Stephen Adams ’59 awarded Yale Medal
Among the recipients of this year’s Yale Medal is Stephen Adams ’59, a member of the School of Music’s Board of Visitors and a donor whose generosity has transformed the School. The medal will be awarded tonight at the annual Yale Medal dinner.
Inaugurated in 1952, the Yale Medal is the highest award presented by the Association of Yale Alumni and is conferred solely to recognize and honor outstanding individual service to the University. Since its inception, the Yale Medal has been presented to 272 individuals, all of whom not only showed extraordinary devotion to the ideals of the University, but also were conspicuous in demonstrating their support of Yale through extensive, exemplary service on behalf of Yale as a whole or one of its many schools, institutes, or programs. (more…)
Ted Hearne ’09MMA wins Gaudeamus Prize
Gaudeamus Prize winner Ted Hearne, left, and runner-up Toru Nakatani
At the final concert of the International Gaudeamus Music Week 2009, which took place in Amsterdam September 7-12, the Gaudeamus Prize was awarded to the American composer Ted Hearne (b. 1982). The award of 4,550 Euros is intended as a commission for a new work which will be performed at the 2010 International Gaudeamus Music Week.
Hearne received the prize for selected movements from Katrina Ballads, a composition performed on September 10 at the Conservatory of Amsterdam by the ensemble ‘de ereprijs’ conducted by Wim Boerman. Hearne himself was the soloist as singer. There was also an honorable mention for Toru Nakatani of Japan, whose 16_1/64_1 was performed on September 9 by Ensemble of the Conservatory of Amsterdam conducted by Jos Zwaanenburg. (more…)
Stephen Adams ’59 awarded Yale Medal
Stephen Adams '59 and Denise Adams
Among the recipients of this year’s Yale Medal is Stephen Adams ’59, a member of the School of Music’s Board of Visitors and a donor whose generosity has transformed the School.
The Association of Yale Alumni (AYA) has announced five recipients of the Yale Medal in 2009. In addition to Mr. Adams, the recipients are Frances Beinecke ‘71, ‘74 MFS, Charles D. Ellis ‘59, Justice Carlos R. Moreno ‘70, and Eve Hart Rice ‘73.
Inaugurated in 1952, the Yale Medal is the highest award presented by the Association of Yale Alumni and is conferred solely to recognize and honor outstanding individual service to the University. Since its inception, the Yale Medal has been presented to 272 individuals, all of whom not only showed extraordinary devotion to the ideals of the University, but also were conspicuous in demonstrating their support of Yale through extensive, exemplary service on behalf of Yale as a whole or one of its many schools, institutes, or programs. (more…)
Student prizes awarded at YSM Annual Dinner
The School of Music held its annual dinner on May 3, paying tribute to distinguished alumni and honoring outstanding students.
2009 Student Prizes
Awarded at the Yale School of Music Honors Dinner
May 3, 2009
The Woods Chandler Memorial Prize, for the best compositions in a larger form written during the year.
» Bryan Benjamin Senti & Andrew Jeffrey Norman
The Phyllis Curtin Career Entry Prize, to assist in launching the career for a graduating student who demonstrates exceptional promise and talent as an artist.
» Adelaide Beth Muir & Emily Grace Righter
From L to R, Deputy Dean Thomas Masse; John Mangan '94MM; Dean Robert Blocker
The Eliot Fisk Prize, to an outstanding guitarist whose artistic achievement and dedication have contributed greatly to the department.
» Christopher Boyd Mallett
The Michael Friedmann Prize, to the student deemed to have the thesis in the Master of Musical Arts program that is most distinguished by originality, substance, and craft.
» Fernando Buide Del Real
The Rena Greenwald Memorial Prize, for the best piano composition written during the year.
» Naftali Yitzhak Schindler
Georgina Lucy Grosvenor Memorial Prize, to the violist in the graduating class whose performances while at Yale have exhibited the highest potential for success as a soloist or chamber musician.
» Bo Li
The Charles Ives Prize, to an outstanding organ major.
