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.)
Assads, UA grad Viloteau return for guitar fest
(Arizona Daily Star 11/05/2015)
The highlight of the seventh annual International Tucson Guitar Festival on Friday, Nov. 6, will come when French-born classical guitarist Thomas Viloteau performs Sergio Assad’s beautiful, playful and sometimes theatrical Suite “Brasileira” No. 3.
Viloteau, who counts Assad among his influences and performs several of his works in concert, commissioned the Brazilian guitarist to compose “Brasileira.” Assad also dedicated the piece to Viloteau, who earned his master’s from the University of Arizona and is in the doctoral program at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.
Second Wind Ban players enjoy camaraderie, mental stimulation of making music together
(Grand Forks Herald 11/08/2015)
The New Horizons Second Wind Band, sponsored by Poppler’s Music in Grand Forks, is preparing for upcoming concerts at area nursing homes, memory-care facilities and public venues during the holiday season.
Membership is not restricted by age, but the group’s purpose is to give people a chance to make music—people who either have never played an instrument or who played in high school or college but quit for years, perhaps decades, while they built careers or raised families.
Under Craig’s leadership, the Second Wind Band became part of the New Horizons International Music Association, founded in 1991 by Dr. Roy Ernst of The Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y.
Del Mar to host brass pros at South Texas Brass Symposium
(Corpus Christi Caller Times 11/06/2015)
James Thompson, trumpeter and professor of trumpet at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, is a headliner of the 2015 South Texas Brass Symposium at Del Mar College Nov. 6-7.
Kneebody Trumpeter Shane Endsley on Moving Back to Denver
(Westword 11/09/2015)
In the two decades since East High grad Shane Endsley left the University of Colorado to attend the Eastman School of Music, the trumpeter went on to co-found the Grammy-nominated group Kneebody; tour with Ani DiFranco; perform with forward-thinking jazz players like Steve Coleman, Ravi Coltrane and David Murray; and sit in with Pearl Jam. But after spending a good part of the last twenty years in New York City, Endsley has moved back to his hometown to teach at Metropolitan State University’s Jazz & American Improvised Music program.
Young pianist to offer classical concert
(Press & Sun- Bulletin 11/09/2015)
The Classical Pianists for the Future program will bring Chuyue “Chloe” Zhang to Binghamton for a concert at 7 p.m. Saturday at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 1 Aquinas St., Binghamton. Zhang’s concert will feature works by Beethoven, Liszt and Chopin.
Zhang, now a senior at Eastman School of Music in Rochester, started playing piano at age 4, and practiced five hours a day from then until she was 8 years old. At that point, she changed teachers and began to study math, cutting her practice time down to two hours a day. However, her playing improved to where she was encouraged to audition at the Shenzhen Arts School, where she received the highest score on the entrance audition.
Organists flock to fifth annual festival
(Kilgore News Herald 11/14/2015)
The men and women who traveled to Kilgore from across the country this week for the East Texas Pipe Organ Festival share an obvious love for the instrument and a sincere admiration for Roy Perry, the builder of Kilgore’s standout pieces.
Caroline Robinson first heard the instrument’s call at 12 years-old, and the South Carolina native shared this week’s concert roster with her first teacher, Adam Pajan. A Master’s Degree student in Organ Performance and Literature at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, Robinson’s trip to East Texas for Sunday through Thursday evening’s fifth annual festival also included a spotlight performance Thursday morning at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, performing for two crowds of Chandler Elementary second graders.
Las Cruces Symphony premieres original work
(Las Cruces Sun-News 11/06/2015)
The program features Brahms’ Violin Concerto and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 7 and the Mountain Region premiere of a commissioned work by Christopher Theofanidis,
The symphony is hosting the Mountain Region premiere of “Dreamtime Ancestors,” a specially commissioned work by internationally renowned, Grammy-nominated composer Christopher Theofanidis, whose works have been performed internationally by more than 100 orchestras. He hold degrees from Yale, Eastman School of Music and the University of Houston. His honors include London’s International Masterprize, the Rome Prize, six ASCAP Gould Prizes, and several fellowships, including Guggenheim, Fulbright, Tanglewood and the American Academy of Arts and Letters Charles Ives Fellowship.
(Broadway World 12/11/2015)
Manhattan School of Music (MSM) recently announced the appointment of Kent Tritle, also the School’s Director of Choral Activities, as Chair of its historic Organ Department.
The program, which includes David Higgs (Chair of Eastman School’s Organ Department) among its distinguished alumni, offers scholarships and a range of degrees that includes Master of Music, Professional Studies, and Doctor of Musical Arts.
Tulsa Opera To Perform for PC Students
(The Ponca City News 11/06/2015)
Tulsa Opera will perform Frank Schiro and Shawn Churchman’s original children’s opera, Twice upon a Birthday, for students in Ponca City. The troupe will perform Tuesday, Nov. 10 at Roosevelt Elementary at 9:30 a.m. and Thursday, Nov. 12 at Lincoln Elementary at 9:30 a.m. and Liberty Elementary at 1:30 p.m.
The performers are:
- Melissa Fajardo, mezzo-soprano, a native of East Hanover, NJ and graduate of Westminster Choir College and the Eastman School of Music. She has performed with Portland Opera and Crested Butte Music Festival, and was recently a soloist with New York City Ballet’s production of Brahms’ Liebeslieder Walzer.
Ravikiran concert breaks new ground
(The Hindu 11/12/2015)
On November 8, an unusual concert took place in Wisconsin, centred on the creations of Muthuswami Dikshitar (1775-1835) and Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827); performed by Chitravina N. Ravikiran and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra (WCO), with the music arranged by Ravikiran and baton wielded by conductor Andrew Sewell.
A proclamation by Mayor Paul R. Soglin cited major composers Tyagaraja, Oottukkadu Venkata Kavi, Dikshitar, Syama Sastri and Bach, Mozart and Beethoven for their iconic contributions to melody and harmony in world music.
Melharmony is a term coined by Ravikiran, which refers to the principled and aesthetic combination of melodic structures (such as Indian classical) and Western harmony (including classical/ jazz/ pop or other systems).
(Prof. Robert Morris of the Eastman School of Music is a well-known Western composer who has, among other things, researched the musical properties of Indian and other scales that further the concept of Melharmony.)
Pianist Lina Lorita to perform Nov. 5
(KTBS 11/05/2015)
Pianist Lina Morita will present a recital at Northwestern State University Thursday, Nov. 5 at 7:30 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall. The concert is part of the Louisiana Piano Series International. Tickets are $15. Students are admitted free. Dr. Francis Yang and Dr. Christine Burczyk Allen are the organizers of the Louisiana Piano Series International.
Morita received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music; the Master of Music from Rice University; and the Bachelor of Music degree from Indiana University.