Series Introduction

Background: The focus and offerings at New England Conservatory (NEC) are predominantly on the Western Classical repertoire. There is a plethora of knowledge and exposure to be had in this domain, but coupling it with at least an introduction to other musical counterparts across the globe can further bolster the experience for faculty and students alike.

Program: NEC, in conjunction with the Center for Cultural Equity and Belonging (CEB), will host a series of workshops throughout the school year with a carefully selected group of performers. These performances will vary either in cultural background or performance medium and ideally provide global exposure to students and faculty. Additionally, these workshops will also introduce students/faculty to art forms that are not seen or taught at NEC.

Audience: The audience could be NEC faculty and students (from prep and/or college).

Logistics: This will be a seminar series (i.e., a “Bringing the World to NEC'' series) with four sessions during its first iteration (once a quarter), each ~1 hr in length. There are many cultures that students and faculty identify themselves with that can be included in this series. Hopefully, that makes the process of selecting performers more collaborative. The first seminar will be a workshop on the Mridangam (Indian Drums) and is scheduled for February 4, 2023. Sri Gaurish Chandrashekhar and Arya Ramachandran will help kick off the series.

Funding: The workshops will be free for all participants. The goal is to make it accessible to everyone. NEC will provide the venue. NEC was picked as the non-profit organization to receive the prize money for Arya Ramachandran’s essay on MLK Jr. at the Network for Social Justice. This will help toward any gift cards/flowers for artists and refreshments. Future workshops will be worked into NEC’s budget.

Goal: The series will allow faculty (and students) to see the acceptance and promotion of their cultural backgrounds by NEC, specifically in the performing arts space.

Inaugural Event

“Hoping you are proud of what you activated at NEC, and your vision being accomplished”

-Monique Van Willingh, Director of Cultural Equity and Belonging

Recently at the New England Conservatory (NEC), I had the pleasure of leading a workshop as part of my “Bringing the World to NEC” initiative. Along with my guru, Mr. Gaurish Chandrashekar, I presented the Mridangam (South Indian drum) through an interactive performance on Feb 4th, 2023.  

To provide some background, I have been a student of NEC since kindergarten, participating in countless offerings ranging from private lessons for violin and viola to theory and orchestra. Over the years, I have noticed that the offerings at NEC focus predominantly on the Western Classical repertoire. That being said, there is an entire body of music from other repertoires and cultures that are prime for exposure. An example close to my heart is South Indian Classical music, also known as Carnatic music. 

This discovery propelled me to start the seminar series “Bringing the World to NEC,” with the primary goal of exposing the NEC community to different styles of music from across the globe. The idea was met with great enthusiasm by members of the NEC leadership team. We worked collaboratively over the course of a year to finalize the overarching scope and goals of the series. It was a cross-departmental endeavor, leveraging the resources of both the Center for Cultural Equity and Belonging and the NEC Preparatory school.

The inaugural event took place in February and exceeded all of our expectations. We had an audience of about 50 people, spanning the NEC faculty, students, and many local community members who expressed interest. The workshop was interactive, with lively audience participation. 

The first segment of the three-part program was a presentation of the history and landscape of Carnatic music with a focus on Indian percussion. In tandem with the explanations provided by Mr. Chandrasekahar, I contextualized the material and drew analogies to the Western Classical tradition. This presented the content in a language familiar to the audience, thus making the complexities of Carnatic music more relatable. 

This was followed by a demonstration, where Mr. Chandrasekahar and I performed together. We deliberately designed the musical presentation to hook and retain the engagement of the audience. Instead of each of us playing serially, we composed a piece that employed a call-and-response type structure. As such, I would play a movement that segued directly into my teacher’s segment and vice-versa. This format was used to exhibit multiple beat cycles of complex variations leading up to a jointly performed grand finale.  

The event concluded with a Q&A session. We had a lively exchange with audience members. NEC faculty helped facilitate the conversational component of that segment, putting a conversational spin on the proceedings. This deepened the audience’s understanding of the content, as the faculty members could further contextualize the content into Western classical terms. 

Based on this performance and participant reactions, other organizations have reached out to us, requesting we spearhead similar events for them. This, to me, is a true endorsement of my efforts.

Looking to the future, steps have already been taken to organize the next workshop. Currently, for late spring, we hope to feature a master jazz saxophonist pioneering the performance of North Indian classical music on soprano saxophone. Ideas for subsequent events include focusing on woodwind instruments and other performing arts, such as dance, from across the globe. 

The ultimate goal is for this series to remain under the purview of the Center for Cultural Equity and Belonging, thus ensuring its sustainability and NEC’s support of inclusivity and diversity.