I just received this press release from the NEC:
New England Conservatory Mourns Death of President Daniel Steiner
First Non-Musician to Lead Conservatory, Steiner Set School on
Path to Greatness
Boston, MA--Daniel Steiner, President of New England Conservatory,
died Sunday at Beth Israel Hospital, succumbing to complications
of chronic lung disease. He was 72. The first non-musician to
head NEC, he was a passionate music lover who applied his legal
expertise and extensive experience in higher education to make
the Conservatory one of the premier music schools in the world.
He leaves his wife of 46 years, Prudence Linder Steiner, as well
as their children, Elizabeth and Michael Hayward of Oregon and
Joshua L. Steiner and Antoinette Delruelle of New York City, and
five grandchildren. Funeral services will take place tomorrow
(Tuesday, June 13) at 11:30 a.m. at Levine Chapel, 470 Harvard
St. Brookline, MA.
Because of his deteriorating health, Steiner had announced last
September his intention to retire from NEC at the end of the
current school year or as soon as a new president could take
over - whichever came first. NEC is currently conducting the
search for his successor. Steiner was recognized with an honorary
doctorate presented at the annual Commencement Exercises, May 21.
A Conservatory at the top of its Class
Having served seven years, President Steiner was well on his way
to achieving the goal he had set for himself making NEC a school
at the top of its field like Harvard or MIT. During his tenure,
NEC added renowned artist teachers to its highly respected
faculty, including Donald Weilerstein, Paul Katz, Kim Kashkashian,
Martha Strongin Katz, Bruce Brubaker, Vivian Hornik Weilerstein,
John Grimes, Joseph Silverstein, James MacDonald, Dave Holland,
Steve Lacy, and Paula Robison. Attracted by the newly enhanced
faculty, students began applying to NEC in record numbers with
applications up 70% over the years of Steiner's tenure. Steiner
recognized the importance of scholarship support for gifted
students and inaugurated a $100 million capital campaign, which
was announced in 2003 and had raised $72 million at the time of
his death.
Prize-winning Chamber Music Ensembles
Under Steiner's leadership, NEC became the preeminent school for
string training and chamber music coaching. Gifted young string
players came to study with important studio teachers and also
to work with some of the world's finest chamber musicians. In
particular, Steiner established a Professional String Quartet
Training Program under the direction of Paul Katz, founding
cellist of the Cleveland Quartet, and a Professional Piano Trio
Training Program under the Vivian Hornik Weilerstein. These
programs, plus the faculty presence of many other superb chamber
musicians like Lucy Chapman (Stoltzman), created a particularly
fertile climate for chamber music. As a result, numerous stellar
ensembles nurtured at NEC went on to win major national and
international competitions. Among these groups are the Jupiter,
Parker, Ariel, Biava and Kuss String Quartets.
Broad Experience in Higher Education at Harvard
Steiner became president of New England Conservatory in June
2000, after serving for a year as acting president. For the
previous three decades, his career had focused on higher education.
He was general counsel and then vice president and general counsel
at Harvard University from 1970 to 1992 and was an adjunct
lecturer in public policy at the Kennedy School of Government
from 1993 to 1996. As general counsel, he was responsible for
all of Harvard's legal affairs and assumed management responsibilities
at various times for the security, human resources, real estate,
and international departments. He was the author of several
articles on individual and institutional ethics, and in 1997-98,
he co-chaired the American Medical Association Task Force on
Association/Corporate Relations.
An active supporter of Boston and Cambridge civic and cultural
life, Steiner chaired the Mind/Body Medical Institute and was a
director (and former chair) of Boston Baroque, WGBH, Cambridge
Community Foundation, and Cambridge Trust Company. He was a
member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Massachusetts
Historical Society.
Steiner's affiliation with NEC began in 1994 when he received
an invitation to become an overseer from fellow attorney and
overseer Susan Shapiro, one of his colleagues at Ropes & Gray
where he worked from 1992-99. He joined the Board of Trustees
in 1995, and served on and chaired many board committees. Among
these were the Admissions and Financial Aid Visiting Committee,
the Presidential Search Committee, and the Faculty Development
Committee.
A native of New York City, Steiner received his education from
Harvard University, graduating magna cum laude in 1954 from
Harvard College and, after a year's study at the University of
London in 1954-55, earning an LL.B. from Harvard Law School in
1958. He practiced law in New York City, serving with the law
firms of Emmet, Marvin & Martin and Patterson, Belknap & Webb
from 1959 to 1965. In 1965 during the Lyndon Johnson Administration,
his career moved into a public service phase when he became
Assistant General Counsel for Legislation and then Chief of
Legislative Programs for the Agency for International Development
within the Department of State. From there, he went on to become
General Counsel for the United States Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (1967-69). His long time affiliation with Harvard
University began in 1969 when he became Secretary of the University
Committee on Governance.
Tributes from NEC Community
"Daniel Steiner meant so much to NEC during his tenure of seven
years," said Board Chair Jack Vernon. "He introduced changes
which will set the direction for the Conservatory for years to
come with his recruitment of distinguished faculty. What's more,
he created an environment that is nurturing and caring and which
plays an important part in attracting the highest caliber musicians
from around the world."
"Not only did Daniel Steiner understand what the Conservatory
needed to enhance its place in the artistic firmament, he also
knew what NEC had to do to make it financially possible," said
David Scudder, Life Trustee and head of The Gift of Music capital
campaign. "Thanks to his leadership, we have already raised
nearly three-quarters of our $100 million goal."
"Daniel earned the trust of everyone in the NEC community," said
Harold Pratt, Vice Chair of the Board. "With his passion for the
school, his concern for people, his insistence on excellence,
his modesty, gentleness, integrity, and sense of humor, he created
an environment of mutual respect and collegiality. He liked to
say 'NEC is a happy place' and he was right."
ABOUT NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY
Recognized nationally and internationally as a leader among music
schools, New England Conservatory offers rigorous training in
an intimate, nurturing community to 750 undergraduate, graduate,
and doctoral music students from around the world. Its faculty
of 225 boasts internationally esteemed artist-teachers and
scholars. Its alumni go on to fill orchestra chairs, concert
hall stages, jazz clubs, recording studios, and arts management
positions worldwide. Nearly half of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
is composed of NEC trained musicians and faculty.
The oldest independent school of music in the United States, NEC
was founded in 1867 by Eben Tourjee. Its curriculum is remarkable
for its wide range of styles and traditions. On the college
level, it features training in classical, jazz, contemporary
improvisation, world and early music. Through its Preparatory
School, School of Continuing Education, and Community Collaboration
Programs, it provides training and performance opportunities for
children, pre-college students, adults, and seniors. Through its
outreach projects, it allows young musicians to engage with
non-traditional audiences in schools, hospitals, and nursing
homes-thereby bringing pleasure to new listeners and enlarging
the universe for classical music and jazz.
NEC presents more than 600 free concerts each year In Jordan
Hall, its world- renowned, 100-year old, beautifully restored
concert hall. These programs range from solo recitals to chamber
music to orchestral programs to jazz and opera scenes. Every
year, NEC's opera studies department also presents two fully
staged opera productions at the Cutler Majestic Theatre in Boston.
NEC is co-founder and educational partner of "From the Top," a
weekly radio program that celebrates outstanding young classical
musicians from the entire country. With its broadcast home in
Jordan Hall, the show is now carried by more than two hundred
stations throughout the United States.
Dave
http://www.classical.net/
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