2014
Abigail Krawson, MM 2009
Daniel Brevik, MM 2013
Jennifer Fijal-Brevik, MM 2013
Sam Graham Jones, BM 2014, MM 2018
Rachel Panitch, MM 2013
Amal El-Shrafi, MM 2013
John Funkhouser, MM 1995
Rob Flax, MM 2012
Katrina Holden-Buckley, MM 2007
Emily Burr, MM 2007
Jason Yeager, BM/BA NEC/Tufts Program 2010
Wayne Arthur Paul, BM 2011
Dorsey Bass, BM 2013
Sam Fribush, BM 2017
Evan Allen, BM 2013, MM 2015
Katie Martucci, BM 2016
Caroline Kuhn, BM 2018
Erin Anderson, MM 2006
Joelle Wagner, BM 2013
Paul Perfetti, MM 1984
Grant Langford, BM 1999
Christopher Gagne, MM 2009
Mark Watson Williams, MM 2013
Randal Despommier, DMA 2013
James Hurley, MM 2010
Rachele Schmiege, BM 2007
Andre Matos, MM 2008
Robin Lohrey, BM 2014
Dylan Mckinstry, BM 2016
Nick Neuburg, BM 2014
Sebastian Garzon, BM 2019
Jennifer Caraluzzi, MM 2011
Damien Scalise, MM 2015
Cale Israel, BM 2012
Rex Bennett, BM 2017
Alec Spiegelman, MM 2005
Kazemde George, MM 2014
Parker McAllister, BM 2012
Grant Langford, BM 1999
Leroy Y Davis, GD 2013
Emily Jensen, MM 2013
Julian Loida, MM 2017
Diane Katzenberg Braun, MM 2001
Elizabeth Stefan, MM 2011
Kyle Spraker, MM 2010
Jesse Heasly, BM 2013
Maria Rindenello Spraker, Prep 2007, BM 2011, MM 2013
Kayla Woodworth, MM 2013
Ray Hardin, MM 1975
Lucia Pontoniere, Student 2014-2015
Beth McDonald, MM 2011
Akenya Seymour, BM 2014
Maureen Heflinger, GD 2013
Katie Martucci, BM 2016
Hayes Griffin, MM 2012
Moses Eder, BM 2011
Jessica Harika, MM 2014
Samantha Angstman, BM 2013
Jacob Drab, GD 2017
David Norville, BM 2020
Cole Blouin, BM 2019
Albert Oppenheimer, BM 2009, MM 2011, SF 2012
Pat Keen, BM 2014
Lizzie Burns, BM 2014
Raef Sengupta, BM 2019
Perry Tal, MM 2012
June Balter, MM 2013
Veronica Williams, MM 2015
Mark Goldstein, BM 2015
Sarah Darling, MM 2007, DMA in continuance
Tree Palmedo, MM 2017
Neal Markowski, BM 2013
Chris Enright, MM 2012
Daniel Hersog, MM 2016
Alec Watson, BM 2014
Sebastian Baverstam, BM 2013
Alan Toda-Ambaras, BM/BA NEC-Harvard 2013
Darynn Diarra Dean, BM 2019
Jherrard M. Hardeman
Geneva Lewis, BM 2020
Davey Harrison, MM 2016
Christine Lamprea, MM 2013
Derek David, DMA 2017
Sofia Kriger, BM 2017
Gianna Barone, MM 2015
Tommy Boynton, BM 2012
Joe Musacchia, GD 2013
Maria Ioudenitch, MM 2020
Aaron DuBenion-Souza, BM 2015
Adrienne Arditti, BM 2015
Stephanie A. Muñoz, MM 2015, GD 2017
Stephanie Economou, BM 2012
Peter DiMuro
Sonia Mantell, BM 2014
A-Larenée Davis, BM 2013
Matt Consul, BM 2010, MM 2012
Umar Zakaria, MM 2016
Patrick Shelton, BM 2013
Quinn Carson, MM 2013
Eladio Rojas, AD 2017
Allesandra Cionco, MM 2010
Elinor Speirs
Alexander Vavilov, GD 2009
Tim Shneier, MM 2012
Yannick Rafalimanana, GD 2012, MM 2014
Josh Quinn, GD 2015, AD 2017
Marios Nicolaides, BM 2016
John Marano, BM 2012
Kiyoe K. D. Wellington, BM 2014
Nathaniel Lee, MM 2012
Charles Burchell, BM 2012
Nicole Cariglia, BM 1999, MM 2001
