The Soundtrack of BU Commencement
Eager graduates lined up, red robes flowing, mortarboards decorated, as the first notes of Pomp and Circumstance sounded through the late spring air. The celebratory sounds of graduation season marked the milestone for terrier grads across Boston University. Meet the CFA artists behind the music.
Boston University Commencement
Dylan Gregg (CFA’19) was selected as the 2019 BU Commencement singer, and Jessica Graves performed as the singer at this year’s senior breakfast. Both Dylan and Jessica were also recipients of the 2019 Ellalou Dimmock Vocal Honors Award for outstanding achievement in Vocal Performance.
A brass ensemble also performed at the All-University Commencement on Sunday, May 19 on Nickerson Field. All musicians are either current School of Music students or recent alumni.
Trumpet – Kayleigh Neff, Douglas McCurdy, John Johnson, Zoe Ronen, Paige Dyer, Robert Wollenberg, Peter Everson, Frank Choido
French Horn – Yuan Tian, Ho Yin Li, Keianna Wen, Christian Gutierrez, Angela DiBartolomeo, Angela Chi
Trombone – Haotian Quan, Justin Sims, Benjamin Court, Kar-Chun Chiu, Alexander Knutrud
Bass Trombone – Ziwei Li
Euphonium – Eusung Choe
Tuba – Zachary Larson, Steven Fulginiti
Percussion – Jack Barry, Sean Van Winkle, Laurin Friedland
College of Fine Arts Convocation
CFA Convocation on Saturday, May 18 was accompanied by a brass quintet, including CFA musicians Peter Everson (CFA’20), Trumpet; John Johnson (CFA’20), Trumpet; Christian Gutierrez (DMA), Horn; Eusung Choe (CFA’21), Trombone; and Zachary Larson (CFA’19), Tuba.
BU Night at the Pops
One of BU’s oldest commencement traditions, BU Night at the Pops marked its 105th year bringing the Terrier community to Boston Symphony Hall on Saturday, May 18. 2019’s concert was a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the ‘Summer of ‘69- from the moon landing to rock and roll. The Pops featured a new co-commission for orchestra and narrator in honor of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 called From the Earth to the Moon and Beyond by composer Jim Beckel.
The evening also featured appearances by the BU Pep Band and BU’s own baton-wagging Rhett.
Michael Duffett, a violin performance student, performed at BU Night at the Pops on May 18. He was selected to perform part of his repertoire from the BU Soloists’ Competition. Michael is originally from Cape Town, South Africa and will begin his DMA in the fall of 2019. “I am so excited and grateful to have been chosen for this honor and so thrilled to be playing Mendelssohn in Symphony Hall!”
Michael was concertmaster for two Britten Pears Orchestra programs in the UK, both of which were conducted by Marin Alsop, and over the past year was a winner of the BU Soloists’ Competition and the BU Bach Competition.
In addition to the incredible opportunity to play solo on Symphony Hall stage, “the opportunity to work with excellent faculty has also been a highlight for me at BU in both orchestral and chamber music settings,” says Michael. “The orchestra is excellent and well-run with a great conductor, which makes it such a pleasure to play in. The chamber music program is super too, and I have had the wonderful opportunity of working with a number of incredibly well-respected musicians.”