Eastman Showcase

Around the world, members of the Eastman Community are busy expanding the boundaries of the musical arts. From rock bands to tango ensembles, from a new-age pop harpist in Korea to a classical pianist in Tunisia, from music in the kitchen to music at the Kennedy Center — Eastman students, alumni, and faculty are busy exploring music and earning recognition. Eastman Showcase highlights their noteworthy achievements.

Lauded as Liberace Scholars
Pianists Zhang Zuo, a senior, and Chit Lai Tsang and Daria Rabotkina, both third-year DMA students, have been named Liberace Foundation Scholars at the Eastman School for 2009-2010. The mission of the Foundation is to help talented students pursue careers in the performing and creative arts through scholarship assistance and artistic exposure. Rabotkina studies with Natalya Antonova and Tsang is a student of Barry Snyder. Zuo, who was selected to compete in the 2009 Van Cliburn Competition, studies with Nelita True.

Accolades from Aaron Copland Fellowship & More
Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, associate professor of composition, is the recipient of a Bogliasco Foundation Fellowship and an Aaron Copland Fellowship. He will be working on a new piece for the Eighth Blackbird Ensemble at the Liguria Center for the Arts and Humanities in Bogliasco, Italy. The work, which is being written on a commission from the Fromm Foundation at Harvard, will be premiered at New York’s Look and Listen Festival in May 2010.

Eastman Sax Players Earn Praise
from Branford Marsalis
October 2009
The Red Line Saxophone Quartet earned kudos from Branford Marsalis in a newspaper story about the jazz saxophonist’s benefit concert for Lifetime Assistance. According to the Democrat & Chronicle article on Oct. 9, the Grammy winner “ ...has a newfound respect for the students of the Eastman School of Music after performing earlier this year with the Red Line Saxophone Quartet, a group of recent Eastman graduates who won this year’s Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. ‘Man, those guys can play,’ he says. ‘It was a nice humbling moment.’”

Baron to Compete at the Smithsonian
October 2009
Senior jazz bass performance major David Baron has been selected as one of only 15 semifinalists for the Thelonius Monk International Jazz Competition being held at the Smithsonian Institution on Oct. 10 and 11. The competition focuses on a different instrument every year and is recognized as the most significant event for identifying and launching the careers of young aspiring jazz artists. The winner receives $20,000 and a record deal; second and third place receive $10,000 and $5,000 respectively; and all semifinalists receive $1,000. Among this year’s judges is Eastman alumnus Ron Carter.

Eastman Percussion Students a Hit in Japanese Exchange
September 2009
Kazunori Meguro, professor of percussion at the Showa Academy of Music and Arts in Kawasaki, Japan, visited Eastman from September 12-23, presenting a master class where five Eastman students performed, including Tomek Arnold, (pictured here), a first-year student from Poland. Meguro and Professor Michael Burritt planned a percussion student exchange between the Eastman School and the Showa Academy. Another ESM visitor from Japan in September was Suguru Agata, the Secretary General of the Japan Electronic Keyboard Society, who observed keyboard classes at Eastman and presented a clinic on electronic keyboard ensembles in Japan.

Making Music Work, Summer 2009
Chris Van Hof, who recently received a Master’s Degree in Trombone performance and a Certificate in Arts Leadership from Eastman, is featured in the IML Spotlight. During his time at Eastman, Chris held a Graduate Assistantship in the Institute for Music Leadership and served as an Intern with WXXI Radio. His hard work has paid off, as Chris now serves on the faculty of Nazareth College, hosts a show on WXXI, and performs as a freelance trombonist.

Teaching Assistants Win Prizes
Eastman’s 2008-2009 Teaching
Assistant Prize winners are Jonathan Girard (conducting); Katie Hannigan (voice lessons); Michael Pendowski (River Campus jazz theory and improvisation class); Carmen Lemoine (flute lessons); and Johnandrew Slominski (aural skills).

Vocalist Wins With Art Songs, August 2009
Recent Eastman graduate Ke Chen (Coco) recently won 3rd place in the International Chinese Vocal Competition. She was singled out for her singing of Chinese art songs. Click here to see Coco perform. According to Kathryn Cowdrick, Associate Professor of Voice, Coco is featured a great deal in this video... in her typical matter of fact way.

Brook Farm Broadway, August 2009
Senior voice major Sarah Franz, and Brian Giebler, a senior voice major who also studies trumpet, are singing in Broadway Comes to Brook Farm! at the Skaneateles Festival in Skaneateles, NY on Aug. 29. The concert includes selections from Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, and Into the Woods; Adam Guettel’s Floyd Collins and Light in the Piazza; Leonard Bernstein’s Wonderful Town; Cole Porter’s High Society; and Paul Sportelli and Jay Turvey’s Little Mercy’s First Murder, Tristan, Step Right Up!, and Maria Sever.