Ryan Stickney, MM 2011
Mike Gleichman, NEC-Tufts 2011
Gregory Tompkins, MM 2013
Sarah Moyer, MM 2011
Joseph Anthony Smith, BM 2013
Anthony R. Green, MM 2008
Lina Gonzalez- Granados, MM 2013, GD 2015
Andy Wilds, DMA 2019
Alex Heitlinger, MM 2011
Drew Comstock, BM 2013
Sarah Bob, MM 1999
Brandon Delgado, BM 2013
Arielle Armstrong Bonnett, BM 2020
Sarah Brady
Kate Kayaian, BM 1997
Laura Jekel, CE 2011
Lautaro Mantilla, MM 2011, GD 2012, DMA 2018
Elena Snow Evrard, MM 2016
Stefanie Lubkowski, MM 2017
Matthew Estabrook, BM/BS NEC-Tufts, 2020
Benedetta Cordaro, MM 2016
Cheyanne Coss, MM 2016, GD 2017
Aaron Trant, MM 2000
Tyler Burchfield, MM 2013
Amelia Clingman, MM 2008
Tom Hojnacki, BM 1981 MM 1991
Daniel Pencer, MM 2014
Nicholas Tocci
Sergio Muñoz, BM 2014
Storm D'Angelo
Eli Cohen, BM 2018
Andrew Boudreau, MM 2018
Ross Wightman, MM 2018
Maggie Lieberman, MM 2011
Michael Dahlberg, BM 2011
Amanda Ekery, MM 2018
Jennifer Montbach, MM 1998
Michael Mayo, BM 2014
Rick McLaughlin, BM 1999 MM 2005
Bobby Lane, MM 2018
Ana Lopez, BM 2018
Maya Jacobs, MM 2011
Molly Gebrian, MM 2006 GD 2008
Kyle Saulnier, DMA 2018
Indra Raj, BM 2014
Kody Glazer, BM 2014
Austin Burns, MM 2015
Jake Kaplan, MM 2018
Joel Linscheid, DMA 2020
James Heazlewood-Dale, MM 2018
Suzanne Román Jones, BM 2013
Alexandra Pawlus, MM 2019
Fiel M Sahir, BM 2015
Aaron Boyle, BM 2012
Elise Kolle, BM 2018
Gabriel Dowdy-Terracciano, BM 2016 (Tufts Dual Degree)
Christina DeMaio, BM 2013
Benjamin Andrews, BM 2014
Marza Merophi Wilks, BM 2014, GD 2016
Valerie Thompson, MM 2013
David Devoe, BM 2002, MM 2004, DMA studies 2010-2013
Kayla Schwartz , 2019
Katie Seiler, MM 2011
Stephen Marc Beaudoin, BM 2002
Olivia Becker, BM expected 2022
Samantha Lax, MM 2015
Farayi Malek, BM 2017
Leo Hardman-Hill, BM 2017
Dustin Damonte, MM 2015
Monica Pabelonio, MM 2018
Eliot Cardinaux, BM 2016
Mark Shilansky, MM 1994
Melissa Weikart, MM 2018
Avery Logan, BM 2020
Celeste Godin, MM 2015, GD 2016
Erin Preston, MM 2015
Sarah Takagi, BM, MM, DMA studies 1997
Grant Randall, MM 2009
Aurora Martin , MM 2015
Katie McShane, MM 2016
Erika Littlejohn, BM 2013
Tim Lienhard, BM 2008, MM 2010
Aidan Scrimgeour, Student 2014-2015
Jacob Drab, GD 2017
Laura Bennett Cameron, MM 2009
Alexandra Simpson, BM 2015
Andrew Allen, MM 2012
Utsav Lal, MM 2018
Andrew Clinkman, BM 2013
Michael Tybursky, MM 2012
Mark Schiappucci, BM 2014
Kate Kayaian, BM 1997
deVon Russell Gray, BM 2001
Obadiah Baker, BM 2006
Daniel Rios, BM 2009
Cordelia Tapping, BM 2019
Afton Cyrus, Former NEC Staff
Zachary King, MM 2017
Gabriela Diaz, BM 2003 MM 2005
Steve Bilodeau, MM 2015
Erika Boysen, BM 2012
Jazmyn Trujillo, MM 2020
Tomas Cruz, MM 2013
Sojourner Hodges Crowley, MM 2011
Charles P Clements, BM 2007
Connor Baker, BM 2014
Laura Soto-Bayomi, BM 2013
Rafael Natan, MM 2017 BM 2015
Elizabeth Erenberg, MM 2011
Heather Finch, MM 2008
