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.)
Rising soprano glad to be singing Wagner aria for QCSO concert
(Quad City Times 09/30/2015)
Heidi Melton approached her first Richard Wagner opera with the caution of nearing a wild animal. “I had always thought that I couldn’t look at it or touch it because everybody had said, ‘It’s a voice-ruiner, don’t do it till you’re 50,'” Melton, 33, said.
Her aria, “Dich, teure Halle” (“You, Dear Hall”) is very appropriate, said Melton, who received her bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., and her masters in fine arts from the Curtis Institute of Music in Chicago, where Smith also is a graduate.
Tenor Mark Steven Schmidt to perform in Mount Dora
(Orlando Sentinel 09/17/2015)
Tenor Mark Steven Schmidt can sing opera, jazz or Broadway favorites. The Patrons of the Community Building didn’t hesitate. They asked the graduate of the Eastman School of Music to sing popular tunes from the musical theater for their concert.
AFTER HOURS: A medley tribute to the 1970s
(Macon Telegraph © 09/26/2015)
The Macon Pops’ third season opened Sept. 18 with tables surrounding a dance floor rarely seen during the two hours the orchestra played sing-along favorites from the 1970s. Anita Hall, the guest vocalist who has appeared many times during the past two seasons, knows how to get her Macon audience out of its chairs and on the floor.
Last Sunday, another season opener celebrated the first event of the 25th anniversary of Music and the Arts at Vineville United Methodist Church. If there was any doubt that Macon’s musical tastes are as diverse as the genres, the sanctuary was full to capacity to hear organist Nathan Laube play a classical repertoire from some of the world’s most revered composers from the 17th to the 20th century.
Laube is assistant professor of music at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. To be his student may be daunting, for he had committed all the pieces to memory, a detail noted by the awestruck audience that had the privilege to see genius at work.
Fletcher returning to Kossuth County
(Algona Upper Des Moines 10/01/2015)
On Monday, Oct. 12, classical guitarist Peter Fletcher will be returning to Kossuth County when he performs at the Burt Presbyterian Church in Burt at 6:30 p.m.
In 1995, Fletcher received a Master Music degree from Eastman School of Music and has twice received the Eastman Graduate Award.
RPO concert has Britten masterpiece
(Rochester Democrat & Chronicle © 09/29/2015)
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra leaps headlong into fall with a program of evocative pieces written in the 20th century.
And the gem on the program is a work by English composer Benjamin Britten. His Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, Op. 31, written in 1942 and 1943, features the RPO’s principal horn player W. Peter Kurau and tenor Andrew Stenson. Stenson, whom some might remember from his recent work at Glimmerglass Opera near Cooperstown, is performing with the RPO for the first time. Later this season he’ll also make his debut with the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Kurau, who is also professor of horn and chamber music at the Eastman School of Music, finds great inspiration in this piece of music.
Church celebrates organ’s 90th year
(Daily News Journal 09/23/2015)
Organist Wilma Jensen will be the featured guest at the 90th birthday celebration concert for the 1925 Skinner pipe organ at First Baptist Church, 200 E. Main St. at a program at 4 p.m. Sunday.
A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Jensen was a pupil of Catharine Crozier and Harold Gleason. She is the choirmaster/organist emeritus at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Nashville, where she has served for 19 years. She has made critically acclaimed recordings, both as an organ soloist and as conductor of the St. George’s Choir, officials said.
ECO’s pumped-season starts Saturday
GoErie.com 09/17/2015)
Also scheduled: A Family Christmas (Dec. 12), Adoration and Adaptations with guest trumpeter James Thompson of the Eastman School of Music (Jan. 16), ECO on Display highlighting orchestra members (April 23) and Jazz — From Paris to Hollywood with a suite from “Three Penny Opera,” Benny Goodman pieces and more (June 4).
Winchester Hosts Program on Violins
(Waupaca County News 09/30/2015)
Samantha George will discuss Lawrence University’s prized Andrea Guarneri violin at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 5, at the Waupaca Area Public Library.
George will address these questions when she demonstrates the difference in violin sounds by playing and comparing a Baroque violin, her own old Italian violin, a contemporary violin and the Guarneri.
George received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music, and a performer’s certificate from the Eastman School of Music, and she holds a doctorate in violin performance and music theory from the University of Connecticut.
Pittsburgh Symphony Kicks Off Pops Series With Frank Sinatra Tribute for 100th Birthday, 10/2
(Broadway World 09/17/2015)
Singer-songwriter and pianist Tony DeSare (who’s been described as “two parts Frank Sinatra and one part Billy Joel”) performs Rat Pack-era hits with a classic twist along with the musicians of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and guest artist Benny Benack III, a trumpeter and Pittsburgh native. The Pittsburgh connection continues with the music of Pittsburgh greats Henry Mancini and Dean Martin serving as a perfect complement to the music of Sinatra. Grammy Award-winning guest conductor Jeff Tyzik will lead a swingin’ night of indelible songs like “Night and Day,” “Moon River,” “My Way” and many more.
Committed to performing music of all genres, Tyzik has collaborated with such diverse artists as Chris Botti, Matthew Morrison, Wynonna Judd, Tony Bennett, Art Garfunkel, Dawn Upshaw, Marilyn Horne, Arturo Sandoval, The Chieftains, Mark O’Connor, Doc Severinsen and John Pizzarelli. He has created numerous original programs that include the greatest music from jazz and classical to Motown, Broadway, film, dance, Latin and swing. Tyzik holds Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the Eastman School of Music.
Dimitri House to host annual auction
(Irondequoit Post © 09/30/2015)
Dimitri House will host its 13th annual Wine, Dine and Share Dinner Auction from 5 to 9 p.m. Oct. 18 in the Eisenhart Auditorium of Rochester Museum and Science Center, 657 East Ave. The black-tie optional event will include jazz music by the Eastman School of Music students, a silent auction, wine raffle and champagne cork pull.