Composers Chosen for Cabrillo Workshop, July 2009
Composition doctoral students Steven Rice and Baljinder Sekhon were both selected to participate in the 2009 Cabrillo Composers Workshop from July 31 through Aug. 5 in Santa Cruz, Calif. Rice’s orchestral work The Henry Ford Old Time Orchestra Plays Real Time American Tunes, and a new work by Sekhon will be rehearsed at the workshop and premiered by members of the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra on Aug. 5.

Talented Trombonists, June 2009
Two freshman trombonists, Kevin Dombrowski and Corey Sansolo, were selected as finalists in the Gilberto Gagliardi Trombone Competition, an international competition held by the International Trombone Association. The students traveled to Aarhus, Denmark, for the final competition in late June. Honorable mentions were earned by another freshman trombonist, Steven Houck, as well as The Eastman Trombone Choir, which was recognized in the Emory Remington Trombone Choir Competition.

International Accolades, June 2009
Michael Unger, a DMA student in organ performance, won second prize and the audience prize at the Orgelfestival Holland International Schnitger Organ Competition in Alkmaar, Netherlands. The event featured 56 competitors from 17 countries. As a result of his wins in the Schnitger Competition, Unger will participate in the prestigious, invitation-only Gottfried Silbermann Organ Competition in Germany in 2011. In 2008, Michael won first prize and the audience prize at the American Guild of Organists’ National Young Artists Competition in Organ Performance and first prize at the Sixth International Organ Competition Musashino-Tokyo.

Drumroll, Please…, June 2009
Master of Music degree student Chris Jones was awarded third prize in Division I at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Modern Snare Drum Competition. Judges included members of the Atlanta Symphony and Cleveland Orchestra Percussion Sections as well as other leaders in the percussion field. The competition featured 50 applicants in two divisions. Participants placing in the top three of their division received cash prizes.

Eastman Student Honored with BMI Award, May 2009
Composition graduate student Andrew McManus was awarded the 57th Annual Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) Student Composer Award for his orchestral work, Identity. The awards were given to nine young classical composers to recognize superior creative talent in composition. Winners received scholarship grants to be applied toward their musical education.

Outstanding Teaching Assistants Recognized, May 2009
Two music theory graduate students, Michael Callahan and John Koslovsky, received the Edward Peck Curtis Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Graduate Student from the University of Rochester for the 2008-2009 school year. The award recognizes students for outstanding performance as a teaching assistant, their dedication and commitment to students, and their exceptional service to their department.

Chamber Music Achievement, May 2009
Junior composition student Joungbum Lee won the Chamber Music Rochester 2009 Young Composer Competition. He was recognized at the college level for his Noc sec for oboe and string quartet. In addition to performing in Chamber Music Rochester’s concerts, the winner receives a $1,000 award.

ASCAP Awards Earned by Eastman Students, April 2009
Doctoral students Elizabeth Kelly and Steven Rice were honored with the 2009 American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) Morton Gould Young Composer Award. The award provides recognition and cash prizes to gifted young composers of concert music. Yie-Eun Chun, doctoral student, was a finalist.

Florida Fellowship Awarded to Clarinet Major, April 2009
Senior clarinet major Jason Shafer was awarded a fellowship with the New World Symphony in Florida. The fellowship is an intensive three-year program of performance and training activity that prepares fellows for leadership positions in orchestras and ensembles around the world. More than 1,000 musicians compete for 35 fellowships each year.

Jazz at John F. Kennedy Center, March 2009
Junior jazz guitar student Graham Keir was awarded a residency at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts through the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead program. The residency, which was held March 23 to April 5, included intense training in performance, composing, and arraigning through daily workshops and rehearsals with established jazz artists. The program culminated in three concerts on the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, which were broadcast live over the Internet, as well as performances in Delaware and Pennsylvania.

Piano Prize, March 2009
Freshman piano major Yi-Yhang Chen won second prize in the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) National Senior Piano Competition held in Atlanta. The competition provides educational experiences for students and teachers and recognizes exceptionally talented young artists and their teachers in their pursuit of musical excellence. Chen is a student of Douglas Humpherys.

An “A” for “Z”, January 2009
In November 2008, Shizuo Kuwahara (BM ‘98) won First Prize in the 2008 Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition in Frankfurt am Main. Named after the famous conductor (1912-1997) who was music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1969 to 1997, the Solti Competition last year had 540 applicants from more than 70 countries. more...

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Eastman Showcase – 2008
Eastman Showcase – 2007
Eastman Showcase – 2006
Eastman Showcase – 2005
Eastman Showcase – 2004
Eastman Showcase – 2003