From the Nominator

New England Conservatory of Music embarked on an ambitious 18-month website redesign to create a dynamic, user-centered digital experience that reflects its commitment to musical excellence and innovation. Serving a diverse audience—including prospective and current students, faculty, alumni, donors, and music lovers—the new NECmusic.edu acts as a digital stage, offering a seamless and accessible platform to engage with NEC’s vibrant artistic community. Our goal was to elevate NEC’s digital presence to match the world-class caliber of its musicians by focusing on streamlined navigation for an intuitive user experience, a refreshed brand identity balancing tradition and innovation, a more robust events calendar to showcase NEC’s more than 800 annual performances, compelling calls-to-action to drive engagement and enrollment, and responsive, accessible design for a consistent cross-device experience. Guided by extensive stakeholder collaboration, the project incorporated feedback from faculty, staff, alumni, and students, alongside competitive analysis of peer institutions. Key improvements include a visually engaging homepage featuring multimedia storytelling, a modernized faculty directory enhancing mentorship discovery, a fully integrated events platform simplifying performance listings and ticketing, and a new content strategy differentiating NEC’s Conservatory and Expanded Education programs. Since launch, NECmusic.edu has seen enhanced usability (improving navigation and load times), increased event visibility (driving higher attendance), and stronger brand identity (reinforcing NEC’s leadership in music education). More than a redesign, NECmusic.edu is a digital evolution, amplifying NEC’s mission and making its programs, performances, and people more accessible than ever.

From the Judges

NEC has nailed its goals with this website and wrote a beautifully clear submission explaining the story of its creation. We loved to see NEC playing to its strengths and applauded its prominent use of music and video on the site, along with the easy and convenient access to the calendar and the delivery of content. Tight, professional brand management was at the heart of this entry. We found the new brand flawlessly executed across the site, remarking that its seamless approach never left you in doubt that you were on NEC’s site. We were left wanting more!