School Notes: School of Music
November/December 2015

TV show surprises music nonprofit

Dantes Rameau ’07MusM, cofounder of the Atlanta Music Project (AMP), answered a knock one day to find the rapper Common at the door. Common was there as a guest host for the TV show Knock Knock Live, and the surprise also included presents for AMP. The nonprofit organization, which provides intensive, tuition-free music education for underserved youth, received a customized 15-passenger van to help transport students to and from performances. In addition, the van was filled with string, brass, and keyboard instruments, and AMP received $50,000. Rameau called the gifts a “game-changer” for AMP, which launched in 2010 with seven students and now serves 200 students at four sites.

Violinist selected for Philharmonic fellowship

Violinist Benjamin Hoffman ’14MusM, a doctoral candidate at the Yale School of Music, has been selected for the New York Philharmonic’s Global Academy Fellowship Program. The program offers career-building opportunities to train and play with Philharmonic musicians. The ten 2016 fellows will travel to New York in January for the ten-day training program, which includes rehearsing and playing alongside Philharmonic musicians, conducted by music director Alan Gilbert.

Australian honors for clarinetist

Clarinetist Ashley William Smith ’13MusM, ’14ArtA, won Performance of the Year at Australia’s prestigious 2015 Art Music Awards. The awards were presented August 10 in Sydney. The winning performance was Lachlan Skipworth’s Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, which Smith performed with the Western Australian Symphony Orchestra under Baldur Brönnimann. Smith is currently an artist-in-residence and lecturer at the University of Western Australia.

Norfolk report

The Yale Summer School of Music/Norfolk Chamber Music Festival enjoyed another successful summer season under the leadership of Paul Hawkshaw. Renovations to the historic Music Shed this year included the restoration of the cupola, which aids ventilation. The festival saw increased ticket sales and continues to raise funds to complete the renovation project. A gala concert on August 16, featuring pianist Emanuel Ax with violinist Pamela Frank, honored the memory of pianist and longtime YSM faculty member Claude Frank.