Eastman News Highlights September 8, 2014

Here are some select recent clippings 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.)

Niche: A Weekly Peek at an Area Artist: Kara LaMoure

(Columbia Daily Tribune 08/30/2014)

Kara LaMoure, a new professor at the University of Missouri, is one of those rare bassoonists, full stop.

Harvard University, where she began her studies, didn’t have a bassoon professor “or a performance program really built in. … There are some really amazing musicians who come out of there, … but I just really felt the need for a change of environment.” She enrolled at Eastman School of Music, affiliated with the University of Rochester in New York.

She retained friendships from her freshman year at Harvard and made significant and lasting new ones at Eastman. She bonded with three other young women in her bassoon class, and they decided to start their own quartet; they called themselves The Breaking Winds.

Lee University welcomes new faculty

(The Chatanoogan.com 08/29/2014)

Dr. Cahill Smith, assistant professor of music, holds the DMA in Piano Performance from the Eastman School of Music, where he also served as a teaching assistant. He was inducted into the Pi Kappa Lambda honor society for his academic achievements and contributions to the musical community at Eastman. Smith held three graduate teaching assistantships at Eastman, and was awarded the 2011-2012 Prize for Excellence in Teaching.

Needed: a revolution in musical training

(The Chronicle of Higher Education blog 08/29/2014)

Musicians need to learn a broader repertoire of music for ensembles of all sizes. While classical music came to America primarily from Europe after our Civil War, the music of African-Americans was not taught in American colleges until 1947, at what is now the University of North Texas, and then not under the rubric of jazz but as part of an experimental “lab band” program. One could get thrown out of the Eastman School in 1945 for playing jazz.

Robert Freeman is a professor and former dean of fine arts at the University of Texas at Austin. Previously, he directed the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music. In August, Rowman and Littlefield is publishing his book The Crisis of Classical Music in America.

Chamber group wants to make music more accessible

(Democrat & Chronicle 09/07/2014)

Phillip Ying, curator of the Greentopia music lineup and a member of the Ying Quartet, and society artistic directors Juliana Athayde and Erik Behr thought it was a good chance to introduce chamber music to a wider audience.

Also, because most of the musicians who play with the chamber society are either Eastman School of Music teachers or Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra members (Athayde is concertmaster, Behr principal oboe), people would see familiar faces as well.

Greentopia celebrates sustainability on Saturday

(Democrat & Chronicle 09/07/2014)

Eastman Saxophone Project, 4 p.m. Led by professor Chien-Kwan Lin, this ensemble is known for its innovation. The program will include pieces arranged just for the ensemble.
Eastman Jazz Quartet, 5 p.m. Jeff Campbell, Harold Danko, Clay Jenkins and Rich Thompson are all world-class musicians and professors at Eastman School of Music.
Eastman Percussion Ensemble, 8 p.m. Led by professor Michael Burritt, the group will perform Xenakis’ “Peaux” on the bridge. Rochester performance artist Matt Groaning will paint live during the performance.

• Sound ExChange, 8:30 p.m. This local group, born out of Eastman, will perform music to projections shown on the gorge, including those collected by Greentopia during the day and then from the group Rochester Love Notes.

Renée Fleming bringing her star power to Buffalo

(Democrat & Chronicle 09/07/2014)

The Eastman School of Music graduate who grew up in Churchville last performed with the Buffalo Philharmonic in 2006 and last performed in Rochester for an Eastman benefit concert in 2011.

The Society for Chamber Music in Rochester’s 38th season will begin Sept 14. Artistic Directors Juliana Athayde and Erik Behr will lead musicians from the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and Eastman School of Music, with guest performer Jon Nakamatsu joining the group.Concerts include:Brandenburg and Beyond Sept. 14 at 3:00 p.m.

Area festivals bring dance and creative movement to urban halls and landscapes
(Rochester Democrat & Chronicle © 09/02/2014)

Two area festivals, Greentopia and Rochester Fringe, open the fall arts season with lots of dance and creative movement in the High Falls and Center City districts. Because there are so many dance performances and other events that include creative movement in the Rochester Fringe Festival, below is a comprehensive, if brief, overview of the festival which runs September 18 to 21. English Country Dancers (Eastman School of Music: Sproull Atrium/Free)

Ive tried to select pieces that convey the real meaning the depth of the period, Shallit said of the concert, titled The Romantic Spirit.

Romanticism, while often dealing with intense feelings, was not fluffy, he said. Shallit and Spindler intend to speak about each selection and play in a style that faithfully supports their goal to demonstrate the ethic and sentiment of the period.

Spindler, an accomplished concert pianist who teaches in the Eastman Community Music School of the University of Rochester, has performed in the past with Shallit at SUNY Oswego, most recently last September for a Focus on Faculty concert titled Suite of Songs and Dances from Ancient Times.