NEC Convocation 2023

PROGRAM ORDER

President’s Welcome Andrea Kalyn, President

Student Representative’s Yoona Kim ’23 MM, Contemporary Musical Arts Remarks

Clara Schumann

Piano Trio in G Minor, op. 17 (1819-1896) Andante

Trio Gaia

Grant Houston ’20, ’23 MM, ’24 GD, violin

Yi-Mei Templeman ’22, ’23 GD, ’24 MM, cello

Andrew Barnwell ’20, ’23 MM, ’24 GD, piano

Provost’s Remarks Benjamin Sosland, Provost and Dean of the Faculty

A Conversation with Alumni Panelists

Kristo Kondakçi ’13, ’15 MM

Kirsten Lamb ’15 MM

Stephanie Muñoz ’15 MM, ’17 GD

Moderator

Benjamin Sosland, Provost and Dean of the Faculty

Introduction of New Staff Kerry Hagan, Director of Human Resources

Introduction of New Faculty Benjamin Sosland, Provost and Dean of the Faculty

President’s Remarks

Andrea Kalyn, President

Kris Monson Del Boca Vista ( b. 1992)

Kris Monson Quartet

Kris Monson ’25 DMA, double bass

Zack Bacak ’24 MM, alto saxophone

Carles Pereira Romero ’23 MM, percussion

Mark Tipton ’24 DMA, trumpet

Closing Remarks

Andrea Kalyn, President

MEET OUR NEW FACULTY

Tim Genis

Timothy Genis joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Boston Pops Orchestra in 1993 and is now the Sylvia Shippen Wells Chair of Timpani for the BSO. He was previously a member of the Honolulu Symphony, Philharmonia Virtuosi, Radio City Music Hall Orchestra, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic. Genis is the head of the percussion department at Boston University, and is an active clinician for Zildjian, Remo, Pearl/Adams, and Vic Firth. In 2012, Genis founded the company Tim Genis Inc., which creates high quality timpani mallets sold worldwide.

Corey Hart ’23 DMA

Corey Dalton Hart, tenor, is known for his musical versatility, engaging presence, and expressive textual interpretations. As both an active soloist and chamber artist, Corey ’s repertoire spans Gregorian chant to contemporary vocal works with particular interest in seventeenth-century English lute song and American art song. He regularly sings with some of the nation’s premier vocal ensembles including Blue Heron, The Boston Camerata, Zenith Ensemble, and Boston Baroque. Corey holds a DMA from NEC in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy.

Peter Kenagy ’00, ’02 MM

Peter Kenagy is a jazz trumpet player and bandleader, currently directing and composing for an octet, The Mad Monkfish Jazz Orchestra. Recent releases include a suite for piano after the children’s book Stuart Little, and several jazz quintet albums featuring original compositions. Dr. Kenagy is active as a scholar, musicologist and lecturer, with primary interests in swing and modern jazz.

Andrea Lieberherr Douglass

Andrea Lieberherr

Douglass is an ethnomusicologist and has performed a wide range of music in a variety of ensembles, ranging from Brazilian music and classical orchestras to an all-women mariachi band and a California-based new music ensemble. She has been teaching at UMass Boston since 2015, and was a violin teacher at the Renaissance Arts Academy and the Harmony Project in Los Angeles, as well as at the Suzuki Institute of Boston. Her research interests include European folk music, the music of Brazil, and tourism studies.

Farrah Mahroug

Farrah Mahroug is an accomplished educator, researcher, and language enthusiast. With a Ph.D. in French and Francophone Studies, she has adeptly taught French, Linguistics, and Comparative Literature at the University of Minnesota, employing innovative learning techniques and fostering an inclusive learning environment. Her impactful research on women’s portrayal in Northern African media, presented at international conferences, attests to her expertise in media studies and literature. Farrah’s academic journey, complemented by degrees from prestigious institutions, reflects her unwavering dedication to education, languages, and cultural nuances.

