Alumni Spotlight: 2026 Commencement Speaker and Marshals
Meet our 2026 Commencement Alumni Speaker and Marshals!
Alumni hold a meaningful place in NEC’s Commencement celebrations. Each year, graduates from reunion classes are invited to take part by serving as alumni marshals and speakers, representing the broader alumni community.
At this year’s Commencement, Matthew Shifrin '21, '23 MM (center) will address the graduating class as the Alumni Speaker, officially welcoming them into the alumni community. Obadiah Baker '06 (left) and Terry Wolkowicz '86 (right) will serve as Alumni Marshals, leading the ceremonial procession.
Matthew Shifrin '21, '23 MM
Alumni Speaker
Matthew Shifrin is a leading voice in revolutionizing the world of entertainment for blind children and adults. As founder and CEO of Bricks for the Blind, a nonprofit creating text-based instructions that enable blind people to build LEGO sets independently, he's committed to making the world of LEGO accessible to disabled children.
An accomplished musician with degrees from NEC, Matthew earned top honors showcasing his talents as an accordionist, composer, and countertenor. Having written many musicals, his most recent one, My Grandma’s Mind Is Like An Ocean, a one-man musical in English and Yiddish, won the award for Best Musical at NYC’s United Solo Theatre Festival on Theatre Row.
Obadiah Baker '06
Alumni Marshal
Composer, filmmaker, and scholar Dr. Obadiah Baker ’06 is an Emmy Award winning artist whose work bridges music, film, and research. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree from NEC in 2006 and is the 2024 Emmy Award recipient for Musical Composition and Arrangement for the PBS documentary The Shadow Between Us.
In 2023, Dr. Baker was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to Israel, where he studied the cross-cultural power of shadow dance as a conflict resolution and global peace intervention technique at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He also serves as a civil affairs lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserve.
Terry Wolkowicz '86
Alumni Marshal
For more than two decades, Terry Wolkowicz has designed innovative, integrated arts education curricula connecting music and science. She has served for 15 years as Education Director of the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra, creating and performing educational programs in more than 50 schools across Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
In 2021, she co-founded Sound Explorations, developing projects in collaboration with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the Museum of Science, and the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, among others.
On April 6, New England Conservatory announced the 155th Commencement honorary degree recipients: Denyce Graves ’88 UD, ’14 hon. DM, Gary Bartz, and Gary Dunning.