ROCHESTER, N.Y.—It may be cold outside, but the Eastman School of Music continues its 2006-2007 season with a number of hot concerts that feature impressive guest artists and exciting repertoire.
Spring 2007 at Eastman has several musical delights in store for those who love great music. The highlight of the spring performance schedule is a new concert series, Eastman Mosaic, featuring the adventuresome Kronos Quartet (February 7), the powerful pianist Yefim Bronfman (February 27), and the eclectic Gidon Kremer with the Kremerata Baltica (April 22).
Guest composer and 20th minimalism icon Steve Reich will visit Eastman to work with Musica Nova as part of the composer’s 70th birthday celebration, culminating in an all-Reich concert on March 31.
Opera lovers won’t want to miss the Eastman Opera Theatre’s production of Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi April 12-15, in the Eastman Theatre. This reworking of the Romeo and Juliet story provides a markedly different telling of the tale from the from the Shakespeare version with which most people are familiar.
Eastman’s World Music Series gives you the chance to travel to distant lands through the music of Iraq and Southeast Asia. A modern master of the oud, the eastern parent of Europe’s lute, Iraqi Rahim AlHaj gives a glimpse of the undiminished beauty of his country’s traditional music (January 24). Celebrating its fifteen year, Gamelan Lila Muni (Heavenly Sound), Eastman’s Balinese gamelan angklung orchestra is made up largely of percussion instruments such as metallophones, gongs and drums but can also include flutes, strings and voices (May 3).
Eastman’s rare Italian Baroque Organ at the Memorial Art Gallery will continue to be featured throughout the spring, with showcase concerts by special guest artists on January 21, February 25, March 18, April 15, and May 20.
The 3rd annual Women in Music Festival at Eastman will honor women in the arts, with a special focus on composer Tania León and author Margeret Atwood. The festival will kick-off with a lecture/recital with León and Atwood on March 26. (See www.esm.rochester.edu/wmf for more details.)
As always, the season is filled with concerts and recitals that feature Eastman’s impressive student body and world-renowned faculty.
Eastman has something for everyone this season. A complete, up-to-date concert schedule is available at www.esm.rochester.edu/concerts/calendar.php.
All are open to the public, and many are free (unless otherwise noted). Tickets for concerts that require paid admission, with the exception of tickets for the Faculty Artist Series, are available at the RPO Box Office, 108 East Avenue, (585-454-2100) and online at www.esm.rochester.edu/concerts. Remaining tickets are available at the door. Tickets for the Faculty Artist Series, which are free with U/R ID, are available only at the door starting one hour before the concert. For up-to-date program information, please call the School’s Concert Office at 274-1110.