February 23, 2014

A two month long teaching practicum in Cambridge, Massachusetts provided Marista Hristova the opportunity to direct two middle school orchestras.  Tasked with conducting and teaching small and large groups of students in viola, violin, cello, double bass and piano,  Maritsa credits her success with her students to having the freedom to develop her own teaching strategies and methods. Drawing upon her own experiences as a violist and composer,  Maritsa  found great joy in strengthening the confidence of her young students and inspiring them to do their best.

 As Maritsa pursues plans for graduate studies at the University of Southern California Thortnon School of Music, she continues her work on Bulgarian compositions for a music album.

February 20, 2014

Working alongside the Assistant Dean of Harvard College for Public Service,  Shalini’s role is to create and amplify opportunities for student engagement in service and enhance coordination efforts between the different public service offices and organizations at Harvard College to make service a robust part of the undergraduate experience. Shalini works with students and staff toward this end, building a culture of service in the residential communities at Harvard and crafting opportunities for students to explore public-interest summer internships and post-graduate jobs. Congratulations Shalini!

November 03, 2013

Following the success of Gershwin & Me, Sydney-based classical pianist Simon Tedeschi and ABC Classics presented a new installment of the iconic catalogue of George Gershwin: Gershwin: Take Two! Performed again by Tedeschi,  the recording includes guest appearances from Australian jazz legend James Morrison and one of the rising stars of the international music stage, ARIA Award-winning singer Sarah McKenzie. The album features classic Gershwin compositions such as Embraceable You, Nice Work If You Can Get It and Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off, as well as a beautiful solo piano version of Rhapsody in Blue, alongside some less familiar but certain-to-become-favourite numbers revealing Gershwin’s extraordinary versatility and creativity, and his unfailing ability to delight.

In an interview with Clive Paget of Limelight, Tedeschi talks about the success of his first album(Gershwin and Me) and how he came up with the tracks for his most recent Gershwin release.

October 29, 2013

Congratulations to Brian Goldstein, incoming 2013-2015 A.W. Mellon Fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison! Established in 2010, the A.W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship Program is an interdisciplinary program providing postdoctoral fellowships in the humanities and humanistic social sciences. The program  builds upon interdisciplinary initiatives on campus exploring the broad question, “What is human?” These initiatives have been examining the transnational circulations of culture and power on a global landscape, questions of biocultures and biopolitics, and new ways of thinking about media in the context of the digital revolution.

Brian received his PhD in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Planning at Harvard in the spring of 2013. His research focused on the redevelopment of American cities in the post-World War II era, especially intersections between the architecture and urban planning professions, race, social movements, and politics. Brian’s dissertation assessed the urban development of Harlem, New York, between 1965 and 2000, especially the forms of “community development” that took shape in the aftermath of the urban renewal era. He has also studied racial diversity in early suburbs and suburban modernism. He co-authored “Paul Rudolph and the Rise and Fall of Urban Renewal,” presented at the 2009 conference “Reassessing Rudolph: Architecture and Reputation” at the Yale School of Architecture.

October 27, 2013

The Eugene O"Neill Theater Center will honor theater, film and televison actress Meryl Streep with the 14th Annual Monte Christo Award for her enormous achievements and contributions to the American theater.  Streep’s  friend and fellow O’Neill artist and Yale classmate Joe Grifasi will present the award at a gala dinner in New York City on April 21, 2014.  The Monte Cristo Award is presented to a prominent theater artist each year in recognition of a distinguished career exemplifying Eugene O’Neill’s “pioneering spirit, unceasing artistic commitment, and excellence.”  Past recipients of the Award include Christopher Plummer, Michael Douglas, James Earl Jones, Harold Prince, Kevin Spacey, Neil Simon, Jason Robards, Jr., Edward Albee, August Wilson, Zoe Caldwell, Brian Dennehy, Karl Malden, Arthur & Barbara Gelb, and Wendy Wasserstein.

After studying at the Yale School of Drama and the O’Neill, Streep worked as a successful stage actress on Broadway and in New York as part of the New York Shakespeare Festival. She went on to debut in film with her role in The Deer Hunter in 1978 for which she received her first of seventeen Oscar nominations. Other notable roles include: Sophie’s Choice (1982), Postcards from the Edge (1990), The Bridges of Madison County (1995),The Hours, Adaptation (2002), The Devil Wears Prada (2006), and The Iron Lady (2011).  Streep will next be seen in the big-screen adaptation of “August: Osage County,“ the epic family drama by Tracy Letts that won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2008.

October 26, 2013

Upon completing a year of travel through South America and Southeast Asia on a Bonderman Fellowship,  Luke arrived on the East Coast to pursue a graduate degree in Aeronautics & Astronautics at MIT.  With experience in group and project leadership as well as workplace design, Luke is especially interested in the business considerations of aerospace design. He recently led a seminar hosted by the MIT Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment and the MIT International Center for Air Transportation on “Airline Network Fuel Burn Reduction using Cruise Altitude and Speed Optimization”. 

After completing his masters of science in Aeronautical Engineering, Luke would like to pursue a career in aviation operations and strategy or commercial test flight.  Luke really enjoys finding fresh ways to merge his love of piloting and business with his training in engineering design.

November 08, 2013

July 22, 2013

Mark Morris, world-renowned choreographer of great ambition and endless invention, recently talked with Joan Anderman, a former music critic for The Boston Globe, about creativity and aging.  In The Creative Mid-Life: Dancing Happily Around All Topics Morris shares his thoughts about older dancers, the boredom of self-expression and becoming music director of the Ojai Music Festival.

July 21, 2013

Trombonist Justin Croushore is one of five American musicians selected for a 2013-2014 International Cultural Exchange Program for Classical Musicians that will take him to Bosnia-Herzegovinia for 10 months to perform with the Sarajevo Philharmonic. Sponsored by the Bosnian-Herzegovinian American Academy of Arts and Sciences (HBHAAAS) in cooperation with the Sarajevo Philharmonic, the Exchange program will afford Justin the opportunity to perform in opera, ballet and symphonic concerts before returning to the United States to complete his Master’s degree in trombone performance at the Longy School of Music of Bard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

May 10, 2013

Simon Linn Gerstein presented his Master of Music degree in Cello Performance recital  on May 4 at the Longy School of Music of Bard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  The program included Dutilleux: 3 Strophes sur le nom de Sacher, Boccherini: Sonata in A major,  Britten: Suite No. 1 for solo cello and Brahms: Sonata in F major, Op. 99. Accompanying Simon was Patrick Yacono, piano and Robin Rhodes, bass.