Carnegie Mellon News Online Edition: June 27, 2001
Carnegie Mellon News Online Edition
In This Issue
H'Olympics Held Here

Former Provost Paul Christiano Dies

University Gets Another $20 Million from Paul Mellon's Estate

New England Conservatory Provost Named Music Head

Virtual Space Scientists

MCS Staff Awards

Alberto Guzman Retires from CMRI

Engineering Class Builds Pavilion for Doherty

Changing of the Guard at the Heinz School

Obituary:
Stephanie Byram

Heinz School Races for the Cure

News Briefs


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Fletcher New England Conservatory Provost Named Head of School of Music

Alan Mackay Fletcher, former provost and dean of Boston's New England Conservatory (NEC), has been appointed head of Carnegie Mellon's School of Music. He replaces Ken Keeling, who has returned to the faculty after serving as head since 1996.

"We are happy to have Alan join us at Carnegie Mellon," said Martin Prekop, the Gumberg Family Dean of the College of Fine Arts. "His enterprising spirit and prominence in the arts community are a dynamic addition to the School of Music's administration."

Musically, Fletcher concentrates on composing. His "Piano Sonata," premiered by Serget Schepkin, was declared "one of the most important new works of 1996" by the Boston Globe. More recently, Fletcher presented the premiere of a cello concerto featuring Andres Diaz with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. He has also completed a Piano Trio for the Raphael Trio.

Fletcher's wind ensemble piece, "An American Song," was selected to honor the Bicentennial of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. It will also be featured at The World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles conference in Switzerland this July.

Fletcher, a champion of interdisciplinary study, also served as chair of the Salzburg Seminar 352, "Defining Classical Music for the New Millennium," in December 1997. The conference of more than 70 distinguished figures from the world of classical music, including Gottfried Scholz, rector of the Hochschule for Musik of Vienna, debated the aesthetic, political, economic and intellectual future of the art form.

"Carnegie Mellon has always stood for advancement in technology and the arts, with a daring emphasis on the creation of new knowledge," Fletcher said. "The opportunity to continue my work in the context of a university dedicated to innovation and interdisciplinary growth is one I embrace with the greatest enthusiasm."

Although open to new approaches, Fletcher does not eschew the conservatory model in his plans for the future of the Music School.

"I am excited to join a community that celebrates what is next," he said. "At the same time I found a profound respect for the traditions that unite our efforts as musicians with all that has gone before, the privilege of renewing tradition by passing it on hand to hand, heart to heart, is at the core of what we all do."

As NEC's provost, Fletcher played a key role in development and alumni relations. Under his leadership, NEC received more than $2 million in grants and gifts.

Fletcher's administrative background at NEC spans a decade and he has been a faculty member there since 1985. He also served on the faculty of The School for Strings in New York.

He was a Phi Beta Kappa and graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University, where he received the Sacks Memorial Prize and the Naumburg Award in performance. During post-graduate study at the Juilliard School of Music, Fletcher was honored with the Irving Berlin Fellowship, the Danforth Graduate Fellowship and the Alexandre Gretchaninoff graduation prize. In 1990, Fletcher was named the MacDowell Colony Fellow.

Joelle Park
(06/27/01)


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