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.)
(Columbus Monthly December 2014)
The house lights dim, a spotlight flickers and Byron Stripling strides to the center of the Southern Theatre stage.
Stripling took naturally to the instrument. By the time he graduated high school, he had enrolled at the prestigious Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.
Near the end of Stripling’s freshman year, one of his heroes, Clark Terry, was scheduled to perform with the Eastman student jazz band. Stripling’s excitement was unmatched. The first day of rehearsals, the band director, knowing Stripling had long admired Terry, suggested he pick up the famed trumpeter at his hotel across the street.
Fresno Pacific University professor gets a Ukrainian Christmas present
(Fresno Bee 12/19//2014)
Some of us get a few days off for the holidays and zone out in front of the TV with Netflix. Then there’s Fresno Pacific University music professor Walter Saul, who has been in Kiev, Ukraine, this past week listening to his Concerto for Violin and Orchestra being recorded by the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine.
Tell me about your concerto.
I wrote the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in 1980 as my doctoral dissertation at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. The two movements are connected by a cadenza for the violin. The first movement is a slower meditative movement in ternary form and each of the three parts divides into three subsections in reflection of the Holy Trinity. In the second movement, Brahms’ Fourth Symphony
CLASSICAL | Heinrich Schütz’s “Christmas Story”
(Rochester City Newspaper © 12/17/2014)
About 80 years before Handel’s “Messiah,” there was Heinrich Schütz’s “Weihnachtshistorie (Historia der Geburt Jesu Christi),” or to put it simply, “Christmas Story of the Birth of Jesus Christ.” Written about 1660 (when Schütz was in his 70’s) and published in 1664, it is a modest but colorful retelling of the familiar biblical accounts including Mary and Joseph, angels, wise men, shepherds, and King Herod. Schütz has never attained the popularity of Bach or Handel, but he is a huge figure in baroque music, revered by Bach himself (who borrowed the idea of having the narrator as a tenor Evangelist for his Passions). You can hear a rare performance of Schütz’s lovely work this Thursday in the Memorial Art Gallery’s Fountain Court. Eastman students make up the vocal and period-instrumental forces; the latter include the MAG’s beautiful Italian Baroque Organ.
Heinrich Schütz’s “Christmas Story” will be performed Thursday, December 18, at Memorial Art Gallery, 500 University Avenue. 7:30 p.m. Admission is free with Gallery admission, which is half-price on Thursdays. mag.rochester.edu.
(DCist.com 12/17/2014)
Saxophonist and composer Jonathan Parker has been working in the D.C. area after having completed graduate studies at the prestigious Eastman School of Music. He will be leading an octet tonight at the Wonderland Ballroom, performing material from his forthcoming album, Interloper. 8 and 10 p.m. sets. $5 suggested donation.
Musicians to perform Sunday at Bloomfield First Baptist Church
(Greene County Daily World Dec 12, 2014)
After Pierce and Artmeyev’s performance pieces, Aleksandr Scriabin’s Fantasy in B minor will be played by Andreas Ioannides.
“A native of Nicosia, Cyprus, Ioannides was awarded a Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music with Distinction while still in high school, before moving to the United States to begin his college education. A graduate of the Cincinnati College-Conservatory and the Eastman School of Music, Ioannides went on to receive an Artist Certificate at the University of North Texas.
Acclaimed soprano, tenor to perform in Oriental concert
(New Bern Sun Journal 12/10/2014)
ORIENTAL | Soprano Abigail Mitchell and tenor Oliver Henderson will perform a variety of holiday favorites at The Old Theater on Dec. 20.
Henderson is currently an assistant professor of Voice at Central Michigan University. He holds music degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Middle Tennessee State University, and from Indiana University, where he completed his doctoral studies.
Local Classical Music Gifts
(Buffalo Artvoice © 12/18/2014)
This has been great year for classical music lovers who look forward to reliving, via CDs, some of the most memorable live performances by locally based music-producing organizations, and the very talented individuals from these organizations who step up from the ranks to a very well-earned place in the spotlight, as soloists.
Joseph Achron: Violin and Piano Music
A child prodigy on the violin, Joseph Achron always considered himself to be a performer, rather than a composer. Remembered only for his intensely dramatic Hebrew Melody, a favorite of violin great Jascha Heifetz, the other works on this CD for violin and piano as interpreted by former BPO concertmaster Michael Ludwig, and Eastman School of Music pianist Alison d’Amato, one of the most accomplished pianists currently performing in Western New York, amply demonstrate that Achron was not a one hit wonder. As critic Terry Robins noted, “Michael Ludwig’s big, rich tone is perfectly suited to the style and nature of Achron’s music, deeply influenced as it was by Jewish folklore and melodies, and he and d’Amato give performances that are idiomatic and technically stunning.”
ROCmusic students offer free holiday concert Wednesday
(Rochester Democrat & Chronicle 12/15/2014)
The students of ROCmusic will perform a free holiday concert in conjunction with the local classical musical group Sound Exchange on Wednesday from 6-7 p.m. at the David F. Gantt R-Center, 700 North Street.
RocMusic is a unique educational program that engages children and their families in the experience of making and appreciating music. The program is a joint partnership between the City of Rochester, Eastman School of Music, Eastman Community Music School, Hochstein School of Music & Dance, Rochester City School District and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. RocMusic operates three days a week during the school year at the David F. Gantt R-Center.
RPO Brass Ensemble to play for patients, medical team at Wilmot Cancer Center
(Rochester Democrat & Chronicle 12/15/2014)
For the sixth year, the RPO’s brass ensemble will perform a free concert of holiday and classical favorites for the patients and medical team in the Wilmot Cancer Institute Atrium on Friday, December 19 at 1 p.m.
The RPO brass ensemble is a quintet of RPO musicians that includes Doug Prosser (trumpet), Wes Nance (trumpet), Dave Angus (horn), Mark Kellogg (trombone), and Craig Sutherland (tuba). This will also be the second year a Wilmot patient will participate in a special number. Steve Whitman studies tuba with Craig Sutherland at the Eastman Community Music School and is a RPO patron.