NEC remains an active and vibrant community. While the COVID-19 pandemic has brought changes to the way we teach, learn, and collaborate, we are a community that is committed to supporting each other, to celebrating great artistry, and to sharing in the power of music.
If you have questions or concerns not addressed here, please reach out to our Student Services team at student.services@necmusic.edu.
Friday, October 30
Today's briefing: Happy Friday! We've posted our latest testing data to the testing page.
Looking for a live stream? Live video feeds from NEC's concert halls can always be found at necmusic.edu/live. We also premiere concerts, including live broadcasts, on YouTube. Details for each event can be found on our concert calendar.
Spring semester framework: Last week, we posted our framework for the Spring semester, which can be found below.
Important public health reminder: Ensuring physical distancing in all environments, wearing a mask, and practicing good hand hygiene are essential steps to reducing the transmission of COVID-19. We ask members of our community to observe these and other essential measures both on-campus and off. Learn more in our video series.
Share your video with the NEC Music Hub: Have a concert to share? Submit it to the NEC Music Hub! We welcome formal and informal performances, "mini-lectures" on musical topics, creative video projects, and more. We'd love to hear from you!
Have a great weekend!
This page was updated Wednesday, October 21, with initial information about the Spring semester.
For reference, we have made available our completed Massachusetts Higher Education COVID-19 Control Plan, as required by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Plan template is available in two parts; included below.
Have music to share? Send it to us via #NECMusicHub.
This fall, our community has powerfully demonstrated that music-making is not only possible, but vital, in the most challenging of times. The following comprises the framework for the Spring, and reflects our continued commitment to providing an education of excellence that prioritizes opportunities for in-person music-making, while ensuring the health and safety of our community.
SPRING AT NEC
Similarly to the Fall semester, we will continue to offer a hybrid experience for Boston-based students, with a focus on music-making on campus combined with online classes; and a fully-online experience for remote students.
Boston-based hybrid option:
Fully-remote option:
Your advisor will ask you to declare your choice of one of these two options, and you will be asked to confirm your final decision by January 11 using a web form which will be shared later in the fall.
ACADEMIC CALENDAR
The Spring semester will be comprised of a full 14 weeks, and will begin on January 25, one week later than previously planned. To ensure the health and safety of our community and reduce the need for travel mid-semester, Spring Break will be reduced in length, and practice facilities will remain open during these times. More information about the academic calendar can be found here.
The NEC COVID-19 Testing Center will reopen on January 11. Select campus facilities, including practice rooms, will open on January 12. We will ask students to complete two tests, 3-7 days apart, before returning to campus. Students will be able to submit a test prior to their return; through the NEC COVID-19 Testing Center; or both, and we will share more details about this process in a forthcoming communication.
PRACTICE FACILITIES
Practice facilities will continue to be available by reservation. Based on student feedback, we are considering several possible adjustments to our reservation policies, and are piloting several ideas in the coming days. Any policy changes that are found to be beneficial in the Fall would carry forward to the Spring.
STUDIO LESSONS
Studio lessons will continue to be offered both in-person and online, through the full 14-week semester.
ENSEMBLES, PERFORMANCES, RECITALS, PROMOTIONALS
Ensembles and performances are an integral part of the Spring semester. All live performances will be streamed, and held in all of our concert halls, including the Eben Jordan Ensemble Room, Brown Hall, Burnes Hall, Jordan Hall, the Keller Room, Pierce Hall, the Plimpton-Shattuck Black Box Theatre, and Williams Hall. When appropriate, some ensembles will make live recordings for broadcast, similar to the Fall semester.
We will share more details relative to ensembles, performances, recitals, and promotionals in the coming days.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Through the Fall semester, NEC has implemented a wide array of policies, procedures, and practices with the intent of ensuring the health and safety of our community, including a comprehensive COVID-19 testing program. These policies will continue through the Spring semester.
HOUSING AND DINING
NEC's residence hall will remain closed for the Spring semester. We plan to fully reopen the residence hall for the Fall 2021 semester, and will share additional information about the housing application process on the usual schedule.
STUDENT TOWN HALL
We will be hosting a student town hall October 22 at 7:30pm ET. We invite you to join us to hear more about the coming Spring semester, and to ask any questions that you may have. An invitation will be sent to students via email.
PERFORMANCE INTENSIVE
We continue to develop our in-person Spring Performance Intensive, which is planned for May 13-30.
MORE DETAILS
More information will be posted on this page in the coming days. The information below is specific to our continued operations for the fall semester.
Below are details regarding NEC's plan for the Fall semester. In the coming days, this information will be updated with more specific information related to the Spring. Please be sure to continue to check the daily briefing, above, where we will make mention to any updates to this plan. Should you have questions, please reach out to our team at student.services@necmusic.edu. We are happy to assist you!