Will Graefe, BM 2010
Jacob Rudin
Elizabeth O'Neil, BM 2014 MM 2016 GD 2017
Eli Heath
Von Bringhurst
Emily Eng, MM 2018
Abraham Martin, BM 2019
Henry Fraser, BM 2014
Alexa Lardas, BM 2008
Kayla Schwartz, BM 2019
Nicholas Catino, BM 2008
Tal Gamlieli, MM 2008
Christopher Chang, BM 2011
Francisco Ojeda, BM 2012
Chris Cretella, MM 2011
Neha Jiwrajka, MM 2012
Corey Schreppel, Former NEC Staff
Sam Decker, BM 2010
Sarah Huebsch Schilling, BM 2008
Alexis Lanz, BM 2008, MM 2010
Simon Hanes, BM 2013
Sara Leib, BM 2003
Benjamin Smolen, BM 2009
Jonathan Kenney, MM 2012
Thomas J. Wible , BM 2009
Benjamin Fox, MM 2004
Zoe Christiansen, BM 2014
Thomas J. Wible, BM 2009
Anne Gregory, BM 2010
Alex Graff, MM 2018
Jazmyn Trujillo, MM expected 2020
Malcolm Campbell, MM 2011
Heather Milberger, BM expected 2021
Peter Kenagy, BM 2000, MM 2002
Steve Bilodeau, MM 2015
Jason Roberts, BM 2009
Michael Sabin, BM 2020
Andrew Bedard, BM 2020
Jay Hutchinson, BM 2012
Emily Bieber, MM 2009
Rachel Goodwin, MM 1985
Sophie Delphis, BM 2010
Patricia Au, MM 2010, DMA 2017
Jared Sims, MM 1998
Nathan Reising, MM 2018
Wesley Troeger, BM 2017
Matthew O’Donnell, BM 2017 MM 2019 GD 2020
Nicholas Urie, BM 2007, MM 2009
Nick Grondin, MM 2008
Daniel Sagastume, BM 2017
C Kenzslowe-Beckett
Michael Dobrinski, BM 2008
Gustavo D’Amico, MM 2016
Andrea Segar, BM 2008, MM 2010
Melanie Leinbach, MM 2011
Kristin Fahning, MM 2015
Jessi Rosinski, MM 2006, EM faculty
Jesse Irons, Masters Studies 2007, Founder, A Far Cry
Betsy Hinkle, MM 2001
Jon Starks, MM 2020
Kai Ando, BM 2008
Zenas Hsu, MM 2013, GD 2015
Allesandra Cionco , MM 2010
Shane Simpson, BM 2015, MM 2017
Matthew Delligatti, BM 2014
Alice Yoo, BM 2007
Rubin Hohlbein, BM 2018
Andres Abenante, BM 2016 MM 2018
Miki-Sophia Cloud, DMA in continuance
Kai Rocke, BM 2017
Alexandra James, BM 2017
Mónica Soto-Gil Salas, BM 2006
Ariel Halt, MM 2015
Kirsten Hart, GD 2015
Vilray Bolles
Joe Moffett, BM 2006
Joseph Walker, MM 2012
Adam D. Jones, MM 2009
Robyn Smith, BM 2019 MM 2021 expected
Richie Barshay, BM 2005
Andrew Wannigman, MM 2009
Jennifer Hoffmann, MM 2009, GD 2010
Rae Gallimore, BM 2018
Kai Sandoval, BM 2013, MM 2015
Patrice Williamson, MM 1994, AD 1997
Sean Berry, MM 2006
Alida Doornberg, BM 2014
Randall Pingrey, MM 2009
Marc Riordan, BM 2004
Maurice Liu, MM 2019
Bradley Stone, MM 2017
Elly Hoyt
Amanda Romano , BM 2008
Morgan Smallwood, MM 2017
Tucker Antell, BM 2009, NEC Prep Faculty
Justin Stanley, MM 2010
Sean Frenette, BM 2006
Tyson Stubelek, MM 2008, GD 2009
Kathy Olson, MM 2006
Wonmi Jung, BM 2016, MM 2018
Matt Stavrakas, BM 2014
Yonghyun Lee, MM 2018
Jerry Sabatini, MM 2009
Isaac Levien, BM 2016
Francisco "Fran" Vielma, MM 2018
Carmen Johnson-Pájaro, MM 2016
Michal Shein, MM 2007
Hery Paz, MM 2014
Andrew Stetson, BM 2007
Dan Blacksberg, BM 2006
Michael Winograd, BM 2005
Jed Wilson, BM 2005
DoYeon Kim, GD 2018
