NEC Impact Report: Winter 2022

Winter 2023

IMPACT REPORT 21/22

Than k you for your suppor t of New Eng la nd Conser vator y A s a n educationa l institution, we have the oppor tunity to sta r t a new ever y fa l l. The retur n of our students to ca mpus generates a dy na m ic energ y that continues th roug hout the semester, in tur n inspir ing a nd enabling their ow n creative g row th. We th r ive on tra nsfor mation at NEC because our world is centered a round the evolv ing a r t for m that is music

Look ing a head, we a re wel l prepa red to shape a new era for NEC , a nd for music education. The core va lues that have

continue to define our work: a r tistic excel lence, com munity, a nd innovation. In this repor t, I a m pleased to sha re exa mples of how your suppor t last yea r a nimated these

va lues da i ly, prepa r ing a nd empower ing our students to create lives of a r tistic achievement, pur pose, a nd significa nce.

I a m g ratef ul for the ma ny ways you ma ke a d ifference at NEC With your suppor t, this nex t chapter at NEC w i l l be one of bound less creativ ity a nd tra nsfor mationa l impact.

With appreciation,

A nd rea Ka ly n President

New Course Invites Students to Reimagine Beethoven

Nicholas Kitchen, NEC faculty member and first violinist of the Borromeo String Quartet, was an enthusiastic pioneer in the use of tablets for reading sheet music. Not only did a digital format enable him and the ensemble to read from full scores, but it also allowed them to work from electronic versions of original manuscripts. He was studying Beethoven’s original manuscripts when he noticed a series of expressive markings. Intrigued, he wondered if they might offer new insight into the mind of the composer. He found that observing the ways Beethoven used the marks helped him imagine, and reimagine, the music in front of him.

Kitchen realized the unique opportunity these markings presented for musicians and wanted to share it with his

students. With support from the Catalyst Fund, a 2020 initiative to encourage innovative learning projects at NEC, he developed Creativity and Manuscripts, a yearlong course he began teaching for the first time this fall.

The course engages students in an intense process of

bringing their own interpretation and expression to the performance of a well-known piece of music. This semester, students selected various Beethoven works to perform and eventually record. In the spring, they will concentrate on his Missa Solemnis as well as the manuscripts of the Bartók string quartets, to see the many

paths Bartók considered before choosing the one with which we are familiar.

Though the class studies various print editions, the primary focus is on Beethoven’s original manuscript. Students examine electronic files of the manuscripts, and the newly noticed dynamic and expression markings inform their performances. In this way Kitchen invites students to play some of the best-known music in the standard repertoire, but to tune into Beethoven’s more refined expressive markings to allow new approaches to surface.

His goal is for students to develop their own interpretations of their selected pieces, either as a soloist or in an ensemble, record

Nicholas Kitchen and student discuss possible interpretations of a Beethoven piano sonata.

Five Years Into the Student Life & Performance Center

We checked in with some community members to see what life on campus is like five years after the Student Life and Performance Center (SLPC) opened.

NEC Community in Boston and Beyond

NEC’s commitment to community extends to the Greater Boston area and beyond to ensure that music education is available for all students. For nearly two decades, our Community Performances and Partnerships (CPP) program has partnered with Boston Public Schools (BPS) to provide access to high-quality arts education throughout the district.

Every year, this partnership impacts approximately 5,000 students through performances, weekly teaching, project-based residencies, workshops and an annual touring children’s opera. During the pandemic, NEC worked with teachers at nine BPS locations to pivot to online learning that included remote lessons, group classes, performances and residencies.

“We were thrilled to find innovative ways throughout the pandemic to build upon our long-standing partnership with the Boston Public Schools as we sought to support the needs of BPS students,” said Tanya

Maggi, NEC’s dean of community engagement and professional studies.

As in-person learning resumed in 2021–2022, NEC teaching fellows led workshops in six schools, performed at 12 events, and completed approximately 135 teaching hours. “Given the incredibly complex year we had, we could have not done this without you. Thank you CPP and all of your students who made such an incredible impact,”

said Anthony Beatrice, executive director for the arts for BPS.

Highlights from the year included a highly praised jazz workshop by Miguel Alejandro Landestoy ’22 MM in Spanish and English, and several performances around the district of Peter and the Wolf by the Fellowship Woodwind Quintet. In addition, saxophonist Rayna DeYoung ’22 MM continued her teaching fellowship from the previous year at Margarita

Muñiz Academy and was hired by the school as an instructor

This year, NEC will pilot a new private-lesson program that addresses the critical need for access to high quality, individualized instruction. The pilot will serve up to 30 students, with a primary focus on supporting those interested in auditioning for the Boston Arts Academy and other all-city programs that require an audition or application. Teaching fellows will include current NEC students and recent alumni, and potentially NEC Preparatory School faculty members as well. Through this program, NEC looks forward to deepening its relationship with BPS and exposing a wider population of young learners to the power of music.

