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.)
Jazz composer Hollenbeck blurs lines at NEC, Lily Pad
(The Boston Globe 09/18/2014)
But drummer and percussionist John Hollenbeck, 46, is among a handful of jazz composers who like to turn that equation on its head. Hollenbeck, whose Claudia Quintet gives a master class at New England Conservatory on Wednesday (open to the public) and then plays the Lily Pad that night, identifies as a jazz musician. But some of his pieces include no improvised solos at all.
As an undergraduate at the Eastman School of Music, John took a workshop at Canada’s Banff Centre with the jazz composer Muhal Richard Abrams, who suggested that “anything can happen in a piece. . . . There can be speaking in the music, or you can write pitches, but you don’t have to write pitches; you can write textures. I could do anything. Hearing that really helped me.”
Performing Arts Series At Lee To Welcome 4 Guest Artists
(Chattanoogan.com © 09/21/2014)
The Lee University School of Music will present the annual Performing Arts Series concerts on Sunday, Oct. 12, Tuesday, Nov. 18, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015, and Thursday, March 5, 2015. This series brings notable guest performers to Lee’s campus.
The first concert of the season features Michael Burritt, professor of percussion and department head at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. Mr. Burritt will give a master class on Saturday, Oct. 11 from 3-5 p.m. in the Dixon Center and will perform in concert on Sunday, Oct. 12 at 3 p.m. in the Dixon Center. The Lee University Percussion Ensemble, directed by assistant professor of music Andy Harnsberger, will perform with Mr. Burritt.
Classical guitarist from New York City to perform in Orange City
(Sioux City Journal 09/26/2017)
Acclaimed classical guitarist Peter Fletcher will perform Friday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. at the Orange City Public Library, 112 Albany Ave. S.E. Fletcher began guitar study at age 7, and a few years later, spent a week in a master class with José Tomás, assistant teacher to Andrés Segovia. Fletcher, at age 12, was the youngest student to perform. He earned his master’s in music from the Eastman School of Music, under Nicholas Goluses.
Sound Exchange Performs at Fringe Festival
(WROC TV CBS 8 Rochester © 09/25/2014)
One of the hundreds of shows in the Rochester Fringe Festival is the standout string quartet called Sound ExChange. It’s made of up graduates from the Eastman School of Music. Sound Exchange performed Wednesday Night at the Rochester Contemporary Art Center. To find out more about Sound ExChange, click here.
Live, from medical gigs, a science rock band
(Dallas Morning News 09/20/2014)
About a decade ago, it dawned on Eric Olson that he may never live out his dream of playing in a rock band. So he started one.
Olson, who sings and plays guitar and harmonica, comes from a musical family. His mother and grandmother were pianists and on the faculty of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. He played trumpet in high school but didn’t break into rock music until he was just shy of his 50th birthday
Concert pianist coming to Winston County event
(Daily Mountain Eagle 09/20/2014)
The Winston County Arts Council will host a performance by concert pianist Robert Cowan at Lakeshore Inn in Double Springs on Monday. Cowan is a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music and the Music Academy of the West. He earned his doctorate in musical arts at the Eastman School of Music and a professional diploma at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
(Rochester Democrat & Chronicle 09/21/2014)
Accounting for more than 100 of UR Press’ titles is its series on the Eastman Studies in Music, with such titles as Bach’s Changing World and The Broadway Sound: The Autobiography and Selected Essay of Robert Russell Bennett.
“By casting such a wide net, the Eastman Studies series provides crucial and nuanced perspectives on music’s formal and expressive qualities, musical performance across the centuries and around the world,” wrote Ralph P. Locke, a professor of musicology at the Eastman School and editor of the UR Press’ series on the Eastman Studies of Music.
Another UR series, the Eastman/Rochester Studies in Ethnomusicology, features such titles as The Music of American Folk Song.
Faith briefs: Trinity Episcopal kicks off concert series Sunday
(Statesville Record & Landmark 09/25/2014)
Trinity Episcopal Church will open its 2014-2015 concert series Sunday with Alan Black (cellist) and Andrea Mumm (harpist) of the Charlotte Symphony. Mumm, a native of New Jersey, holds the prestigious Dr. Billy Graham principal Harp Chair position with the Charlotte Symphony. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Mumm has performed across the United States, most notably with the Colorado Music Festival.
Crane School to offer faculty recital on Wednesday
(North Country Now 09/22/2014)
David Heinick joined the faculty at The Crane School of Music in 1989. Previously, he taught at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore. He holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the Catholic University of America. He is the composer of more than 50 works for a variety of instrumental and vocal media, ranging from unaccompanied flute to chorus and symphony orchestra.
ESPN’s ‘E:60’ spotlights Eastman professor James VanDemark’s ‘music box’
(Campus Times 09/25/2014)
Eastman School of Music professor and double bass soloist James VanDemark and four of his students were featured on “E:60,” an investigative news show on ESPN. The segment aired this past Tuesday, Sept. 23.
The footage was shot two years ago. A piece on the Eastman ROC Boxing program from the Wall Street Journal intrigued award-winning ESPN producer Beein Gim. The segment was structured to mimic four “movements” showing the four students boxing and performing.
Guitarist Condon wins Jazz Performance Honors in national competition
(Penfield Post © 09/24/2014)
Gabriel Condon, a master’s degree student at the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music, was awarded first place in the jazz category of the 2014 Wilson Center Guitar Competition & Festival. Sponsored by the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts in Brookfield, Wis., the annual competition is conducted in four areas: rock/blues, fingerstyle, classical, and jazz.The competition award, which carries a $3,000 prize, is the latest honor for Condon, who has received two DownBeat magazine awards and has been selected to participate in several prestigious national music programs.