School Notes: School of Music
July/August 2016

UN secretary-general speaks at Sprague Hall

UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon delivered remarks in Sprague Hall as the keynote of the United Nations Global Colloquium of University Presidents, which was held at Yale April 12–13 and focused on the preservation of cultural heritage. Opening the event were performances by YSM student Jessica Pray ’17MusM and Yale College student Katherine Barnes ’16, joined by YSM faculty pianist Douglas Dickson ’89MusAM.

Alumna to receive grave marker

The Yale School of Music has contributed to a fund that will purchase a grave marker for Helen Eugenia Hagan (1912BMus), who has been buried in an unmarked grave in New Haven’s Evergreen Cemetery since her death in 1964. Hagan was a concert pianist and composer, and was the only African American performer to travel to France during the First World War to entertain black troops. She is believed to be the school’s first female African American student. “Over a century ago, Helen Hagan embodied the ideals of the School of Music that are reflected in our current students today—artistic excellence, intellectual curiosity, and service to humankind,” noted Dean Robert Blocker. “Her achievements as a woman of color at the dawn of the twentieth century are remarkable.” The campaign has exceeded its $1,500 goal, and the dedication ceremony will take place in November, when the marker is installed.

YSM celebrates Ellington Jazz Series with “Conservatory Without Walls”

The Ellington Jazz Series at the Yale School of Music paid homage to its history on May 13 with a presentation of the film Conservatory Without Walls, a documentary originally created by WTIC Hartford about the eponymous event that Willie Ruff ’54MusM organized at Yale in 1972. That convocation of 40 jazz legends directly led to the founding of the Ellington Jazz Series. The 40-minute video, preserved by the Yale Film Study Center, includes interviews with figures such as Dizzy Gillespie and archival material of Duke Ellington—including clips of Willie Ruff playing bass with Ellington at the piano.