Here are some select clippings from the past week showing the variety of hits/mentions identifying musicians and scholars as Eastman School of Music alumni, faculty or students. Note: Some links may have expired.)
Eastman Students Offer Free Preview of Carnegie Recital at Kleinhans
(Broadway World 09/19/2013)
Eastman School of Music doctoral candidate and pianist Cahill Smith will be making a stop at Kleinhans on the road to his Carnegie Hall debut. (Also reported by the Buffalo News, Batavia Daily News Online)
CLASSICAL PREVIEW: More than filling the gap
(Rochester City Newspaper © 09/25/2013)
Conductor Michael Christie will be the one to take the RPO to Carnegie Hall next spring to perform Howard Hanson’s lyrical opera “Merry Mount.” But first, he’ll deliver it to the home crowd.
Hanson (1896-1981) was director of Eastman School of Music 1924-1964, and his “Merry Mount” was commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera in 1933.
Christie anticipates added rehearsals, and a need to ensure the stamina of the orchestra and the vocalists for this 90-minute work. He credits the RPO and ESM for taking “such an enormous cast of characters to Carnegie.” “The Merry Mount” apparently involves a “really big chorus plus individual characters and an orchestra.”
Fringe Fest 2013 Reviews: Eastman Jazz Band
(Rochester City Newspaper © 09/24/2013)
With a snap and a wave from director Rich Thompson’s hand, The Eastman Jazz Band (or lab, as it was introduced) launched into a smooth and swingin’ send-up to Dizzy Gillespie at Max of Eastman Place (excuse me, “Eastman School of Music Sproull Atrium”) Monday night to an enthusiastic crowd.
Despite the disparity in age — first-year to graduate students working on PHDs — the whole outfit was a pristine and well-oiled machine as it worked its way around arrangements that got close to being tagged “big band.”
Music Institute of Chicago Present Alumnus Cellist Peter Seidenberg
(Chicago Tribune © 09/26/2013)
The Music Institute of Chicago welcomes alumnus and cellist Peter Seidenberg, with pianist Hui-Mei Lin, for a performance November 16 at Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Ave., Evanston.
He received a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music and a master’s degree from the New England Conservatory, both with the highest honors. (Also reported by Evanston Patch)
Hear the sounds of the Civil War at the Seward House
(Auburn Citizen 09/26/2013)
The inside of Auburn’s Seward House Museum already evokes the sights of the Civil War era. Saturday, a performance by Eastman School of Music students will evoke the sounds. Parlor Music of the Civil War Era welcomes violist and fiddler Alexandra Cade, mezzo-soprano vocalist Katherine Webber, tenor vocalist John Leighton and pianist and tenor vocalist Matthew Moisey to the museum for an evening of songs that capture the conflict, patriotism and heartache of the war.