Grammy Award winning jazz saxophonist and educator Gary Bartz received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from New England Conservatory at its 155th Commencement on May 17, 2026. Innovative Vivo Performing Arts (formerly Celebrity Series of Boston) President and Executive Director Gary Dunning also received an honorary doctorate. NEC alumna Denyce Graves ’88 UD, ’14 hon. DM, served as the distinguished Commencement speaker.
“We are thrilled to welcome back NEC alumna Denyce Graves, and to honor the extraordinary careers of Gary Bartz and Gary Dunning,” said NEC President Andrea Kalyn. “Each of these individuals reflects the excellence to which our students aspire and the impact they seek to have, both in our field and on society more broadly. As we celebrate NEC’s Class of 2026, these honorees offer truly inspiring examples for our graduates’ futures.”
Bartz has been one of the most influential purveyors of what he calls “informal composition” (as opposed to improvisation) on alto saxophone since the 1960s. Bartz’s long and distinguished career includes attending The Juilliard School, working with the Charles Mingus Jazz Workshop and the Max Roach/Abbey Lincoln group, joining Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and Miles Davis’s band, and forming his own group, NTU Troop, which blended soul, funk, African folk music, hard bop, and avant-garde jazz. He has released more than 45 solo albums as well as appearing on more than 200 as a guest artist. Over his long career he has continued to innovate, working with some of the most impressive up-and-coming artists in jazz today — including Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge for their Jazz Is Dead series, and the jazz-funk band Maisha.
In 1997, Bartz received a Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Performance for his work on Roy Hargrove’s Habana album, and, in 2005, received a Grammy Award for his work as a sideman on McCoy Tyner's recording Illuminations. In 2015, Bartz received the BNY Mellon Jazz Living Legacy Award, which honors jazz musicians from the mid-Atlantic region who have achieved distinction in performance and education. Since 2001, Bartz has been a professor of saxophone and jazz performance at Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Bartz focuses his teaching on finding new ways for his students to “open their ears" and presses his Oberlin students to truly hear the music they think they know so well.
As an independent, not-for-profit institution that educates and trains musicians of all ages from around the world, NEC is recognized internationally as a leader among music schools. It cultivates a diverse, dynamic community, providing music students of more than 40 countries with performance opportunities and high-caliber training from 225 internationally esteemed artist-teachers and scholars. NEC pushes the boundaries of music-making and teaching through college-level training in classical, jazz, and contemporary musical arts. The newly launched Institute for Concert Artists propels such young artists to the heights of their potential. Through unique interdisciplinary programs such as Entrepreneurial Musicianship and Community Performances & Partnerships, the Conservatory empowers students to create their own musical opportunities. As part of NEC’s mission to make lifelong music education available to everyone, NEC’s Expanded Education programs deliver training and performance opportunities for children, pre-college students, and adults.
“We are thrilled to welcome back NEC alumna Denyce Graves, and to honor the extraordinary careers of Gary Bartz and Gary Dunning,” said NEC President Andrea Kalyn. “Each of these individuals reflects the excellence to which our students aspire and the impact they seek to have, both in our field and on society more broadly. As we celebrate NEC’s Class of 2026, these honorees offer truly inspiring examples for our graduates’ futures.”
Bartz has been one of the most influential purveyors of what he calls “informal composition” (as opposed to improvisation) on alto saxophone since the 1960s. Bartz’s long and distinguished career includes attending The Juilliard School, working with the Charles Mingus Jazz Workshop and the Max Roach/Abbey Lincoln group, joining Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and Miles Davis’s band, and forming his own group, NTU Troop, which blended soul, funk, African folk music, hard bop, and avant-garde jazz. He has released more than 45 solo albums as well as appearing on more than 200 as a guest artist. Over his long career he has continued to innovate, working with some of the most impressive up-and-coming artists in jazz today — including Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge for their Jazz Is Dead series, and the jazz-funk band Maisha.
In 1997, Bartz received a Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Performance for his work on Roy Hargrove’s Habana album, and, in 2005, received a Grammy Award for his work as a sideman on McCoy Tyner's recording Illuminations. In 2015, Bartz received the BNY Mellon Jazz Living Legacy Award, which honors jazz musicians from the mid-Atlantic region who have achieved distinction in performance and education. Since 2001, Bartz has been a professor of saxophone and jazz performance at Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Bartz focuses his teaching on finding new ways for his students to “open their ears" and presses his Oberlin students to truly hear the music they think they know so well.
About New England Conservatory (NEC)
Founded by Eben Tourjée in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1867, New England Conservatory (NEC) represents a new model of music school that combines the best of European tradition with American innovation. The school stands at the center of Boston’s rich cultural history and musical life, presenting concerts at the renowned Jordan Hall. Propelled by profound artistry, bold creativity, and deep compassion, NEC seeks to amplify musicians’ impact on advancing our shared humanity and empowers students to meet today’s changing world head-on, equipped with the tools and confidence to forge multidimensional lives of artistic depth and relevance. The Conservatory’s roster of alumni includes hundreds of music's most influential artists. That list includes Coretta Scott King, Florence Price, Tessa Lark, George Li, Inmo Yang, Yura Lee, Stefan Jackiw, Anthony Leon, Erica Petrocelli, Minsoo Sohn, Cecil Taylor, and Denyce Graves.As an independent, not-for-profit institution that educates and trains musicians of all ages from around the world, NEC is recognized internationally as a leader among music schools. It cultivates a diverse, dynamic community, providing music students of more than 40 countries with performance opportunities and high-caliber training from 225 internationally esteemed artist-teachers and scholars. NEC pushes the boundaries of music-making and teaching through college-level training in classical, jazz, and contemporary musical arts. The newly launched Institute for Concert Artists propels such young artists to the heights of their potential. Through unique interdisciplinary programs such as Entrepreneurial Musicianship and Community Performances & Partnerships, the Conservatory empowers students to create their own musical opportunities. As part of NEC’s mission to make lifelong music education available to everyone, NEC’s Expanded Education programs deliver training and performance opportunities for children, pre-college students, and adults.
