School Notes: School of Music
July/August 2009

Applications and yield surge

This year's admissions resulted in an unusually high yield of 78 percent, with ten studios -- cello, clarinet, composition, conducting, flute, guitar, harp, oboe, trombone, and opera -- enrolling 100 percent of admitted students. Admissions were extremely competitive, with 1,270 applications (5 percent higher than the previous year) and an admission rate of 8.4 percent. The incoming class is a diverse group of 100 exceptional musicians coming from 58 undergraduate institutions. International students, representing 21 countries from across the globe, comprise half the incoming class.

Thomson focus of Norfolk festival

Yale's summer school of music, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, opened its doors on Saturday, June 20, with the internationally renowned Sejong Soloists, directed by violin professor Hyo Kang, and pianist Robert Blocker. A highlight of the season will be a gala performance by soprano Dawn Upshaw and pianist Gilbert Kalish on Saturday, August 8. This year, the festival turns the spotlight on composer and cultural critic Virgil Thomson, with performances of Thomson's music in several festival programs as well as a lecture by Anthony Tommasini ’70, ’71MusM, chief music critic for the New York Times and author of Virgil Thomson: Composer on the Aisle. Norfolk recently unveiled its new website: www.norfolkmusic.org.

Yale in New York celebrates Goodman

The school is looking forward to a third season of Yale in New York, under the artistic direction of David Shifrin. The opener on September 26 in Zankel Hall is a celebration of Benny Goodman's classical legacy. Part of the week-long Benny Goodman Centenary Celebration at Yale, the program will feature music commissioned by Goodman from Bartok, Poulenc, Copland, and others, performed by faculty, alumni, and current students.

Later performances feature music by Prokofiev and Penderecki, and a tribute to Yale's Oral History of American Music project, which includes music by such composers as Charles Ives, Duke Ellington, and Steve Reich, and interviews from the OHAM archives.