Brian Moll

Collaborative pianist and vocal coach

Brian Moll has been a faculty member at the Longy School of Bard College and the Boston Conservatory at Berklee for over 20 years. He has also been a faculty member at New England Conservatory coaching voice majors, as well as teaching both undergraduate and graduate repertoire classes. Since 2019 he has been Director of the Lieder Residency of the Dramatic

Voices Berlin Program, where he teaches in the summer. He is a graduate of Hamilton College, the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna, Austria, and completed his MM in Collaborative Piano at the University of Michigan where he studied with Martin Katz.

Michal Shein

’08 MM

Israeli-MexicanAmerican cellist and teaching artist Michal Shein focuses her career on curated performances and intensive educational initiatives. She is the founder and Artistic Director of Cellisimo, a Spanish-speaking intensive festival for high-level Latin American cellists. A sought-after pedagogue in Boston and abroad, Michal’s students have participated in prestigious masterclasses and festivals. In addition to her extensive educational work, Michal appears with many orchestras and ensembles in Boston, and collaborates with series, including Celebrity Series of Boston. Michal is on faculty at Boston String Academy, Longy School of Music, and University of Rhode Island. She lives in Jamaica Plain in a cohousing community with her husband and two small children.

Minsoo Sohn ’99 DP, ’01 GD, ’04 AD

Minsoo Sohn is a Korean American pianist known for his musical intelligence and masterful virtuosity.

Described by the New York Times as “a genuine artist, with a thoughtful and poetic interpretation,” and the Boston Globe as “born to play the piano,” Sohn continues to expand his reputation as one of the foremost pianists of his day. Sohn has toured extensively throughout North and South America, Europe, Israel and Korea and has appeared in important venues and festivals. He is indebted to his masters Russell Sherman and Wha Kyung Byun ’74 MM for guiding him to follow his bliss.

Anna Webber

Anna Webber is a flutist, saxophonist, and composer whose interests and work live in the aesthetic overlap between avant-garde jazz and new classical music. Her critically acclaimed release Clockwise was voted the #6 Best Album of 2019 in the NPR Jazz Critics Poll, which described the album as “heady music [that] appeals to the rest of the body.” In May 2021, she released Idiom, a double album featuring both a trio and a large ensemble, as a follow-up. Webber is a 2018 Guggenheim Fellow and has been awarded numerous other grants and residencies.

MEET OUR NEW STAFF

Lori Boarts Accounts Payable Manager

Kerry Hagan Director of Human Resources

Livia Mah Operations Manager, Human Resources

Titi Ngwenya ’96 MM Major Gifts Officer

Sean Buschbaum Associate Director, NEC Preparatory School

Sarah Jick Business and Operations Manager, Expanded Education

Marcia Spellman Registrar

Jenna Driscoll Programs Coordinator, NEC Preparatory School

Maddy Littlefield Administrative Manager for Advancement & Engagement

Thai Johnson ’23 MM Concert Stage Manager

Alyssa Tong Assistant Director of Enrollment

Emily Waystack Coordinator for Health and Wellness

THE PRESSER AWARDS

The Presser Foundation was formally established in 1939 under various deeds of trust of Theodore Presser, founder of the oldest continuing music publisher in the United States and an NEC alumnus. The Foundation’s purposes are primarily set forth to promote the cause of music education and music philanthropy, including providing scholarships to promising students. The foundation annually gives two awards to NEC students, one for a returning graduate student and one for a fourth-year undergraduate.

The Graduate Music Award program is designed to encourage and support in a special way the advanced education and career of truly exceptional graduate music students who have the potential to make a distinguished contribution to the field of music. The Undergraduate Scholar Award is given to a student in their senior year on the basis of merit and achievement.

Graduate

Mark Tipton ’24 DMA, Jazz Performance

Undergraduate

Honor Hickman ’24, Flute Performance

THE PRESIDENTIAL DISTINCTION AWARDS

The Presidential Distinction Award recognizes exceptional performance ability and potential, and is granted solely to incoming students as a special NEC Merit Scholarship.

