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.)
Now hear this: UR builds a better loudspeaker
(Democrat & Chronicle 12/23/2016)
Eastman School of Music, which is part of UR, has both attracted top-notch students and encouraged collaborations between Bocko’s department and Eastman.
Bocko, 60, who has been on the UR faculty for 31 years and also has an expertise in photonics, has acted as a bridge in combining engineering and computer skills with music. For a time, he was an affiliated faculty member at Eastman, working with David Headlam, who is professor of music theory.
“He is a polymath — knowledgeable in many areas. He is very open to the artistic uses of craft,” said Oliver Schneller, professor of composition at Eastman and director of the Eastman Audio Research Studio. Schneller hopes to collaborate with Bocko’s department in implementing Schneller’s idea of a spherical sound projection space on which 56 loudspeakers are attached to immerse the listener in sound from all directions.
Eastman’s Beal Institute for Film Music and Contemporary Media is also working with Bocko’s department in developing courses in audio technology for students at the institute.
Lee’s Smith Signed As Yamaha Artist
(The Chattanoogan 12/22/2016)
Dr. Cahill Smith, assistant professor of piano at Lee University, has been signed to the Yamaha Artist Roster as a classical pianist. As a Yamaha artist, Dr. Smith is in the company of artists such as Byron Janis, Michael Tilson Thomas, Ilya Yakushev, Frederic Chiu, Alexander Kobrin, Abbey Simon, Chick Corea, and Hiromi.
While pursuing his doctorate at Eastman School of Music, Dr. Smith received the Douglas Lowry Award for Excellence in Performance, won the Eastman Concerto Competition, and was awarded the Prize for Excellence in Teaching.
Musicians still firmly grounded
(The Register-Guard 12/18/2016)
It’s a prime day for the pursuit of a perfect Christmas tree — a hunt that Bob and Joan Hladky have hosted for more than 50 years on the Pleasant Hill tree farm they began as a hobby in 1962.
This year, I was pursuing not a tree but a connection made in 1981 when I first met Bob. An acclaimed musician, he was a part of a panel of talented residents I’d been invited to moderate. That’s where I learned he had a talent for more than music.
The two met in the Oklahoma City Symphony. She, a young flute and piccolo player in the orchestra, worked part time in the symphony office. He, a cello player and college graduate, was recently returned from four years of military service. They married in 1951 and lived on next-to-nothing while Bob pursued advanced degrees in music at the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, N.Y. Joan’s income as a secretary at Eastman Kodak didn’t allow for more than wistful dreams of the high-quality cello Bob longed to own one day.
Much more than a teen idol – George Michael the musician
(CNN 12/26/2016)
John Covach is director of the University of Rochester’s Institute for Popular Music and professor of music at both Rochester and the Eastman School of Music. He is the author of “What’s That Sound? An Introduction to Rock and Its History” and maintains an active career as a performing and recording musician.
Warfield Scholarship Concert to Celebrate 40 Years
(Penfield Post 12/19/2016)
“William Warfield: A Legacy in Music” will celebrate its 40th anniversary with a performance by scholarship recipient Alicia Rosser at 4 p.m. Jan. 8 in Kilbourn Hall at the Eastman School of Music, 26 Gibbs St., Rochester. The William Warfield Scholarship Fund has provided financial aid to more than 35 students at the Eastman School of Music since 1977, and has spotlighted talented recipients in an annual benefit concert.
Rosser, 21, of Cheltenham, Maryland, is a senior in the studio of Grammy Award-winning artist and professor of voice Anthony Dean Griffey. The mezzo-soprano previously studied with now-retired professor of voice Robert McIver. She plans to continue vocal and dramatic studies in graduate school after her graduation in May 2017.
(Daily Record 12/19/2016)
The Roxbury Public Library will host “Project Bassoon Quarter Holiday Concert” at 3 p.m. today at the library, located at 103 Main Street in Succasunna. The Project Bassoon Quartet, a group formed by students at the Eastman School of Music, will be playing to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Christmas on Public Radio East
(Public Radio East 12/14/2016)
The Rochester, NY chamber choir Madrigalia, and their Artistic Director Cary Ratcliff return to public radio for Christmas with Madrigalia 2016, a holiday concert that celebrates the excitement and joy of the holiday season. This one-hour program, recorded live in concert at Rochester’s Clover Center for the Arts, features beautiful music by Stephen Paulus, Eriks Esenvalds, Leo Nestor, Harold Darke and Bob Chilcott, along with a number of Cary Ratcliff’s own arrangements.
This year Madrigalia is joined by jazz vocalist Cindy Miller for some beloved holiday favorites by Jule Styne, Vince Guaraldi and Steve Allen. Cindy Miller is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and has performed and recorded with flutist Hubert Laws, and Chuck Mangione, has made numerous appearances with the Gap Mangione Big Band, and has appeared many times with Michael Lasser, host of the nationally syndicated radio show Fascinatin’ Rhythm.
From the community: Highland Park Strings Present Brahms Double in Annual Benefit
(Chicago Tribune 12/23/2016)
Ilya Kaler is recognized as one of the most outstanding personalities of the violin today, according to Larry Block, founder and general manager of the Strings. Kaler has many awards to his credit and is one of the most sought after teachers in the world. The Professor of Violin at DePaul University has previously taught at Indiana University and Eastman School of Music. He was born in Moscow, Russia to a family of musicians and went on to study at the Moscow Conservatory before performing to rave reviews with orchestras around the world. This will be his third appearance with the Strings.
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