The jazz and soul singer and songwriter Lady Blackbird debuts in the Kilbourn Series at the Eastman School of Music this Thursday, February 22 at 7:30 PM in Kilbourn Hall. The singer’s moniker came while recording Nina Simone’s 1966 song “Blackbird,” a song that captured the struggles of the Civil Rights movement with lyrics like…
Since it was established in the 1960s, the mission of Eastman’s Musica Nova ensemble has been to expose Eastman students to hearing and performing the music of their time. The styles of “new music” have changed a lot in nearly 60 years, and the ensemble, under its current director Brad Lubman, has kept pace with…
Originally published in the Fall 2023 issue of Notes, Eastman’s alumni magazine. New Music at the Eastman School of Music was built into the school’s foundations by its first director, Howard Hanson, a celebrated composer. His American Composers Concerts, which began in 1925 to perform the works of living, American composers, gave way to a…
At an early October opera rehearsal in the Eastman School of Music’s black box theater, Rihanna’s “This is What You Came For” blasts over the speakers and a group of opera singers are clapping, snapping their fingers, strutting, and using jazz hands to the beat in a mini dance routine. It was a warm-up exercise…
In a recent studio lesson, Eastman School of Music’s new Associate Professor of Tuba and Euphonium Justin Benavidez coached a student on the Eric Ewazen Concerto for Tuba. “Can you make it ring on every note?” Benavidez asked his student. Benavidez proceeded to demonstrate the ascending line with tones that rang out like warm bells.…
Happy 100th birthday to Gloria Mikialian ’45E! The Eastman alumna born in 1923, who graduated Eastman in 1945 as a pianist, just turned 100 on August 30th. Gloria remembers receiving a full scholarship, which she was thankful for because her family couldn’t afford to pay Eastman tuition. To pay her room and board, she worked…
We welcome 12 new full-time faculty members, who bring extraordinary talent and fresh perspectives to Eastman. As an introduction, we asked the nine studio faculty to answer a few questions about their appointments: Why do you want to teach at Eastman? What are you most proud of in your career thus far? Share an interesting…
When Eastman School of Music Professor of Piano Alexander Kobrin landed in Fort Worth, Texas for the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2005, it was his first time in the United States. Born and trained in Moscow, Kobrin remembers his father was watching a documentary on Texas ranches and cowboys back in Russia at…
Collaborative performances by OSSIA New Music, the student-run new music organization at the Eastman School of Music, and BIODANCE, a contemporary dance company based in Rochester, will examine the topic of climate change and the merging of technology and nature. Using movement, music, and interactive technology, the performances on August 23 and 24, both at…
A recent book by Eastman graduate Lauron Kehrer ‘11E (MA), ‘17E (PhD) explores queer and trans representation in hip hop and the place of such artists within a longer tradition of Black queer music. The book, Queer Voices in Hip Hop: Cultures, Communities, and Contemporary Performance, pushes back against the common notion that hip hop…