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.)
Ying Quartet show will be contrasts of light and dark (Democrat & Chronicle 11/16/2013) As part of the Eastman-Ranlet Concert Series at Kilbourn Hall, Rochester’s own Ying Quartet today will present the kind of program that is all too underrepresented in classical music today: a thought-provoking combination of well-known favorites by veritable legends and just-born pieces by living composers. . . . Eastman School of Music’s Hanson Institute for American Music commissioned the work. “Just knowing Lera’s music and the subject matter, it’s going to be intense and personal and dark,” says David Ying, who plays the cello. . . . The Ying Quartet’s connection to Rochester first began when its founding members were students; the musicians became local fixtures when the ensemble was named the faculty quartet-in-residence at the Eastman School of Music in 1997. Good Life: Your Positive Achievements (Poughkeepsie Journal 11/11/2013) Keve Wilson, a 1987 graduate of Franklin D. Roosevelt High School, will play oboe in the pit for the Broadway show “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,” which opens at the Walter Kerr Theater on 48th Street on Sunday. Wilson is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, a winner of Concert Artists Guild, and solo oboist with the Grammy-nominated Absolute Ensemble, where she has performed everywhere from Greece to Dubai to New Zealand. She has played in the orchestra pits of five Broadway shows and can be heard on Stephen Sondheim’s 2013 cast recording of “Passion.” West Suburban Illinois State Music Teachers Association December Meeting (Chicago Tribune [blog] 11/14/2013) Dr. Janice Larson Razaq, Director of Keyboard Studies at William Rainey Harper College in Palatine, Illinois will give a lecture titled “Let’s Understand the Relaxation Technique of English Piano Pedagogue Tobias Matthay” during the monthly meeting of the West Suburban Music Teachers Association. She received her Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Piano Performance from Texas Tech University, a Master of Music Degree from the University of Illinois, and a Bachelor of Music Degree with Distinction from the Eastman School of Music. A Fulbright Grant enabled her to study for three years at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Her London debut recital at Wigmore Hall received excellent reviews. Dr. Razaq has concertized extensively in the Midwest, including performances on the “Live from Landmark” series on Minnesota Public Radio, and on the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series from the Chicago Public Library, broadcast live on WFMT radio. Sorcery and Illusion — a Night of Enchanted Opera (Sarasota Patch.com © 11/14/2013) Six nationally acclaimed singers will take concertgoers on an enchanting, seductive, show-stopping tour of G.F. Handels masterful opera, Alcina, Sun., Nov. 24, 7:30 p.m., at the Church of the Redeemer in downtown Sarasota. Powerhouse Metropolitan Opera singers Rebecca Price and Jason Stearns, along with established and up-and-coming singers Adelaide Boedecker, Adam Bielamowicz, Monica Pasquini and Reba Evans will perform select arias of the opera with narration provided by June LeBell. Boedecker is a graduate student at the Eastman School of Music, pursuing a Master of Music in Vocal Performance and Literature. She was a Marcello Giordani Young Artist at the Crested Butte Music Festival in Crested Butte, Colo., over the past summer. (Correction from Eastman: Boedecker received her Master of Music degree in May 2013.) Reminder: Two Sundays, two organ recitals, remain on IPC series (The Huntsville Times 11/16/2013) BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — David Baskeyfield, an Eastman School of Music doctoral student and prize-winning organist whose career is on the rise, performs performs tomorrow — Sunday, Nov. 17 — on the third of four concerts on the November Organ Recital Series at Independent Presbyterian Church. Baskeyfield, whose playing has been described in glowing terms by reviewers, will perform music by Bach, Mozart, Saint-Saëns and Vierne. Organist returns to elmira to offer master class, concert (Elmira Star-Gazette 11/13/2013) Organist Allison Evans Henry will offer a 4 p.m. master class and perform a 7:30 p.m. concert Nov. 22 at First Presbyterian Church, 1054 W. Clinton St. in Elmira. Henry began her professional career serving as organist at First Presbyterian Church while attending Mansfield University for her bachelor’s degree in organ performance. She went on to complete her master’s of music and doctorate of music degrees in organ performance at the Eastman School of Music. While studying with organist David Craighead at the Eastman School, Henry completed the requirements for the Performer’s Certificate in Organ Performance that requires a series of recitals of a specified degree of difficulty, all performed from memory. Symphony tugs the heartstrings with ‘Eros’ (Lima News © 11/08/2013) After the enthusiastic beginning to the Lima Symphony Orchestras 60th season with “Titan,” the orchestra looks to continue to build on that foundation with Saturdays performance, “Eros.” Prokofiev’s concerto will also feature the guest accompanist for the evening, pianist Meng Zhou. “She won our Young Artist competition this past spring,” Brown said. “She’ll be coming back to perform with us from Eastman School of Music, where she is doing graduate studies.”