Joseph Walsh, MM 2012
Meena Malik, MM 2005, Former Staff
Katherine Balch, BM 2016
Carmen Johnson
Alex Stening, MM 2016
Kenny Pexton, BM 2006 MM 2008
Jeff Kimmel, BM 2006
Shaheen Lavie-Rouse, BM/BS NEC/Tufts 2012
Anna Pyon, MM 2018
Robert Stringer, MM 2007
Phillip Golub, MM 2018
Vincenzo J. Catarisano
Kristo Kondakçi, Prep 2009, BM 2013, MM 2015
Randy Wong, BM 2003
Dre Jackson
Sunny Kim, MM 2005
Devin Ulibarri, MM 2020
Rhea Burdicn, BM 2017
Devon Hurt, MM 2017
Sophie Press
Mina Cho, MM 2013, DMA 2019
Joshua Garver
Ira Klein
Heath Marlow, Director, Sistema Fellows Program & Sistema Fellowship Resource Center (2012-2020)
Ilona Tipp, BM 1999, MM 2017
Emma Burge, BM 2020
Emily Baker, NEC Prep 2006
Katherine Miller, BM 2017
Rebecca Sullivan, MM 2014
Erica Schwartz, BM/BA NEC-Tufts 2017
Stefano Patrizio, MM 2017
Adrian Anantawan
Evan Carley, BM 2018
Henry Godfrey, MM 2020
Iva Casian Lakos, MM 2016
Michael Prentky, BM 2014, MM 2020
Avi Mehta, 2011
Hunter O’Brien, BM 2020
Daniel Klingsberg, BM 2019
Chris Mondak, BM 2020
Ben S Wallace
Grant Houston, BM 2020
Zoey Lakkis
Jeremy Sarna, NEC Staff
Evan Judson, BM expected 2024
Alex Paul Sheerin, BM 2015
Breanna Ellison, MM 2015
Cody Forrest, DMA 2018
Carrie Cheron, MM 2002
Rebecca McCarthy
Caroline Buccino, BM 2012, MM 2015
Stephanie Barnes, MM 2013, Former NEC Staff
Andrew Barnwell, BM 2020
Clare Bradford, BM 2017
Amelia Hollander Ames, MM 2003
Jessica Curran, MM expected 2022
Tyler Wagner, expected graduation 2020
Erez Dessel, BM 2020
Yucong Huang , BM 2020
Geni Skendo , MM 2009
Kaylie Carrico
Melissa McCarthy Steinberg, Former NEC Staff
Maria D’Ambrosio, Prep 2015, Anticipated MM 2021
Silvija Kristapsons
Erika Hallenbeck, Student
Magdalena Abrego, MM 2019
Matthew Kelly, MM 2020
Randy Ingram, MM 2002
Kimberly Houston
chris overholser
Gina Ruzhansky, BM 2018, MM 2020
Sameer Apte, MM expected 2021
Jamie Monck, MM 2019
Anneliese Lomas, Student 2016-2018
Patrick MGonigle, MM 2015, DMA in continuance
Samantha Spear, MM Student
Seulah Noh, MM expected 2021
Aaron Dutton, MM 2020
Rachel Norton (Spector), BM 2008
Jared Sims, MM 1998
Julian Weisman, BM expected 2022
Evan Rizvi, BM 2015
Riley Vogel, BM 2015, MM 2021 (expected)
Andrew Urbina, BM 2009
Colleen Ernandes, NEC Student
Eric Lane, BM 2008
Michael Monroe
Elias Medina, BM expected 2021
Chava Appiah, MM 2017
Ian Buss, MM expected 2021
Eck Sierra, BM 2016
BP, 2015
Laura Arpiainen, BM 2001
Josh Mizruchi, MM 2010
Joseph Copeland, MM 2013, DMA 2020
Massimo Paparello, MM expected 2021
Alexandria Ramos
Luke Burrell, BM 2020
Nell Shaw Cohen, BM 2012
Tyler Bouque, NEC Student
Wendy Eisenberg, MM 2016
Sami Watts, BM expected 2021
Chris Weller
Beth Ann Jones
Todd Stewart
Keshav Batish
Bryant Reyes
Marcus Welch
Gabriel Kosakowski
Lev Mamuya
Jace Mason, NEC Prep Student
Andrew Hutchinson
Kamilah Brown
Max Harper