Anne Chao ’23, ’25 MM, Flute Performance

Tian Huang ’27, Contemporary Musical Arts

Yechan Min ’23, ’25 MM, Flute Performance

Xuanjie Ouyang ’27, Jazz Performance

Hao Tian ’27, Contemporary Musical Arts

Yixin Zhu ’27, Contemporary Musical Arts

THE PRESIDENTIAL SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS

Dorothy Hinton Congleton Memorial Presidential Scholarship

Evren Ozel ’21, ’23 MM, ’25 AD, Piano Performance

The Dorothy Hinton Congleton Memorial Presidential Scholarship was established in 1976, and elevated to a Presidential Scholarship in 2007 through the generous support of NEC President’s Council member William H. Congleton and his wife, Margaret A. Congleton. The scholarship is named in memory of Mr. Congleton’s mother, an accomplished musician and teacher.

Edward Hyde Cox Presidential Scholarship

Anatol Toth ’26, Violin Performance

The trustees of Mr. Cox’s estate established the Edward Hyde Cox Presidential Scholarship in 2001. An amateur pianist and longtime friend of poet Robert Frost, Mr. Cox requested that the gift be used to support an outstanding student pursuing the study of classical music.

Friedlaender Family Presidential Scholarship Fund

Vladyslav Dovhan ’24 MM, Saxophone Performance

The Friedlaender family has been ardent supporters of NEC for over 40 years. Clara May Friedlaender served on the Board of Trustees for close to three decades, and was followed by her son, Stephen, to continue the family’s volunteer service. Stephen served as a Life Trustee and was instrumental in the planning and building of NEC’s Student Life and Performance Center. The family’s passion for music and education led them to create a classical music scholarship in 1986, which was elevated to the Presidential level in 2018.

Francis W. Hatch, Sr. Presidential Scholarship Fund

Pualina Lim ’23 MM, ’25 GD, Collaborative Piano

The Francis W. Hatch, Sr. Presidential Scholarship Fund was established in 1983, and elevated to a Presidential Scholarship in 2005 through a gift from the late Life Trustee Francis W. Hatch and his wife, Serena. The fund, named in memory of Frank’s father, provides full tuition support to a deserving musician.

Helena Foundation Presidential Scholarship Fund

John Stanmeyer ’24 MM, Jazz Performance

The Helena Foundation Presidential Scholarship Fund was established in 1999, and elevated to a Presidential Scholarship in 2006 through the additional generosity of James A. Earl and his son, Jimmy C. Earl. The Scholarship is named in memory of James Earl’s mother, Margaret Helena Earl, and represents NEC’s first Presidential Scholarship awarded to a jazz student.

Donna Hieken Flute Presidential Scholarship Fund

Yechan Min ’23, ’25 MM, Flute Performance Charles and Donna Hieken were steadfast supporters of NEC, establishing the Donna Hieken Flute Chair in 2005 to honor Mrs. Hieken and her career as an instructor and flautist. The Hiekens’ passion for education and lifelong love for music led to the endowment of the Donna Hieken Flute Scholarship in 2015 to memorialize Mrs. Hieken. It was elevated to a Presidential Scholarship in 2017 through the generosity of Charles and his son, Seth Hieken.

Carol T. and Robert P. Henderson Presidential Scholarship

Motti Fang Bentov ’20, ’22 MM, ’24 GD, Piano Performance

Life Trustee Carol Henderson and her husband, Robert, established the Carol T. and Robert P. Henderson Presidential Scholarship in 2002 in recognition of NEC’s ongoing priority to provide increased financial aid for its students.

Laurence Lesser Presidential Scholarship Fund

Ethan Murphy ’27, Cello Performance

Former Trustee Edward Phillips and his wife, Margaret, along with The New England Mutual Life Insurance Company, established the Laurence Lesser Presidential Scholarship in recognition of the artistry and leadership of President Emeritus Lesser.

John Moriarty Presidential Scholarship Fund

Hyungjin Son ’24 MM, Vocal Performance

Interested in the career development of young professionals, NEC Life Trustee and longtime supporter Lee Day Gillespie established the John Moriarty Presidential Scholarship to honor John Moriarty’s many years of work with young artists and his contribution to the training of young singers at NEC.

