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.)
Turkish artist gives Nirvana classical spin
(Hurriyet Daily News 1/11/16)
Turkish pianist Ayşe Deniz Gökçin, who lives in London, has returned at the same time to both the classical and grunge scenes, following her Pink Floyd Classical Concept album that was sold thousands, with the “#NirvanaProject.” The album is currently in the top 10 iTunes Classical Albums Charts, a first for Nirvana! Gökçin has rewritten Nirvana classics in a new, virtuosic style, using motifs from the music and the lyrics themselves as inspiration.
Gökçin completed her masters in piano performance at London’s Royal Academy of Music and received her bachelor’s degree at the Eastman School of Music.
State and Union: Accomplished flutist, composer from Hinsdale returns to play
(Olean Times Herald 1/7/16)
Nadine Dyskant-Miller, an emerging composer and accomplished musician.
Already in love with the flute, she found local teacher Richard Snyder, who instructed her and encouraged her to expand her training. She went weekly to the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, where she studied flute performance and composition.
(High Country Press 1/5/16)
Organist J. William Greene to Host Guest Recital at ASU on Jan. 19
Greene graduated from Appalachian, where he was a student of the late H. Max Smith. He also holds degrees from Northwestern University and the Eastman School of Music, where he received the Doctor of Musical Arts and Performer’s Certificate. Greene has taught organ at Appalachian, the Nazareth College of Rochester and Ithaca College.
Virtuoso pianist James D’León performs in Springdale
(The Independent 1/8/16)
Pianist James D’León will perform classical and contemporary works for solo piano on Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. at the Canyon Community Center in Springdale.
He is a graduate of prestigious music schools such as Temple University’s Esther Boyer College of Music, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (on full scholarship), and the Eastman School of Music where he received his doctorate degree in piano performance and literature.
Book explores music education pioneer’s philosophy
(Newberry Observer © 01/07/2016)
In her new book “A Song from the Heart: The Pedagogical Philosophy of Lorna Lutz Heyge, PhD” (published by WestBow Press), Jean Ellen Linkins, EdD, explores the teaching style and philosophy of a pioneer in early childhood music education. Heyge founded the Kindermusik and Musikgarten curricula.
Jean Ellen Linkins, EdD, became interested in the work of Lorna Lutz Heyge, PhD, while pursuing a master’s in Music Education at Eastman School of Music. She teaches Heyge’s Musikgarten curriculum and resides in Anderson with her husband, Mike.
Out of the World
(Word Hanoi 1/7/16)
Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory of Music will hold a night concert with the duo Bro-Fowler from Indiana State University on Thursday Jan. 7.
While Paul Bro (saxophone) is a member of the Chicago Saxophone Quarter, Kurt Fowler (cello) is a Doctor of Arts and Master Of Music with degrees from the Eastman School of Music. Both have performed throughout the U.S and Europe.
Come sea the Pacifica
(Oregon Coast Today 1/5/16)
Neskowin Chamber Music series brings award-winning quartet to the coast.
Brandon Vamos, cellist, has performed both solo and chamber music recitals in the US and abroad with orchestras including the Taipei City Symphony, the Suwon Symphony in Seoul, the Samara Symphony in Russia and the New Philharmonia Orchestra and the Elgin Symphony Orchestra in Chicago. He was awarded a Performer’s Certificate at the Eastman School of Music, where he earned a Bachelor of Music Degree.
(Rochester Business Journal © 01/04/2016)
ON STAGE The annual Eastman School of Music concert that supports the William Warfield Scholarship Fund will feature mezzo-soprano Alicia Rosser, an Eastman junior. The concert will be held at 4 p.m. Jan. 10 in Kilbourn Hall. Rosser, 20, started taking voice lessons as a high-schooler in Maryland and has taken first place in vocal competitions. A student of Grammy Award-winning artist and Professor of Voice Anthony Dean Griffey, she has participated in summer programs at the Tanglewood Institute and other organizations, including “Si parla, si canta,” a summer Italian language and music program in Italy. There she studied with the operatic soprano and Eastman alumna Nicole Cabell; Benton Hess, distinguished professor of voice at Eastman; and diction coach and Juilliard School faculty member Robert Coward.
CLASSICAL | William Warfield Scholarship Concert
(Rochester City Newspaper © 01/06/2016)
The William Warfield Scholarship Fund has long worked to encourage career advancement for African-American vocalists. Since 1977, the fund has helped voice students at Eastman School of Music pursue their craft with the support of additional financial aid. On Sunday, as an important annual fundraiser, the organization will present the concert “William Warfield: A Legacy in Music” at Kilbourn Hall. The program will feature the vocal performance of Eastman junior and mezzo-soprano Alicia Rosser, along with appearances by pianist-vocalist Thomas Warfield, the Mt. Vernon Missionary Baptist Male Chorus, and Strings for Success. William Warfield — an Eastman School alumnus and Grammy Award-winning singer and actor — is best remembered for his portrayal of Porgy in the George Gershwin opera “Porgy and Bess,” as well as his performance in the musical “Showboat
MusicaNova to Host ‘Triple Header’ Performance This Month
(Broadway World © 01/05/2016)
MusicaNova performs an afternoon of “American Originals” featuring the young sensation, pianist Samuel Xu of Chandler. Xu joins the Orchestra to perform George Gershwin‘s Concerto in F, the first follow-up to his Rhapsody in Blue, melding jazz and popular music into a traditional classical form. The concert also includes the jazz and dance-influenced composer Robert Ward‘s Invocation and Toccata, an homage to the Big Bands of the 1950s. Symphony No. 2 by Ned Rorem, one of America’s most distinguished living composers, will have its first American performance in nearly 60 years. Finally, a special treat will be the world premiere of Seven Miniatures for Orchestra by MusicaNova Composition Fellow Jon Lin Chua, from the graduate school of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester NY.
Local Composer Pens “Diva Diaries” at Broward Center | Theatre | A&E | SFGN Articles
(South Florida Gay News © 12/31/2015)
Fort Lauderdale lyricist and composer John Mercurio is part of the creative team behind “Diva Diaries,” opening Jan. 6 in the Abdo New River Room at the Broward Center.
Mercurio completed his undergraduate studies in classical music at the famed Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, before making the move to Manhattan and graduate school at NYU, “right in the heart of the musical theater world,” he said. After 20 years, he returned to South Florida.