ROCHESTER, NY — With legendary producer Teo Macero at the console, the Eastman School of Music inaugurated its newly renovated main control room this spring with an ambitious recording of the Eastman Jazz Ensemble.
The renovation included installation of a Euphonix CS-2000 console, Genelec monitors and outboard processors by T.C. Electronics, Millennia Media, Lexicon, and Drawmer. With equipment including Genex GX-8000 and Tascam MX-2424 recorders, ProTools editing, and a wide variety of current and vintage outboard processing, the room offers students, faculty, and visiting artists the opportunity to record from any of the school’s numerous performance venues and recital spaces.
“The renovation of control room A allows us the opportunity to host a producer like Teo Macero in a facility that meets his exacting standards of sound quality and system flexibility,” says Jeff Corcoran, studio manager. “We record and archive hundreds of events each year, including everything from student recitals to commercial releases, and must maintain the highest levels of audio fidelity, equipment availability, and system reliability. This renovation meets those needs and underscores the institution’s ongoing commitment to the advancement and preservation of American music.”
The Eastman School of Music has recorded the musical activities of its faculty and students since 1933, leading to an archive of approximately 6,650 instantaneous disks and 26,000 tapes. This collection represents the oldest continuous collection of recordings made at any music school in the United States. Particularly well represented in the archive are recordings of new works by leaders in American composition from the 1930s through 1950s, and compositions and performances by Howard Hanson, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and director of the Eastman School from 1924-1964.
More recently, the facilities have been used to record numerous commercial releases and guest artists including Macero, Bobby McFerrin, Mitch Miller, Steve Vai, and Yo-Yo Ma.
The new Eastman Jazz Ensemble recording produced by Macero is expected to be released by fall 2000.
Established in 1921 by George Eastman, founder of Eastman Kodak Co., the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., has achieved international prominence including the top ranking in the most recent U.S. News and World Report survey of the nation’s best graduate music schools. Each year, the Eastman School presents more than 700 concerts by guest artists, faculty members and student ensembles.
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PHOTOS of Teo Macero at work in Eastman’s newly renovated Control Room A are available upon request, via e-mail or by Federal Express delivery. Please call.