Here are some select recent clippings 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.)
WATCH: ‘House of Cards’ Symphony by Netflix Series Composer Jeff Beal with Eastman School’s Empire Film Music Ensemble [VIDEO]
(Classicalite © 06/11/2015)
Jeff Beal is the composer behinds the cues for Netflix’s original politico drama House of Cards. Now, Mr. Beal is hoping to bring the music from the Emmy-nominated series to symphony venues across the globe.
While fans of the series must wait until next spring to see if Kevin Spacey’s Frank Underwood will remain in the oval office, Beal is hoping to whet their appetite by synchronizing images from the show with a 55-minute House of Cards symphony. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Beal said that he “workshopped it at the Eastman School a few months ago, and we are in the early stages of getting the rights worked out so we can take this out to orchestras all over the world.”
Musicians win spots at music festival
(The Houston Chronicle 06/12/2015)
Both Aaron Griffin and Dylan Harris hope that the experience at the 26th annual Immanuel and Helen Olshan Texas Music Festival will help lead to careers as orchestral musicians.
Harris is one of only five trumpet players selected for the festival. “I started picking up the trumpet when I was 12,” he said. “The very first thing they made us play in middle school was ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb.’ I’ve still got the fingerings for it.”
While a star trumpet player at Clear Lake High School, where he graduated in 2013, Harris was accepted at the famed Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.
Harris enjoys the conservatory’s close relationship with Rochester residents. “The school plays a huge role in the town,” he said.
Jazz Fest means coming home for Rochester natives
(Democrat & Chronicle 06/14/2015)
Jazz-fusion outfit Kneebody met while studying at Eastman School of Music. Now, they tour the world. Robin McKelle, who has lived and performed in several cities around the country, is originally from Rochester.
The festival also will showcase local performers, including some Eastman students and faculty. We’ve compiled a list of just a few of the acts with local connections:
It has been said that Charles Pillow is a musician’s musician. The Eastman School of Music’s assistant professor of jazz saxophone plays soprano and alto saxophone as well as flute, alto flute, bass clarinet, and oboe.
Doug Stone’s music has taken him around the country and the world where he’s had the opportunity to perform in Asia, Europe, the Caribbean and Canada. The saxophonist and woodwind player currently lives in Rochester, where he serves as the director of jazz ensembles at the Rochester School of the Arts and as chair of the jazz department at the Eastman Community Music School.
Connections: Its Time For A Baroque “Intervention”
(WXXI PBS News © 06/05/2015)
It’s a Baroque intervention. Evan loves classical music, but has never loved Baroque. Rochester has a tremendous base of talent and expertise in the medium, from musicians to professors to creators. Our colleagues from Classical 91.5 are helping with the Baroque intervention, designed to awaken us to what Rochester has to offer, and why we should love Baroque.
Guests include: Edoardo Bellotti, Eastman School of Music – Associate Professor of Organ, Harpsichord, and Improvisation
Trombonanza is coming to Eckert’s
(Belleville News-Democrat 06/10/2015)
Four extraordinary trombonists and an internationally renowned pianist are coming to Belleville on Saturday for a evening of smooth jazz at Eckert’s Summer Music Festival. Trombonanza, a jazz quartet and combo, will perform a free concert from 7 to 9 p.m. at Eckert’s Country Store and Farm on Illinois 15. You might recognize the tall, dark-haired one. He’s Aaron Eckert, a former student of Tom Birkner, instrumental music director at Belleville West. Aaron, now 24, is a masters student at the Eastman School of Music, in Rochester, N.Y., where he is seeking a double degree in trombone and euphonium performance.
Mark Kellogg, associate professor of trombone, euphonium and brass chamber music at Eastman School of Music. He is the principal trombone of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and a busy performance artist. He is also Aaron Eckert’s teacher.
