Sonny Rollins To Receive Honorary Doctorate

  I  

On May, the New England Conservatory (NEC) in Boston will celebrates its 131st Commencement at 3:00 p.m.

Young Concert Artists Founder and Director Susan Wadsworth will present this year’s Commencement Address, and will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree. Other 2002 honorary doctorate recipients include: Venezuelan youth orchestra system mastermind José Antonio Abreu, jazz saxophone legend Sonny Rollins, and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer George Perle.

Approximately 250 musicians will receive the Bachelor of Music, Master of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees as well as undergraduate, graduate, and artist diplomas. NEC will also award its first Professional Certificate in The Art of String Quartet Playing to the Kuss Quartet of Germany. This new program, designed to provide concentrated professional training to very select pre established string quartets, is led by NEC faculty Paul Katz, the founding cellist of the Grammy Award-winning Cleveland Quartet. The Kuss Quartet, the first to enroll in this elite program, has been at NEC for the past year under Katz’s tutelage.



  • Jack_DeJohnette_by_Steve_Sussman.jpg

    ​Jack DeJohnette boasted a musical resume that was as long as it was fearsome.

  • 750x750_copy.jpg

    ​D’Angelo achieved commercial and critical success experimenting with a fusion of jazz, funk, soul, R&B and hip-hop.

  • Grammy_Nominations_2026_copy.jpg

    To see the complete list of nominations for the 2026 Grammy Awards, go to grammy.com.

    The Grammy Nominations Are In

    The nominations for the 2026 Grammy Awards are in, with plenty to smile about for the worlds of jazz, blues and beyond.…

  • Ray_Drummond_-_RI_Sutherland-Cohen_-_JAN_2019_2_copy.jpeg

    Drummond was cherished by generations of mainstream jazz listeners and bandleaders for his authoritative tonal presence, a defining quality of his style most apparent when he played his instrument unamplified.

    Bassist Ray Drummond Dies at 78

    Ray Drummond, a first-call bassist who appeared on hundreds of albums as a sideman for some of the top names in jazz…

  • Jim_McNeely_Courtesy_jim-mcneely.com_copy.jpg

    ​Jim McNeely’s singular body of work had a profound and lasting influence on many of today’s top jazz composers in the U.S. and in Europe.


On Sale Now
December 2025
Christian McBride & Jeffrey Osborne
Look Inside
Subscribe
Print | Digital | iPad