NEC s Community Performances and Partnerships program has been recognized as a trailblazer for more than 19 years. It is one of the nation’s premier programs for connecting conservatory students with their communities through meaningful partnerships and high-quality community engagement training.

Exterior of the SLPC

The Speed Dining Commons

“I love being so close to everything happening on campus. I love walking downstairs to print or fill up my water bottle, realizing there’s a performance going on, and impulsively going to watch it. The atmosphere is also clean and comfortable which I really like ”

Emma Servadio ‘26

“Burnes Hall’s spaciousness, plentiful light and fine acoustics make it an uplifting rehearsal space for the College and orchestras alike.”

David Loebel, Music Director, Youth Orchestra and Associate Director of College

Storytelling presentation by Evelyn Song ‘23 and Tanya Maggi with children at Boston Bridge Charter School.

Philharmonic Orchestras,

The Michael and Eliza Anderson Residence Commons located on the 4th floor

tiful natural uplifting and Prep

Second floor study area in the Blumenthal Family Library Faculty member Joel Ayau and Audrey Daum ’23 MM during a rehearsal for the Perkins Opera Scenes in the Plimpton Shattuck Black Box Theatre, October 2022

“We were delighted when NEC committed to attain Steve Friedlaender’s vision for the SLPC. For five years we have enjoyed the SLPC and find students grateful not only for the outstanding education they receive, but also for the nice dormitory, fantastic performance spaces, the pleasant library, and the welcoming dining space ” Peggy and Bruce Barter, President’s Council Members Orchestras,

“The new library was really a game changer for me, personally. We were able to consolidate all the archival and special collection materials that were in 7 separate locations in the old library into one centralized stacks area ”

Maryalice Perrin-Mohr, Archivist/Records Manager

their performances, and then describe their creative process—what they took from the manuscript and how that informed their personal interpretations. He wants students to be aware of their decisions and how they internalize the manuscript directions.

During a midsemester class, students performed and recorded their selected works. Kitchen first walked them through the process of setting up a recording system to teach them how to use the necessary equipment as well as consider additional elements, such as lighting.

Once the equipment was ready, the first group, a string quartet, performed with Beethoven’s manuscript projected behind them for the class to follow Afterward, Kitchen commented on their progress and made general suggestions to highlight some of what they might take from Beethoven’s manuscript. “Play with that section, experiment. It’s great the way you are beginning to work on it,” he said. “There’s a bit of humor in this part,” he continued, indicating a section of the manuscript. “Have

Kitchen’s course offers students a unique opportunity to connect with a time when a composition’s form and content were still in flux. “It provides a sense of the composer’s thinking process, and with Beethoven, this creative process shows through in ways that are extraordinarily vivid,” he said.

Though the musical notes are specific (e.g., play a C sharp quarter note), they convey only a general direction for the musician. The ideas of phrasing, articulation, tempo, and dynamics are very open to interpretation. In his manuscripts, Beethoven uses four types of staccato instead of one or two, 20 dynamic distinctions instead of nine, and two types of expressive swells instead of one. These distinctions require the musicians to make even more choices about how they will bring the phrases to life.

Kitchen wants students to explore the possible artistic interpretations and develop a sincere and exciting expression for their own performance of the works. “Try playing it surprising us with what you are going to do with the timing,” he said. “Don’t be afraid if it turns out badly ”

Kitchen says that while extensive manuscript expressive markings did not end up in printed editions, Beethoven used them in the same form for 25 years. He wanted to indicate something, and it is worth the effort, Kitchen says, to try to figure out what that something might have been.

A final comment on one section of a manuscript encapsulates Kitchen’s approach well. “I see the double underline on pianissimo as a truthful invitation from Beethoven to do something that is a little different,” he said, “In Beethoven there is always something trying to be communicated. Open your mind to the possibility that there is more.”

NEW ART AT NEC

There are three new art installations on the NEC Campus donated through a trust established by the late Anthony Lopes to create artwork in the City of Boston. The pieces were created by artist David Phillips, who also designed “High Notes,” located outside of Burnes Hall, and the “Scrolls” sculpture on the corner of Gainsborough and St. Botolph streets.

“Musica Universalis” is located in the Office of the President and Provost

“Bridge” is located outside of 241 St. Botolph Street

“Notation with Chords and Strings” is located in the President’s Library