Charlotte F. Rabb Presidential Scholarship Fund

Changyong Shin ’24 AD, Piano Performance

This fund was established in 1989 by Irving Rabb in honor of his wife, Charlotte, “Dolly,” on their 50th wedding anniversary. Mrs. Rabb was a Trustee, President’s Council member, and supporter of NEC’s students through financial aid and countless hours as a dedicated volunteer from 1970 until her passing in 2000.

Edward P. and Margaret Richardson Presidential Scholarship

Leland Ko ’24 AD, Cello Performance

Margaret Eustis Richardson and her late husband, former NEC Trustee and President’s Council member Dr. Edward Peirson Richardson, established the Edward P. and Margaret Richardson Presidential Scholarship in 1989 after many years of family involvement.

Wendy Shattuck ’75 Presidential Scholarship Fund for Vocal Studies

Yeonjae Cho ’22 GD, ’24 AD, Vocal Performance

The Wendy Shattuck ’75 Presidential Scholarship Fund for Vocal Studies was established in 2004 by Life Trustee Wendy Shattuck and her husband, Sam Plimpton. Ms. Shattuck graduated from NEC in 1975 with a degree in vocal performance, and both Wendy and Sam have been active and generous members of NEC’s Board committees and events.

The Presidential Scholarship Awards, continued

Abraham Skernick Memorial Presidential Scholarship

Cara Pogossian ’23 MM, ’25 GD, Viola Performance

The late Dr. Marjorie McDonald endowed this scholarship in 2001 on the occasion of her 75th birthday. A retired psychiatrist and former violist with the Boston Philharmonic, Dr. McDonald served on NEC’s President’s Council. She established this scholarship to honor the skill and talent of her teacher, violinist Abraham Skernick, principal violist of the Cleveland Orchestra for 27 years.

Helen Haxton Stare Presidential Scholarship in Voice

Josie Larsen ’23 MM, ’25 AD, Opera Studies

The Helen Haxton Stare Voice Scholarship was established in 1980 by NEC Life President’s Council member, the late Dr. Frederick Stare and Mrs. Irene M. Stare, to honor Dr. Stare’s late wife and NEC Trustee, Helen Haxton Stare. Following the passing of Dr. Stare, violinist Irene Stare elevated this endowed fund to a Presidential Scholarship in 2007.

Irene M. Stare Presidential Scholarship in Violin

Hayoung Choi ’25 MM, Violin Performance

This scholarship was established in 1986 as the Irene M. Stare Violin Scholarship Fund by the late violinist Mrs. Irene M. Stare and NEC Life President’s Council member Dr. Frederick Stare. It was elevated to a Presidential Scholarship in 2007 through a generous gift from Mrs. Stare.

Joan and Henry Wheeler Presidential Scholarship

Valentine Umeh ’27, Vocal Performance

Former Board member and longtime friends of NEC, the late Joan and Henry Wheeler endowed the Joan and Henry Wheeler Presidential Scholarship in 2001. The fund, established in honor of NEC’s Opera Program, provides financial aid for talented students that apply to study in the program.

Length of Service Recognition

NEC would like to recognize and congratulate our colleagues on their milestone anniversaries of service to NEC.

Diane Braun ’01 MM, 15 years

Maria Jane Loizou ’99 MM, 31 years

Tanya Maggi, 20 years

Lisa Nigris, 35 years

Hannah Spence, 10 years

Bob Winkley ’88 MM, 35 years

President’s Service Award

Elizabeth Van Voorhis

In 2005 NEC established the President’s Service Award to further recognize the contributions of NEC staff employees. This award recognizes superior service in support of NEC’s daily operations; a willingness to go “above and beyond” in the performance of responsibilities; a collegial spirit and respect for members of the NEC Community; and at least five years of demonstrated dedication to NEC in a staff position.

Rachdorf Award

Leah McKinnon-Howe ’80 NEC established a staff award to honor Robert Rachdorf, Head of Building Operations, who passed away in 1998 after thirty-two years of dedicated service to NEC. The terms of the Rachdorf Award are: a sense of responsibility for, and demonstrated dedication to, making NEC the best place possible for its different constituencies, including students, faculty, and staff; an ability to use resources wisely and with great creativity; humility and selflessness in service to the NEC community; and at least five years of service to NEC as a full-time staff member.