School Notes: School of Music
November/December 2011

YSM composers win major awards

This September, Garth Neustadter ’12MusM garnered an Emmy Award, and Yoshiaki Onishi ’07MusM, ’08ArtA, won the prestigious 2011 Gaudeamus Prize.

Neustadter won the Emmy in the category of Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score). His score for the PBS documentary “John Muir in the New World,” an episode of American Masters, was recorded at Yale with members of the Yale Philharmonia, the Yale Symphony Orchestra, and the Linden String Quartet. Neustadter, 25, studies composition with Chris Theofanidis ’94MusAM, ’97MusAD, at the School of Music.

An international jury unanimously selected Onishi for his piece Départ dans…. Thirteen nominees, selected from 385 original entries, had their music performed at the Gaudeamus Music Week in Utrecht. The prize acts as a commission for a new piece to be performed at Gaudeamus Music Week 2012.

Chamber music series renamed

For many years, the Chamber Music Society at Yale has been one of the most popular concert series at the School of Music. Now it has been renamed the Oneppo Chamber Music Series in honor of Vincent Oneppo ’73MusM, who retired last fall after serving Yale in various capacities throughout his career. Most recently, Oneppo was director of concerts and media at the school. Dean Robert Blocker noted Oneppo’s “vital role in directing the chamber music series over the years and in bringing many of the world’s finest performers to New Haven.”

New choral ensemble to debut

The School of Music and the Yale Glee Club are launching a new professional ensemble, the Yale Choral Artists. The project-based ensemble will be made up of leading professional singers from around the country and will be directed by Jeffrey Douma, director of the Yale Glee Club and a member of the School of Music faculty. The Yale Choral Artists’ first two projects include a February 2012 program with guest conductor and renowned early music specialist William Christie, and a June 2012 program of contemporary American music at the Yale International Choral Festival. Dean Robert Blocker believes that “the Yale Choral Artists will enhance and enrich the school’s commitment to the choral arts. Gifted singers from throughout the nation will not only bring a new artistic voice to our concert programs but also mentor Yale undergraduate and graduate students.”