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.)
Renee Fleming performs at the Super Bowl
(Rochester Democrat & Chronicle © 02/03/2014)
Renee Fleming, a Rochester native and Eastman School of Music graduate, sang the national anthem at Super Bowl XLVIII on Sunday at MetLife Stadium. Fleming made the history books by becoming the first opera singer to sing the national anthem at a Super Bowl. (Also reported by WHEC-TV, Buffalo News)
Heyl: Last lesson draws near after life of teaching
(Pittsburgh Tribune Review © 01/29/2014)
Joseph Jenkins, 85, spent more than five decades instructing theory, orchestration and composition students at Duquesne University’s Mary Pappert School of Music. Margaret Jenkins, 80, was a fourth-grade teacher from 1969 to 2000 at the Ellis School, the city’s only independent school for girls, in Shadyside. Evidence that the pair left an indelible mark on those they encountered is obvious to Joseph Jenkins Jr., the couple’s son and an architect in Rhode Island. “There’s been quite a remarkable number of people, not just former students, who have called or visited,” he said.
A native of Philadelphia and graduate of the prestigious Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., Jenkins composed more than 200 pieces for orchestra, band, choir, vocal and instrumental music.
Renowned Singer Julia Bullock to Make Kennedy Center Debut
(Afro American Newspaper © 01/30/2014)
Acclaimed vocalist Julia Bullock will make her Kennedy Center debut at the Terrace Theater on March 2. A prize winner of Bard Conservatory’s Concerto Competition, Bullock was the first recipient of the Mimi Levitt Scholarship at Bard College’s Graduate Vocal Arts Program, where she earned her master’s degree. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music and is currently in the graduate diploma program at Julliard where she studied Edith Bers.
Tualatin big band seeks trombonists
(Tigard Times © 01/23/2014)
When it was formed last April, the New Horizons Big Band of Tualatin invited local, non-professional musicians to pick up where they had left off — whether that was as a passionate band kid in high school, or a casual member of a college jazz band.
The New Horizons International Association was formed in the 1990s by Roy Ernst, a professor of music at the University of Rochester. Initially, Ernst envisioned a music program for retirees whose careers had taken them away from earlier musical inclinations. Part community group and part educational resource, Ernst organized New Horizons groups to be supportive. But Ernst also emphasized the experience should be freeing, for both the students and their experienced instructors who, Ernst explained, could teach simply for the love of music — without the burden of assigning grades or touring the competitive festival circuit.
Five Eastman Grads Net Grammy Awards
(Time Warner Cable News © 01/27/2014)
A total of five Eastman graduates took home honors.
Earlier in the week Kent Knappenberger won the inaugural Music Educator Award. Other winners include Bob Ludwig, who won four Grammy awards for his work with Daft Punk. Maria Schneider won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Classical Composition and Martha Cluver and Eric Dudley took home the award for Best Chamber Music, Small Ensemble performance.
Ten things to know about Renee Fleming
(Rochester Democrat & Chronicle © 01/31/2014)
Renee Fleming, a Rochester native and Eastman School of Music grad, has been selected to sing the national anthem at Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium. She received her master’s degree from the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music in 1983.
“Eastman was fantastic. There’s so much I learned there — the focus on an intellectual point of view in terms of music, for how academic it was, the emphasis on theory and music history,” she said in 2011. “All that I took for granted.” (Also reported by 13WHAM-TV)
Geva will hold discussions about theater and race
(Rochester Democrat & Chronicle © 01/25/2014)
Geva Theatre Center will hold a series of talks called “Theatre and Race: A Community Conversation” through the end of April.
Wednesday and Feb. 5 — A discussion with Ellen Koskoff, professor of ethnomusicology at Eastman School of Music after Black Pearl Sings!
“Your Story Made Here”: Fox Products In South Whitley (VIDEO)
(MSNBC WISE Fort Wayne © 01/29/2014)
The haunting sound of the bassoon is hard to describe with words and so is the process used to make one of these magnificent instruments. A visit to Fox Products in South Whitley, explains it all.
Fox Products was started by a bassoonist with the Chicago Symphony orchestra and our tour ends with a bassoonist, a Fox employee who trained at the Eastman School of Music, tests out the final product. (bassoon playing) An instrument fit for a virtuoso. A masterpiece, made here.
Acclaimed Accompanist to give master classes at Eastman
(Batavia Daily News 01/30/2014)
Roger Vignoles, internationally recognized as one of the world’s most distinguished piano accompanists and musicians, will present two master classes at the Eastman School of Music on Thursday, Feb. 6. Both are free and open to the public and will feature art song repertoire. Held in Hatch Recital Hall, the classes will take place from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. and from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Student performers have been selected from all of the voice faculty studios as well as the accompanying studio.