Brendan Lanighan, a trombonist and educator from Buffalo, N.Y. He is a senior, completing his undergraduate studies in jazz performance and music education. He is a member of the Eastman Jazz Ensemble and the David Rivello Ensemble.
Also performing at Eckert’s will be Christopher D. Azzara, professor of music education at Eastman. He is an accomplished pianist, arranger, author and educator. He performs as a soloist and in various ensembles, including the Chris Azzara Quartet.
Lee University International Piano Festival And Competition Begins Thursday
(Chattanoogan.com © 06/09/2015)
One feature of this annual event is that the guest artists offer concerts to the community. Mr. An, Ms. Fong, and Dr. Smith will present a recital on Monday evening, and Mr. Elisi and Mr. McCray will perform on Friday evening, June 19. Both recitals will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Squires Recital Hall of the Humanities Center on Lee’s campus.
Mr. Elisi is described by La Nueva España as “a true musician and a master of elegance, refinement and fantasy.” He has performed solo recitals and has been featured as soloist with several orchestras in the United States and abroad. Mr. Elisi leads a large class of international students as an associate professor of piano at the Eastman School of Music. An active chamber musician, he began a collaboration with violinist Federico Agostini, a former leader of I Musici. Mr. Elisi has performed in such prestigious venues as La Fenice Theatre in Venice, the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, and the Bibbiena Theatre in Mantua. He also founded “Musica Domani Prize,” an international composition competition he currently directs.
UF SoM garners attention, invites elite pianists for piano workshop
(The Independent Florida Alligator 06/10/2015)
The UF School of Music is inviting some of the world’s elite student and professional pianists for a weeklong workshop for the 2015 International Piano Festival, creating a melting pot of artists from across the globe.
Other noted faculty members include Natalya Antonova of the Eastman School of Music, Robert Roux of Rice University, Roberta Rust of Lynn University and UF’s Kevin Robert Orr, who is also a professor of piano.
Award-Winning Violinists ‘The Forget-Me-Nots’ to Perform Celtic Music in Boone on Sunday
(High County Press 06/09/2015)
Watauga natives Maura Shawn Scanlin and sisters Ledah and Willa Finck have been performing Celtic music in the community for more than a decade as the group The Forget-Me-Nots. They’re now studying independently at out-of-state conservatories, but will convene for their only local performance of the summer on Sunday evening.
Willa Finck studied at the UNC School of the Arts during her senior year of high school, where her teachers were Sarah Johnson and Ida Bieler. She recently completed her first year at the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, where she studies with Mikhail Kopelman.
Contemporary harp duo Lilac 94 to perform at Riverside Arts Center June 27
(Chelsea Standard © 06/10/2015)
Christina Brier and Kathryn Sloat of Lilac 94 are coming to Ypsilanti to shake up the world of classical music.
Brier and Sloat have been playing together since they began their graduate studies at the Eastman School of Music about four years ago. Since forming Lilac 94 in 2013, the duo has performed all over the U.S., including their respective hometowns in upstate New York and the Carolina coast.
Ohio Light Opera continues to expand its base, while always keeping an eye on its strengths
(Holmes County Bargain Hunter © 06/08/2015)
There are two weeks that separate one of Steven Daigle’s lives from the other.
He gets just two weeks to transition from his academic life as professor of opera at Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester to his summer work as artistic director of the Ohio Light Opera.
And there’s no time to waste, as the company has just under a month to prepare for its 37th season at Freedlander Theater on The College of Wooster campus. It opens Saturday, June 13 at 7:30 p.m. with the Lerner and Loewe classic, “Brigadoon.”
Heading for new music festivals, Eastman BroadBand bids ‘arriverdici’ and ‘adios”
(Musical America 06/08/2015)
The ensemble, based at the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y., U.S.A., has performed in Mexico, Italy, and major venues in Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and New York City, including at Joyce Theatre with Garth Fagan’s dance company and in Carnegie Hall as participants in composer David Lang’s new music workshop.