Here are some select clippings from the past week showing the variety of hits/mentions identifying musicians and scholars as Eastman School of Music alumni, faculty or students. Note: Some links may have expired.)
Eastman celebrates and remembers Doug Lowry
(Rochester Democrat & Chronicle © 11/03/2013)
In some ways, Doug Lowry’s memorial concert was as it should be. A Viking funeral, with the Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre stage bristling with musicians, melancholy and a few tears. The Eastman Philharmonia, the 14-piece Eastman Trombone Choir and, spilling out into an entire section of theater seats, the Eastman Chorale.
A Renaissance man, Eastman dean since 2007, Lowry gave the day’s speakers more than enough material for a nearly 2½ hour celebration that was largely devoid of something Lowry dreaded, as one of them put it: “Bloated, puffy remarks.” (Also reported by WHEC-TV[whec.com], WXXI News[wxxinews.org], Campus Times)
King of Instruments, Back on Stage
(The Economist 11/01/2013)
AS A teenager, Nathan Laube dreamt of a church-music career in the “great Anglican tradition”, as he puts it. But today, aged 25, the Chicago-born organ virtuoso is instead pursuing a career as a recitalist and teacher.
Having recently recorded an organ concerto live with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, he notes: “It was amazing to see a full house of symphony-goers jump up after what must have been for many a first exposure to the instrument in a concerto role.” (Note: Laube is Assistant Professor of Organ.)
Itzhak Perlman coming back to Rochester
(Rochester Democrat & Chronicle 11/05/2013)
Eastman School of Music has scored a major coup. Itzhak Perlman is coming to Rochester on Feb. 22 to play with the school’s Philharmonia orchestra. (Also reported by WXXI, The Daily News,
War Horse an amazing ride for Rochester native Megan Loomis
(Rochester Democrat & Chronicle © 11/03/2013)
“It’s such a beautiful story, and I believe in the message that it’s trying to convey – a message about friendship and the real difficulty of war,” says Megan Loomis, a School of the Arts graduate who appears in the national touring production opening Tuesday at the Auditorium Theatre. “It is about bringing what you love home.”
It’s quite an experience interacting with the puppets, says Loomis, who is also a 1999 Eastman School of Music graduate. It’s a different show every night, because no matter how much the scenes are rehearsed, the horses’ reactions vary. (Also reported by 13WHAM-TV[13wham.com])
Early musick for an eager publick [mediatracking.com]
(Rochester City Newspaper © 11/06/2013)
“Early music” used to be thought of as music written before J.S. Bach or Handel, and the province of specialists. Even a now-ubiquitous composer like Antonio Vivaldi was nearly unknown until after World War II. In the last couple of decades, interest in pre-Baroque music has exploded, as has research into performance practices of music from many different areas.
The line-up also includes an authentic early-music star, lutenist Paul O’Dette, who just happens to live in Rochester and is a longtime faculty member of the Eastman School of Music and director of its Collegium Musicum. A winner of a Grammy Award and numerous other recording prizes, O’Dette is also a busy conductor and director of the Boston Early Music Festival.
RPO at The Smith tonight
(Finger Lakes Times 11/08/2013)
Geneva Concerts will present the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra at 7:30 p.m. today at the Smith Opera House, 82 Seneca St. Christoph Campestrini conducts Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony and music by Stravinsky; plus, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23, featuring Van Cliburn medalist and Eastman School of Music Professor Barry Snyder.
Missoula symphony concert will thread together Paganini, Hendrix, Coltrane
(The Missoulian 11/07/2013)
This weekend’s Missoula Symphony Orchestra concert may burn up a lot of people’s ideas of what a classical institution can do. Its centerpiece features the world premiere of a concerto by former University of Montana professor Charles Nichols that threads connections from Nicolo Paganini to Jimi Hendrix to John Coltrane. And it channels through the solo artistry of Brett Deubner, playing the little-heard viola.
Nichols and Deubner met as first-years at the Eastman School of Music and shared a violin teacher for a while. (music Director Darko) Butorac said since then, Deubner has become “the guy you call when you want to premiere a new viola concerto.”