Former Yale professor teaches class

Jacobs School of Music students are getting a taste of Great Britain and New Haven this week with the week-long residency of English choral conductor Simon Carrington, professor emeritus from the Yale School of Music.

Carrington is visiting IU as part of the Five Friends Master Class Series and the Zachary Novak Visiting Conductor Program, both of which honor the lives of the five Jacobs School students who lost their lives in a plane crash in 2006.

“We are very grateful for this opportunity to have these classes in our son’s honor,” Misty and Dan Novak said in a press release. “Zachary would be so touched; we know he would be.”

Five Friends is an annual series of lectures, master classes and residencies by musicians from all around the world established in October thanks to a $1 million donation from the Georgina Joshi Foundation, Inc. Carrington is one of many acclaimed musicians scheduled for the program’s first year.

With a full schedule of activities, Carrington began with a master class for graduate choral conductors this past Saturday. He will conduct a joint concert with Jacobs’ Pro Arte Singers and the Contemporary Vocal Ensemble Sunday in Auer Hall. He had a second master class with voice majors in the Early Music Institute on Tuesday.

The Early Music Institute is for students specializing in an instrument or musical style of historical performance before the 1800s, director Paul Elliott said. He said the department is all about trying to recreate music in the context of its original time
period.

In Tuesday’s master class, the students were singing pieces by English composer Henry Purcell in preparation for their concert Jan. 27. Purcell is coincidentally Carrington’s favorite composer, Carrington said he began the class telling students how he recalled buying his first LP, Purcell’s “Fantasias for strings,” at age 11.

The students recited their pieces then received feedback from Carrington, who worked with them to improve the selections. He suggested changes in tempo and emphasis on certain vowels, among other constructive critiques.

Kevin de Benedictis, a graduate student in the Jacobs School, said he loved Carrington’s master class.

“As soon as he walked into the room I knew he was a cool guy,” de Benedictis said. “You could tell he was really listening to each individual.”

Carrington spoke highly of his experience at IU thus far.

“It’s marvelous what’s happening here at IU in so many different areas,” Carrington said.

He also praised IU’s wide selection of performance halls and said Yale is much more contained.

Though he said he hopes his feedback helps, Carrington said all he needs to do at IU is drop a few remarks here and there.

“They’re already quite far advanced in their training,” he said. “It’s really more about sharing ideas, making suggestions. It’s that extra cherry on the cake.”