We remain committed to providing students with the choice of two learning options for the S, as previously described in Welcome Back, NEC: a hybrid experience for Boston-based students, with safely-distanced, in-person music-making on campus; and a fully-online experience for remote students. These are explicated and updated on this page, but are summarized below.
The NEC Student Health Commitment is a pledge that all NEC students are encouraged to sign. It offers guidelines compiled by students, for students to help the community reduce the spread of COVID-19 and continue making music together on campus. Watch this video to hear NEC students explain what the NEC Student Health Commitment is all about!
In this series of videos, Leah McKinnon-Howe, Nurse Practitioner and Director of Health Services at NEC, provides helpful information about COVID-19, what NEC is doing to prepare and maintain a safe and healthy campus, and how you can help to keep yourself and others safe.
Ensuring the health, wellness, and safety of our community is our first priority. Over the last several months, NEC has engaged in a deliberative process of crafting a plan for the fall semester that matches our unwavering commitment to health and safety with a student experience of uncompromising quality, depth, and impact. We have developed this plan in consultation with numerous public health officials, agencies, and experts, and in collaboration with partner organizations and other institutions spanning the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and beyond.
The Conservatory has implemented a wide range of initiatives to provide a healthy living and learning environment in the fall, and we will all need to do our part to care for each other, to support those who need help, and to ensure we comply with safe distancing, face covering, daily screening, and other health-related policies.
Requirements for travelers to Massachusetts, including Massachusetts residents returning home from travel, became effective and institute a period of self-quarantine upon arrival. A number of states designated by the Commonwealth as "lower risk" are exempt from these requirements. Travelers arriving from outside of these states will also be required to complete a state travel registry form. NEC students traveling to Massachusetts from outside the excepted states will be required to observe these state self-quarantine measures. Anyone experiencing symptoms consistent with COVID-19 should self-isolate, not travel, and contact their health care provider for guidance on testing and symptom management.
Self-quarantine can be observed in an individual's place of residence.
As immunity to COVID-19 is not yet firmly understood, individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 infection or who have tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies will not be exempt from self-quarantine requirements.
The fall semester will proceed at its usual length of 14 weeks, beginning in early September and concluding in December. Academic classes will run the entire 14-week semester. To maximize our time together for in-person teaching, learning, and performance, we will prioritize performance-focused work during the period prior to the Thanksgiving break. The period following the Thanksgiving break will be focused on academic work, with additional, new opportunities for masterclasses and informal performance during this time.
Offering a more academically-focused calendar during the post-Thanksgiving period allows students more time to focus on performance-based work earlier in the semester, and offers extra flexibility for students who might prefer to complete the semester from home following Thanksgiving break.
In general, the schedule for rehearsals and classes will follow NEC’s typical semester schedule, with the majority of rehearsals and coachings taking place in the mornings, and classes in the afternoon.
Academic deadlines for the fall semester have been updated to account for the new structure of the semester, e.g. or add/drop, course withdrawal. See the Academic Calendar page for more info.
View the full Academic Calendar
We remain committed to providing students with the choice of two learning options for the fall, as previously described in Welcome Back, NEC : a hybrid experience for Boston-based students, with socially-distanced, in-person music-making on campus; and a fully-online experience for remote students. The Office of Student Services will be in touch to confirm your learning option for the fall.
Hybrid Option for Boston-based students
Fully-remote Option
The health, wellness, and safety of our students and faculty is our first priority. We have conducted a thorough assessment of all practice rooms, studios, classrooms, and rehearsal spaces to assess issues such as safe distancing, air-flow, traffic-flow, etc. Room assignments for classes, lessons, and rehearsals are being made accordingly. For more information on health and safety procedures, see the Health and Wellness section.
Studio lessons will take place over the 14-week semester, with students and faculty working individually to arrange schedules. Lessons will be available on an in-person basis throughout the semester, although some studio faculty may prefer to teach digitally because of health or travel concerns. A comprehensive assessment of all studio spaces has been conducted in the interest of health and wellness, and some studio locations will be changed to larger spaces to accommodate safe distancing. For students and/or faculty who are unable to participate on-campus, lessons can also be conducted through enhanced digital means.
Modality of studio lessons - We are working closely with all studio teachers to determine their plans for the fall semester, whether it be in-person, online, or a hybrid model; furthermore, we are confirming which rooms/studios/spaces are appropriate for teaching studio lessons, making sure that we are following public health guidelines. We anticipate having confirmed information from faculty by the end of the week of July 20, and will communicate this to students by individual studios.
