Eastman alumnus wins composer Masterprize
December 2003
On October 30 in London, Christopher Theofanidis won Masterprize 2003 for his orchestral composition Rainbow Body. Theofanidis, who received a Master of Music degree in piano from Eastman in 1992, now teaches at Peabody Conservatory and the Juilliard School. He accepted the award (equivalent to about $42,000) in a ceremony whose worldwide media coverage included live broadcast on NPR.
Rainbow Body was chosen from 1000 entries from 65 countries, and was performed at the ceremony by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Daniel Harding. The piece, based on a chant by the medieval mystic Hildegard of Bingen, was also recently recorded by Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for Telarc.
Begun in 1998 by the British banker-turned-novelist John McLaren, Masterprize is one of the classical music world’s prominent and lucrative prizes. It was McLaren’s stated aim “to bring music lovers and composers closer together,” encouraging new orchestral music in an accessible style. (For more information see www.masterprize.com .)
Rainbow Body was written in 2000; Theofanidis’ recent compositions include a viola concerto, the ballet Artemis , and the opera The Thirteen Clocks . He is writing a piece for the Atlanta Symphony.
Alarm Still Sounding
December 2003
They are taking the NYC new-music scene by storm, but they started at ESM: the members of Alarm Will Sound met two years ago while playing in the School’s student-run new-music group Ossia. They enjoyed the experience so much they decided to stick together professionally after graduation. Now the group, based in New York City, has become a favorite of the public and the critics, and the “house band” for Columbia University’s Miller Theater.
Alarm Will Sound opened its current season on September 19 at Miller with a concert of music by Ligeti, John Adams, and other contemporary masters. “These adventurous musicians represented the future of classical music, or let’s hope so,” said Anthony Tommasini in his New York Times review. A CD of Steve Reich’s Desert Music and Tehillim released last year was also well reviewed — and described — as “an absolute knockout” by Reich himself.
Alarm Will Sound’s December calendar includes “composer portrait” concerts of Harrison Birtwistle and Aaron Jay Kernis.
For more information on the group, check out www.alarmwillsound.com.
Bringing Copland to China
November 2003
Clarinetist Jun Qian, a DMA candidate, went home for the summer – to Shanghai, China, where he introduced an American classic to Chinese audiences: the original version of Aaron Copland’s Clarinet Concerto.
“After more than nine years of studying in the United States … I have come to love American culture and its music while still enjoying my Chinese heritage,” says Jun, who is in fifth year of study at Eastman. “I thought it was time for me to become an ambassador of friendship by introducing the Chinese people to American classical music with their favorite local orchestras.”
Jun, a student of Kenneth Grant, performed the Copland Concerto in an all-American program with one of China’s top orchestras, the Shanghai Symphony. He spent most of June and July performing, conducting, and giving master classes throughout China.
“I wanted to meet the new generation of Chinese music students and musicians,” says Jun, “and to encourage them to study at Eastman by introducing my American learning experience at that school. Also, I wanted to meet music teachers and help them build a new relationship with the Eastman School.”
An American Scholar in Rome
November 2003
Assistant professor of Musicology Roger Freitas is spending the 2003-04 academic year as a fellow at the American Academy in Rome. Freitas was one of 31 fellowship winners announced on April 24. He’ll spend a full year in Italy, researching and writing his current project, “Style and Meaning in the Mid-Seicento [17th-century] Italian Cantata.”
The American Academy in Rome, established in 1913, has a distinguished history of supporting artists, composers, writers, and historians in their research. The composers include Howard Hanson, ESM director from 1924-1964, a Rome Prize winner in 1921.
The Rome Prize provides fellowships ranging from six months to two years for American artists and scholars to live and work at the Academy’s eighteen-building, eleven-acre site atop Rome’s highest hill, the Janiculum. (For more information visit www.aarome.org.)
Eastman Student Performs at Kennedy Center
October 2003
It’s a modern-day Cinderella story: a young singer who dreams of being an opera star is plucked from relative obscurity and given the chance to perform with an acclaimed orchestra and conductor in one of America’s most prestigious concert halls.
The fairy tale came true this spring for voice major Christina Gill, who graduated from Eastman in May. Last winter, the Rochester native was invited by award-winning composer/conductor Marvin Hamlisch to make her national debut in March a “Stars of Tomorrow” concert, part of the National Symphony Orchestra’s Pops Series.
The mezzo-soprano, winner of two Eastman voice competitions, performed two arias from Bizet’s Carmen with the NSO Pops and Hamlisch at Washington’s John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
She had a busy month of March; back at Eastman, Gill, took part in a vocal master class with Eastman alumna (MM ’83) Renée Fleming, singing arias from Carmen and Così fan tutte. Master’s candidate Mari-Yan Pringle also took part in the class. (Super-soprano Fleming recently graced the cover of the September 2003 Opera News, not to mention a Rolex ad inside. The cover story anointed her “America’s number-one diva.”)
Down Beat honors Eastman Professor and Students in Annual Awards Issue
October 2003
Down Beat, one of the country’s most respected jazz publications, selected pianist Harold Danko, chair of Eastman’s Jazz and Contemporary Media department, as one of only three recipients of the 12th annual “Down Beat Achievement Awards for Jazz Education.” Danko’s honor was announced in the June 2003 issue of the magazine.
There were also multiple Down Beat awards for Eastman students and ensembles:
The Dave Guidice Quartet (Dave Guidice, piano and vocals; Josh Rutner, saxophone; Ike Sturm, bass; Ted Poor, drums) and the Robert-Koenigsberg Sextet (Toby Robert-Koenigsberg, piano; André Canniere, trumpet; James Hirschfeld, trombone; Josh Rutner, saxophone; Ike Sturm, bass; Ted Poor, drums) were cited for outstanding college performance in the jazz group category.