Former Eastman School of Music director Robert Freeman, musicologist Robert Winter, and Paul R. Judy, the founder of Eastman’s Paul R. Judy Center for Innovation and Research, will be visiting Eastman September 20 through 22, presenting three public lectures and panels for the Eastman and Rochester community. Topics to be discussed include: The Future of Classical Music in America; Teaching in a Truly Digital Age; and Critical Challenges Facing Musical Leaders of Tomorrow.
All three are scholars and visionaries in their field, and together with several Eastman faculty members will lead a three-day experience hosted by Eastman’s Institute for Music Leadership. Jim Doser, Director of the Institute for Music Leadership, comments, “These three leaders continue to inspire cutting edge thinking and create substantive and lasting changes in the field of music and music education. This is an exceptional opportunity for our community to interact with them.”
Joining this group for the panel discussion on Saturday will be Curtis Long, CEO and President of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra; Rachel Roberts, Director of Eastman’s Master of Arts in Music Leadership Degree Program; and Jamal J. Rossi, Joan and Martin Messenger Dean of the Eastman School of Music.
Robert Freeman has led several of America’s finest music schools – including the Eastman School of Music, where he served as director for more than two decades. From 1996 through 1999, Freeman served as president of the New England Conservatory, then as dean of the College of Fine Arts at The University of Texas at Austin until 2006. A Steinway artist, Freeman has performed in concerts and recitals throughout North America and Europe, and has made several recordings, mainly with colleagues from Eastman and the University of Texas. As a musicologist, his publications have focused on 18th-century music history and on the history and future of musical education. His most recent book is The Crisis of Classical Music In America (Rowman and Littlefield, 2014).
Paul R. Judy is founder of the Symphony Orchestra Institute and the Paul R. Judy Center for Innovation and Research at Eastman, former President of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Board, and Chair of the Chicago Philharmonic Society.
Musicologist and author Robert Winter is Distinguished Professor of Music at UCLA and creator of the digital learning resource Music In The Air.
Events include:
Thursday, September 20
4:00 – 5:30 PM
Hatch Recital Hall, Eastman School of Music
Interview and conversation with Robert Freeman: “What are the most critical challenges facing us as the musical leaders of tomorrow and what can we do to meet them?”
Friday, September 21
2:30 – 3:30 PM
Hatch Recital Hall, Eastman School of Music
Presentation and Q&A session with Robert Winter: “Teaching in a Truly Digital Age”
Saturday, September 22
10:00 AM – 11:45 AM
Hatch Recital Hall, Eastman School of Music
Panel discussion with Robert Freeman, Paul R. Judy, Robert Winter, Eastman Associate Professor of Music Leadership Rachel Roberts, and Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra CEO Curtis Long, moderated by Eastman Joan and Martin Messinger Dean, Jamal Rossi:
“The Future of Classical Music in America”
All three events are free and open to the public.
# # #
About Institute for Music Leadership (IML):
Always at the forefront of educating musicians of the future, the Eastman School is dedicated to the comprehensive education of world-class musicians, scholars and leaders. With a particular focus on the changing state of classical music, with generous support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Institute for Music Leadership was the first center of its kind in the country, created in 2001. It serves as a center – and benchmark – for music leadership programs and activities and respond to and help shape America’s changing musical and cultural environment.
The establishment of the Institute for Music Leadership, and the generous support of foundations and philanthropists, has allowed the Eastman School to create a unique atmosphere among music schools, where ideas can flourish, and students are empowered to shape their own destiny by developing the skills and networks they need to adapt to the changing and challenging arts world. The IML is committed not to follow, but to lead, react, adapt and morph its curriculum to meet the needs of the musical world that our students will inhabit as professionals.
For more information about the Institute for Music Leadership and the Paul R Judy Center for Innovation and Research please visit https://iml.esm.rochester.edu/
About Eastman School of Music:
The Eastman School of Music was founded in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman (1854-1932), founder of Eastman Kodak Company. It was the first professional school of the University of Rochester. Mr. Eastman’s dream was that his school would provide a broad education in the liberal arts as well as superb musical training. The current dean is Jamal Rossi, appointed in 2014.
About 900 students are enrolled in Eastman’s Collegiate Division—about 500 undergraduate and 400 graduate students. Students come from almost every state, and approximately 20 percent are from other countries. They are guided by more than 95 full-time faculty members. Six alumni and three faculty members have been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music, and numerous alumni and faculty have received Grammy Awards. Each year, Eastman’s students, faculty members, and guest artists present more than 800 concerts to the Rochester community.