Clive Gillinson, executive and artistic director of Carnegie Hall, will give the Commencement Address and receive the Eastman School of Music’s Luminary Award during the School’s commencement at 11:15 a.m. Sunday, May 16, in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre.
In addition, faculty member Vincent Lenti will receive the University of Rochester’s Charles Force Hutchison and Marjorie Smith Hutchison Medal during the 85th annual ceremony for students receiving their bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
The doctoral ceremony for students receiving a DMA or Ph.D. degree will be held at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, May 15. Approximately 247 candidates for bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees will graduate from the Eastman School of Music this year.
Gillinson was a cellist in the London Symphony Orchestra from 1970 to 1984, also serving on the board of the self-governing orchestra and as its finance director. He was asked to becoming managing director in 1984 and held that position until joining Carnegie Hall in 2005.
Under Gillinson’s leadership, the London Symphony initiated innovative artistic festivals, established an annual residency in New York, and developed a music education program. Gillinson served as chair of the Association of British Orchestras and was one of the founding trustees of the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts. He was awarded the Commander of the British Empire in 1999 and received the 2004 Making Music Sir Charles Groves prize for his outstanding contribution to British music. He received a Knighthood in 2005, the only orchestra manager ever to be so honored.
At Carnegie Hall, Gillinson has overseen the launch of new concert and education programming, including two city-wide festivals of American music and international festivals of Chinese culture and contemporary Berlin.
Gillinson is the third recipient of the Luminary Award, which recognizes individuals who have given extraordinary service to music and the arts at the community and national levels. The award was first presented in 2006 to Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, and then in 2007 to Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Music Director Christopher Seaman.
The University of Rochester’s Hutchison Medal is the highest honor given to an alumnus/a in recognition of outstanding achievements and service to community, state, or nation. Lenti earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University’s Eastman School, where he was a student of the noted Italian pianist and pedagogue Orazio Frugoni. He has been a member of the piano faculty since 1963 and directed Eastman’s Community Education Division, now known as the Eastman Community Music School, for 26 years. In 2002 he was the recipient of Eastman’s Eisenhart Award for Excellence in Teaching.
During his career, Lenti coordinated and lectured at Eastman School piano teacher workshops, served on the board of the New York State Music Teachers Association, and lectured at conventions of the Music Teachers National Association. He has written dozens of articles on church music and liturgy that have appeared in such respected journals as The American Organist, Pastoral Music, The Hymn, Cross Accent, Studia Liturgica, Worship, and Sacred Music.
In 2003, Lenti was appointed Eastman School Historian, and is writing a three-volume history of the School. The first two volumes, For the Enrichment of Community Life and Serving a Great and Noble Art, were published in 2004 and 2009.
# # #