» Adam Peithmann
The John Day Jackson Prize, for an outstanding chamber music composition written for strings, with or without other instruments.
» Timothy Hall Andres
The Benjamin Jepson Memorial Prize, to a student who attended high school in Connecticut.
» Jennifer J. Hsiao
The David L. Kasdon Memorial Prize, to outstanding singers in the School of Music.
» David Wesley Pershall
The Frances E. Osborne Kellogg Memorial Prize, for the best composition written in a contrapuntal style.
» Edward Hearne
The Ezra Laderman Prize, for the best composition written for musical theater or voice.
» Christopher Todd Cerrone
The Charles S. Miller Prize, to a gifted pianist who has done outstanding work during the first year of study.
» Robert James Thompson
The Philip F. Nelson Prize, for a student whose musicianship is outstanding and who demonstrates curiosity, talent, and entrepreneurial spirit in the many dimensions of the music profession.
» Edward Hearne
The Thomas Daniel Nyfenger Prize, to a student who has demonstrated the highest standard of excellence in woodwind playing.
» Paul Won Jin Cho
The Aldo Parisot Prize, to gifted cellists who show promise for concert careers.
» Yoon Hee Ko & Mo Mo
The Elizabeth Parisot Prize, to outstanding pianists in the School of Music.
» Reinis Zarinš & Amy Jiaqi Yang
The Presser Foundation Music Award, for an outstanding student, to advance his or her music education.
» Lindsay Jane Garritson
The Julia R. Sherman Prize, for excellence in organ playing
» Adam Mark Pajan
The John Swallow Prize, to a graduating student for outstanding brass performance.
» Thomas Alfred Bergeron
Winners of the Alumni Association Prize with Dean Robert Blocker and Deputy Dean Thomas Masse
The Yale School of Music Alumni Association Prize, for students who have not only excelled in their respective fields, but have also made an important contribution to the general life of the School.
» Samuel Austin Blair, Michael Patrick Compitello, Patrick O’connell, Nicholas William Dieugenio, Jiyun Han, & Wei-Jen Yuan
David Kurtz ’MM80 garners three Emmy nominations
David Kurtz, right, receiving the School of Music Alumni Certificate of Merit in 2004, with Dean Robert Blocker
David Kurtz ’MM80, a composer and lyricist, has been nominated for three Emmy Awards.
One nomination is for Outstanding Achievement In Music Direction And Composition For A Drama Series; Kurtz, along with fellow composer Jack Allocco and music supervisors Mike Dobson and Bryan Harrison, was nominated for his work on The Young and the Restless. Kurtz also received two nominations in the category of Outstanding Original Song for a Drama Series: one for “All My Days Filled with You” and the other for “For All Time,” both co-written with Jack Allocco.
In addition to his work on The Young and the Restless, Kurtz has contributed to the music for The Bold and the Beautiful, By the Sea, Alien Nation, Charles in Charge, and many other television productions, as well as movies including The Big Chill, Instant Justice, and Hunk. Kurtz is also a member of the Yale School of Music Board of Visitors.
Chelsea Chen ‘09AD awarded 2009 Lili Boulanger Memorial Prize
Chelsea Chen, an Artist Diploma candidate at Yale University, has been awarded the 2009 Lili Boulanger Memorial Prize of $5000. The prize is given annually to an outstanding young musician under the age of 35 exhibiting unusual talent and promise for the future. Past winners have included distinguished composers Ned Rorem and Robert Levin. The designated field of this year’s competition was organ performance.
The prize is awarded by the Lili Boulanger Memorial Fund, Inc. in Boston, Mass. The organization holds a nomination-only competition each year, and this year’s designated field was organ performance. The selection committee received CDs and resumes from 5 nominees, each nominated by an eminent leader in the field. Ms. Chen was nominated by Professor Thomas Murray.
Ms. Chen has studied with John Weaver and Paul Jacobs at Juilliard, and spent a Fulbright year in Taiwan introducing classical organ performance to the public. She currently studies with Thomas Murray at the Yale School of Music and Yale Institute of Sacred Music.