We are also working with NEC faculty to develop exciting, new low-latency infrastructure that places the Conservatory at the cutting edge of digital performance. We are, for example, in the final stages of testing a platform which will allow for small ensembles (classical, Jazz, and CI) to play together, within a 500-mile radius, with no noticeable audio/video lag or latency. More information about this initiative will be forthcoming later this summer.
The accompanying system for strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion remains in place; however, any rehearsals with pianists must take place in approved rooms, and studio lessons with piano must follow safe distancing guidelines. Markings on the floor of teaching and rehearsal spaces will ensure that students l know the proper social-distancing measurement.
The system to assign pianists for voice lessons remains in place; however, rehearsals with pianists must take place in approved rooms, and lessons with piano must follow safe distancing guidelines. Markings on the floor of the teaching and rehearsal spaces will ensure that that students know the proper social distancing.
NEC has conducted a comprehensive assessment of all studio, rehearsal, performance, and teaching spaces on our campus, and we have consulted with numerous public health officials and other institutions in designing and implementing safety protocols for each of these spaces. Students will find measures such as enhanced cleaning and sanitization, the availability of sanitizing supplies, the use of transparent shields (e.g. glass, plexiglass), modified furniture configurations to promote safe distancing, and room capacity considerations. To ensure maximum safety, we schedule studios to be unoccupied for 15-30 minutes between uses for air exchange.
Ensembles and performances will be an integral part of the fall semester, and will be prioritized in the period prior to the Thanksgiving break. All performances will be streamed live, building on NEC’s expanded reach to audiences worldwide.
NEC will not be hosting rental events this fall, so that our halls can be utilized fully for student performances, including weekend evening concerts. Performances will primarily take place in Brown Hall, Burnes Hall, the Eben Jordan Ensemble Room, Jordan Hall, the Keller Room, Pierce Hall, the Plimpton-Shattuck Black Box Theatre, and Williams Hall.
We have conducted a comprehensive assessment of all studio, rehearsal, performance, and teaching spaces on our campus, and we have consulted with numerous public health officials and other institutions in designing and implementing safety protocols for each of these spaces. Students will find measures such as enhanced cleaning and sanitization, the use of transparent shields (e.g. glass, plexiglass), floor markings indicating safe distancing, and sanitizing supplies We are following the latest scientific research related to safe music-making, conducted by a number of institutions worldwide, as summarized by the West Point Music Research Center.
The Blumenthal Family Library will be open in the fall semester, though some services may be modified to accommodate safe distancing. The library will offer expanded digital resources for the 2020-2021 academic year.
New England Conservatory
Blumenthal Family Library, Circulation
290 Huntington Ave.
Boston, MA 02115-5018
Common areas across the campus have been reconfigured to ensure they support safe distancing, while also offering students an opportunity to study, relax, or work between classes, lessons, or other activities. Students needing a space to study may consider the following locations which have particularly suitable capacity and layout:
Student Services will be working closely with student leaders to develop programming and outlets through which students—whether first-year, transfer, or returning students—can meet and build a community. Programs and activities will include opportunities to connect virtually and in-person. In-person programs and activities will be limited in size and participants will be expected to follow social distancing guidelines and wear masks.
Student services will continue to support student clubs and organizations and resources will be made to help support student events. Student leaders are encouraged to hold meetings and events virtually. In-person programs and activities will be limited in size and participants will be expected to follow social distancing guidelines and wear masks.
The Office of Student Services will be open during normal business hours and offer both in-person and virtual meetings with students. Through campus-wide cooperation and collaboration, our staff is dedicated to academic support, health and wellness, accessibility, international services, residence life, and student activities.
SEVP rule changes that were recently proposed by the U.S. federal government - and that would have introduced restrictions on studying online while within the United States - have been rescinded. Students with questions are encouraged to reach out to their international student advisor in Student Services.
Students are strongly encouraged to maintain regular communication with their international student advisor in Student Services to know about current guidelines, restrictions, and other information from the US government.
If students have specific questions about travel, they should contact their international student advisor for assistance navigating travel guidelines and requirements.
NEC-sponsored travel
Personal travel
Quarantine for travelers
From platforms for classes to low-latency audio-visual for simultaneous ensemble playing, NEC is adopting new technology solutions to support a robust learning experience for online learning.
The start of the semester is nearly here. To ensure you have a smooth start, we are asking that you confirm you are able to access key technology resources as soon as possible to ensure that there is time to troubleshoot any issues.
If you are studying via the hybrid model and plan to use the computer lab this fall, know that the computer lab will be operating on a reservation system due to COVID-19 protocols. Appointments will range from 15 minutes to a maximum of an hour. The sign up for the first week of school is now available. More information will be forthcoming regarding other ways to access resources of the computer lab.
