New England Conservatory Alumni

Meet three alumni redefining what’s possible with a music degree:

✨ Maxwell Fairman ’26 (Violin):
Pursuing Electrical Engineering at the University of Cincinnati

✨ Maxwell Reed ’26 MM (Clarinet):
Launching a career in Financial Management

✨ Blake Hetherington ’24 (Soprano): Completed her first year at the Georgetown University Law Center

Read more about their journeys through the link below:

NEC Alumni Bring Unique Skills to Diverse Career Paths | NEC Alumni Network Maxwell Fairman ’26 realized after his third year at New England Conservatory that his priorities were changing. Fairman, a violinist who studied at NEC with Do

WGBH interviewed Boston Festival Orchestra co-founder, principal conductor, and Artistic Director Alyssa Wang ’19 MM and co-founder and Executive Director Nicholas Brown ’19 MM about the organization’s past and its upcoming season.

The Boston Festival Orchestra (BFO) was co-founded in late 2019 by conductor Alyssa Wang and clarinetist Nicholas Brown, who envisioned a summer festival orchestra that would provide stable employment for local artists while making classical music accessible and engaging.

Go to the link below to learn more!

Boston Festival Orchestra Co-Founders Alyssa Wang ’19 MM and Nicholas Brown ’19 MM Featured on WGBH | NEC Alumni Network WGBH interviewed Boston Festival Orchestra co-founder, principal conductor, and Artistic Director Alyssa Wang ’19 MM and co-founder and Executive Director Nicho

Thirteen years after founding Castle of our Skins, NEC alumni Ashleigh Gordon ’08 MM and Anthony Green ’08 MM have prepared the organization to reclaim a vital artistic space in Boston and further empower Black artists far beyond.

In mid-May, the nonprofit organization, which “centers Black arts, culture, and history,” presented a concert at the Goethe Institut called The Castle We Built, featuring solo and duo performances by Gordon, a violist, and Green, a composer and pianist. The event served as a fundraiser for CooS as the organization prepares to move next year into a permanent home and enter a new phase. Since its founding in 2013, Castle of our Skins has operated out of coffeeshops, apartments, coworking spaces, and other nonpermanent homes.

Read more through the link below!

Castle of our Skins Celebrates its Foundation and a Reclamation to Come | NEC Alumni Network Thirteen years after founding Castle of our Skins, NEC alumni Ashleigh Gordon ’08 MM and Anthony Green ’08 MM have prepared the organization to reclaim a vital

🌟Alumni Spotlight: Dr. Rhoda Bernard '94🌟

Dr. Rhoda Bernard is the Founding Managing Director of the Berklee Institute for Accessible Arts Education and the Assistant Chair of the Music Education Department at Berklee College of Music. She holds a Bachelor of Arts cm laude in government from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Music with academic honors in jazz voice from New England Conservatory. She earned both her Master of Education and Doctor of Education degrees from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Read Rhoda's full spotlight through the link below!🎉

Alumni Spotlight: Dr. Rhoda Bernard '94 | NEC Alumni Network Dr. Rhoda Bernard is the Founding Managing Director of the Berklee Institute for Accessible Arts Education and the Assistant Chair of the Music Education Depart