Shota Renwick, Current NEC Student
Caili O’Doherty
Ben Aronberg
Shane Dylan, Current NEC Student
Motti Fang-Bentov, Current NEC Student
Leo Weisskoff, Current NEC Student
Lisa Lemke
Miles Wilcox, Faculty, Berklee Institute for Arts Education and Special Needs
Nicole Rampersaud, MM 2006
LJ White, MM 2008
Sarah Beth Overcash
Stéphane Krims
Sam Margolis, Current NEC Student
Mark R Wolff, Patron & Donor
Lemuel Marc, Current NEC Student
James Paul Nadien, Current NEC Student
Dorothy Couper, NEC-Tufts BM/BM 2007
Theodore-Austin Muthyala
Kabir Adhiya-Kumar, Current NEC Student
Cheyanna Duran
Joey Curreri
Daniel Calahorra
Nicole Miller
Noga Cabo, Current NEC Student
Avery Louis Clarke
Wes Perry
Christopher Ferrari, Current NEC Student
Angelo Monroy
Eliza Block, MM 2020
Ali Safi
Tyler Bonilla, BM 2020
Jason Stewart
Kelsey Sullivan
Lisa Lemke
Nhyta Taguchi
Miles Keingstein, Current NEC Student
Zachary Howarth
Jelani Bauman
Jamie Breiwick
Melanie Howell-Brooks, BM 2004
Elizabeth Kunert
Joey van Leeuwen
Ray Logan
Beck
Pedro A. Peraza Soto
Leo Steinriede
Barra Brown
Diego Martinez, Current NEC Student
Amina Scott
Alex Yoo, Current NEC Student
Luke Sieve, Current NEC Student
Rahul Carlberg, Current NEC Student
Nathan Bamberger, Current NEC Student
Leo Johnson
Nicholas Organ
Christopher McDonald, BM 2007
Gracie McFalls
Greg Camphire
Noah Mark
Scott Amendola
David Neves, MM 2014
Aidan Cutler
Joaquin Eaton Sharon
Grace Ward
Jorge Roeder
Amy Puffer
Joseph Holmes, MM 2005
Izumi Amemiya, Incoming Student
Samuel Streeter
Robbie Bui, Current NEC Student
Lisa Goddard, MM 2014
David Deshpande
Moira Applebaum, Continuing Education Studies 2014
Rob Schmieder, Former NEC Staff
Geni Skendo, MM 2009
Vivian Shanley
Cate Byrne, Current NEC Student
Nell Cochrane Buck, Former NEC Staff
Robert Leager
Matthew Muñeses
Stephanie Skor, BM 2006
Abrah Ophelia Katzman
Nili Riemer Bueckert, NEC-Tufts BM/BA 2003
Julian Abbott, NEC Prep alum
Wen Zhang, Current NEC Student
Katie Knox, BM 2020
John Borja
Anne Hruskoci, BM 2015
Nate Helgeson, BM 2008
Samantha Fox, Current NEC Student
Marc Zollinger
Kevin Zhang
Matthew Henson, BM 2020
Mikey Harms, Current NEC Student
Curtis Hughes, MM 2000, DMA 2015
Ellen McMullin, MM 2019
Suzanne Parker, MM 2019
Alaina Calloway Bolton, BM 2011
Laura Mercado-Wright
Alexander Garde
Jessica Ding, Current NEC Student
Kathleen Shoemaker
Julius Young
Mark Levy
Julie Davis, Sistema Fellow 2012
Nat Lewis
Eric Bloom
Mary O’Keefe, BM 2017 MM 2020
Nicholas Leonard BM 2018 MM 2020
Shanay Walker
Andria Nicodemou, MM 2013
Matthew Henson, BM 2020
Yna Aggabao, Former NEC Staff
Aaron Edgcmb, MM 2016
Henry Berberi
Wendy Michelle Sanders
Garrett Frees,Current NEC Student
Taylor Johannsen
Jonathan Paik, Current NEC Student
Sandra Fasules, Former NEC Staff
Karlie Roberts, Current NEC Student
Jacqueline Schwab
Gavin Connolly, Current NEC Student
Jenny Paul