We have heard from students whom, when purchasing personal technology, expressed an interest in more guidance on tools - hardware and software - that would reinforce their digital learning, recording, and music making experience. Below is a list of recommendations provided by our staff. If you do not have these items already, then consider purchasing them as soon as possible. We recognize that some of these items represent a financial investment. If you have experienced a hardship and currently have financial difficulty, then reach out to Financial Aid for potential assistance.
Recommended tech for students in order to benefit from low-latency remote connectivity:
Minimum computing recommendation: Quad core processor > 1.6ghz (ideally 2ghz or greater) with 16GB of memory and 512GB of storage. If your computer does not meet these specs, FastMusic is an alternative option. FastMusic is essentially a Soundjack audio transmission computer, and can be controlled with an older computer or even a smartphone.
Headphones: Open-ear designs are best for remote collaboration as you get a sense of your space. Closed-ear designs are best for recording, as the sound is isolated from the mic. Please consider your use case before purchasing. The AKG K240 is a semi-open headphone that may be considered for either use. Bluetooth will add significant latency so staying with wired headphones is recommended, and you may want to consider purchasing a headphone extension cable for more flexibility of movement.
Microphone: While no mic is ideal for every situation, we recommend a condenser mic (cardioid for front pickup or omni for 360-degree capture) and a low-latency interface. We have tested and can recommend the following, although please be aware of limitations of certain devices, as noted:
|
Device |
Notes |
|
Focusrite Scarlet 2i2 |
Currently does not work with Windows. |
|
Presonus Studio 24c |
|
|
MOTU2 |
Currently does not work with the Symphonics FastMusic Box. |
|
Audient Evo4 |
Requires a powered USB hub. |
|
Presonus Audiobox USB 96 |
|
|
Audient iD44 |
Requires wall power |
|
Audient id14 |
Requires wall power |
Don’t forget to get a mic cable and stand.
Other recommended gear and software:
Notation software (required for first-year undergraduates): NEC recommends using Sibelius
Recording software: NEC recommends that students use Reaper for recording as it works on both platforms, is very flexible, and has a lower price point than other options. ($60).
Required MIDI Keyboard for Theory Classes: M-Audio Keystation 49 MK3 49-key Keyboard Controller.
Purchasing gear:
While you may purchase from any dealer, the B&H EDU Advantage Program is free and available to faculty, staff, and students who are enrolled in accredited and approved programs. Signing up for the EDU Advantage Program entitles you to discounts with quick turn around when you order through EDU. Visit www.BandH.com/edu or email edumembership@bhphoto.com for more information.
Our financial aid and business office staff stand ready to assist any students or parents with questions. Please see the resources and FAQs below.
For students choosing the fully-remote learning option for the fall semester, please note the following changes to tuition and fees:
To learn about your payment options, please visit this site.
Please e-mail BusinessOffice@necmusic.edu or call at (617) 585-1221 and leave a message. The Business Office will call you back within 24 hours during the Monday-Friday work week.
Holds from the Business Office are often placed on a student account because of an outstanding balance or because a signed Financial Responsibility Agreement has not been received. Please check your balance on PowerCampus and ensure you’ve signed the Financial Responsibility Agreement, which was sent to your email via Adobe Sign. If you do not see the email from Adobe Sign in your inbox, please check your junk folder. If you cannot figure out why you have a hold, please contact the Business Office.
This agreement ensures everyone is on the same page in terms of NEC’s payment, refund, and billing policies. It is required for every student and does not mean you have an outstanding balance.
Those with credit balances may choose to apply them to Spring semester charges or can elect for them to be refunded. Refunds will be processed via direct deposit. Our goal is to process refunds by the end of the second week of the semester.
Please send an email to ap@necmusic.edu. We will be able to confirm the banking information on file OR provide you with a secure method for you to provide your banking details to us.
Adjustments for overload credits will be made once the add/drop period ends.
All bills have been adjusted for fully-remote students according to your Fall 2020 Learning Format form responses and ensemble credits have been applied to all applicable accounts.
No, Penguin Passes for those studying via the Boston-based hybrid learning model have been updated to allow access to NEC facilities.
Moving forward, key deposit payments will be made through the Transact Mobile Ordering app. For information on this app, please consult our Transact Mobile Ordering How-To Guide.
If you need an ID replacement, please visit the SLPC security desk. The first ID replacement is free, and a $20 replacement fee applies to subsequent replacements. Card replacement fees can be submitted through the Transact Mobile Ordering app. For information on this app, please consult our Transact Mobile Ordering How-To Guide.
The information on this page is designed for NEC undergraduate and graduate students in the College. Students in the NEC Preparatory School and the School of Continuing Education will continue to receive updates directly from their program. Please do not hesitate to reach out to our team should you have questions.