Sharon Park, BM 2008
Rogan Keys
Jacob Hiser, MM 2016
Ammon Taylor
Helen Wargelin, Current NEC Student
Angelese Pepper
Alexander Toku Whiting, BM 2019
Kelly Bray, Current NEC Student
Courtney Ahlers
Elaine Rombola Aveni, MM 2003
Moe Winograd, BM 2015
Garrett Frees, Current NEC Student
Guillermo Nojechowicz, Former NEC Faculty
Evan Vietorisz, Current NEC Student
Jacob Richards
Jules Hollander
Francesca McNeeley, GD 2018
Harry Ostrander
Seajun Kwon
Danilo Henriquez, BM 2008
Gwen Krosnick, MM 2013
Michael Blum
Carl Pillot, MM 2014
Nicholas Rousseau
Gwen Krosnick, MM 2013
Sequoyah Cisneros
Gabriel Garcia
Chloe Roesch
Alexander Silverstein
Ashley Sherman
Carl Straussner, MM 2016
Aidan O'Connell, Current NEC Student
Penelope Taylor, Boston Art Worker
Matthew Thomson
Alyssa Al-Khowaiter Conary, BM 2008
Oskar Pursche
Alejandra Hernandez
Tess Plotkin
Edward Kass, BM 2013 MM 2015
Lisa Husseini, MM 2012
Luke Fieweger, MM 2017 GD 2018
Julia Yang, MM 2014
Rebecca Lewis, BM 2013
Hannah Dunton, Current NEC Student
Liv Greene, BM 2020
Felipe Salles, MM1997 GD1998
Adriana Trujillo
Jeffrey Cox, BM 2017 MM 2019
Jameson Wells, MM 2020
Roxy Coss
Nikita Manin, Current NEC Student
Aristides Rivas, MM 2006
Rick Margitza
Eli Naragon
Isaac Kramer, BM 2013
Melissa A. Weber, Curator of the Hogan Jazz Archive, Tulane University Special Collections
Richard Stanmeyer
Garrett Frees, Current NEC Student
Ehud Ettun, MM 2012
Ezra Rudel
Simón Willson, BM 2015, MM 2017
Inga Liu
Talia Rubenstein, Current NEC Student
Litha Ashforth Wilson, Current NEC Student
Sonnet Swire, BM 2016
Isaac Wilson, BM 2015
Kee Taylor
Kayleigh Miller, BM 2008
Hunter Bennett, BM 2015
Mollie Budiansky, BM 2014
Barret Ham, BM 2019
Nick Rood
Linda Cutting, Former NEC Faculty, MM 1980
Christopher Wardlaw
Megha Shashidhar
David W. Lee, BM 2011
Kee Taylor
Mckinley James, BM 2020
Jonah Francese, MM 2016
Isabella Costanza, BM 2019
Ryan Fedak
Efstratios Minakakis, NEC Faculty, MM 2004
Sarah Haselton
Ariel Calabria
Engin Ozsahin, BM 2020
Maeve Feinberg, BM 2016
Julia Anne Cohen
Karen Dutton, NEC Parent
Paran Amirinazari, BM 2006
Margaret Wyporek Spear, BM 2008
Tamra Jones, MM 2015, Boston Lyric Opera
Philip Allen, BM 2017
Ryland Bennett, Former NEC Staff
Mallory Zakeosian, BM 2013
Benjamin Honeycutt, NEC Staff
Andrew Hurlbut, MM 1984
Benjamin Roseth, NEC-Tufts BM/BA 2007
Daniel Sivachenko
Lisa Cavanaugh Linde, MM 1998
Emily Siar, Current NEC Student
Ryan O'Connell
Isaac Roth Blumfield, BM 2019
Anna Yu Wang
Jon-Michael Taylor, Current NEC Student
Rachel Eve Holmes, BM 2009
Kiyoshi Hayashi, BM 2016
Rachel Bernstein
Katarina Geresy
Alie Banka
Casey Brefka
Daniel Oslin, Current NEC Student
Sam Lisabeth, BM 2012
Sam Weil
Kimberly Soby, MM 2009
Allison Burik, 2020
Tom Monaghan, BM 2005

Please note: this partial list of signatures will be continually updated at bit.ly/decolonizeNEC