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.)
New Year honours 2016: the full list
(The Guardian 12/31/2015)
The new knights, dames, MBEs and OBEs in the UK and overseas
Member of the Order of the British Empire
Catherine Arlidge. For services to music education. (Birmingham, West Midlands) (Arlidge received her Master of Music degree at the Eastman School of Music in 1988.)
The Lead Sheet: Twin Cities Live Jazz, December 25-31
(Jazz Police 12/24/2015)
And come down early for the Wednesday night “new music” gig at Jazz Central, as this band is going to draw a lot of friends and family. The Luke Peterson Quintet features young talents briefly home from college studies, all alums of the Dakota Combo. Leader, drummer Luke Peterson is studying math and jazz at Northwestern University; his cohorts include saxophonist Peter Goggin (University of Michigan), trombonist Jack Courtright (Eastman School of Music), pianist Will Kjeer (California Institute of Arts), and bassist Charlie Lincoln (Berklee College of Music). Close your eyes, and this band will sound like one of our veteran ensembles.
CFO Ron Paprocki to retire after almost 50 years at UR
(Democrat and Chronicle 1/1/16)
On Jan. 15, Paprocki, 69, will be retiring as the top financial officer of UR — the area’s largest employer, operating on a $3.3 billion annual budget.
Paul Burgett, who graduated from UR’s Eastman School of Music about the same time as Paprocki and has gone on to serve in various high-level administrative positions, told how he and Paprocki are the “last two standing” of UR’s senior leaders who began serving as vice presidents during the 1980s.
‘A mother’s love’ theme at Eastman Opera Theatre
(Penfield Post 12/22/2015)
Eastman Opera Theatre will present two stories of maternal love and loss at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 28-30 and at 2 p.m. Jan. 31, at the Eastman School of Music, 26 Gibbs St.
The double-bill production features the work “Suor Angelica (Sister Angelica)” by Giacomo Puccini and the rarely performed “Mese Mariano (Mary’s Month)” by Umberto Giordano. The one-act operas, which appear to have never before been performed side-by-side, present parallel stories of young unmarried women who give up an illegitimate child. (Also reported by Fairport-East Rochester Post)
Classical Music: Local pianist releases 2 new albums
(NJ.com 12/30/2015)
While the rest of the world is looking ahead to a new year, Clipper Erickson is on the look-out for new repertoire. Erickson’s research for a dissertation on the piano works of R. Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943) qualifies him as a world authority on this neglected composer, who was born in what is now Niagara Falls, Ontario. The grandson of Underground Railroad refugees, Dett became an important figure in American music of his time. Yet he is remembered today, if at all, for a lone piano suite, “In the Bottoms,” or perhaps only for its two-minute concluding dance, “Juba.”
He was also the first musician of African descent to earn a B.A. in Music from the Oberlin Conservatory. Dett pursued graduate studies at Columbia University, Northwestern University, the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, the Eastman School of Music, and the American Conservatory at Fontainebleau, in France, under the supervision of legendary pedagogue Nadia Boulanger .
New Horizons Band tuned to older adults
(Rocky Fork Enterprise 12/29/2015)
Older adults who would like to make music are invited to join a group called the Gahanna New Horizons Band. The first New Horizons Band was formed in Rochester, N.Y., in 1991 by Dr. Roy Ernst of the Eastman School of Music, according to the New Horizons Music of Central Ohio website. The music program has grown to more than 200 chapters, according to the site.
(ThisWeekNews © 12/28/2015)
Events and programs Livingston United Methodist Church, organ recital, 8 p.m. Jan. 8 at the church, 200 E. Livingston Ave. Madeleine X. Woodworth, a sophomore at the Eastman School of Music, studying organ with Nathan J. Laube, will perform. She will be featured as a “Rising Star” in the American Guild of Organists’ National Convention to be held in Houston in June 2016. Light refreshments will be served after the recital.
Jessamine County Art Beat: January
(The Jessamine Journal 12/30/2015)
With exhibits, classes, workshops and music, 2016 is off to an artistic bang here in Jessamine County.
Asbury University’s Music Department continues its 12th annual Pipe Organ Performance Series in January. Jon Johnson will be performing in Hughes Auditorium at 12:10 p.m. Jan. 19. Johnson, who is a native of Roanoke, Virginia, served as the associate organist and choirmaster at Christ Church Cathedral in Nashville, Tennessee, for eight years. In June 2015, Johnson became the organist and director of music at The Church of the Good Shepherd in Lexington. He holds a master’s of music degree in organ performance and the sacred music diploma from the Eastman School of Music and a master’s of music in choral conducting and a bachelor’s of music in organ performance from East Carolina University.
Moscow Ballet to present ‘Swan Lake’
(The Blade 12/30/2015)
Professor Emily Freeman Brown, director of orchestral activities, conducting, and ensembles at Bowling Green State University, recently announced her first book, A Dictionary for the Modern Conductor (Rowman & Littlefield).
Freeman Brown, who studied at London’s Royal College of Music and the Eastman School of Music, and worked with famed maestros Leonard Slatkin, David Effron, and Herbert Blomstedt, approached the huge project as a voyage of discovery.
Renowned pianist, violinist to perform at Weber State University fundraiser
(Standard-Examiner 12/30/2015)
Pianist Fanya Lin and violinist Moriah Wilhelm Rowe will perform a concert and donate the proceeds to fund music scholarships for WSU’s Department of Performing Arts.
Rowe is a both a performer and teacher. She was awarded first prize in the Utah Music Teacher Association’s 2010 Concerto Competition. Rowe graduated from WSU in 2012 summa cum laude and two years later graduated with a master’s degree in music from the Eastman School of Music. She is currently working on her doctoral degree in musical arts at the Eastman School of Music. Rowe regularly performs with organizations such as the University of Oklahoma’s American Living Composer Series and the Eastman School of Music’s New Music Ensemble.
Jason Robert Brown and Shoshana Bean to Perform in Concert Together Tomorrow
(Broadway World 1/3/16)
Chris Isaacson has announced that directly from the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles where he is conducting his Tony Award-winning musical The Bridges of Madison County and directly off her European tour supporting her newest EP “Shadows to Light”, Tony Award-winning Composer Jason Robert Brown (The Bridges of Madison County, Parade) and acclaimed singer Shoshana Bean (Wicked, Hairspray) will perform a special One Night Only concert entitled “JASON ROBERT BROWN IN CONCERT WITH SHOSHANA BEAN” on Monday, January 4th, 2016 at 8:30pm (Doors at 7:00pm). Live at Catalina Bar & Grill in the heart of Hollywood, CA.
Jason studied composition at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., with Samuel Adler, Christopher Rouse, and Joseph Schwantner.
Fay Butler, Amelia Jo Parish and More to Star in HAIRSPRAY at the Paramount this Winter
(Broadway World 12/22/2015)
Get set for a high-octane ride with thrilling choreography, rockin’ tunes and explosively colorful costumes – plus some really cool hairdos – when the Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora, presents HAIRSPRAY – The Broadway Musical, January 20 – February 21, 2016.
Tom Vendafreddo (music director and conductor) is helming his fifth consecutive musical at Paramount, where the 15-member Paramount Theatre Orchestra will play the full, original Broadway orchestrations. His previous productions at Paramount are In the Heights, Mary Poppins, The Who’s Tommy, LES MISERABLES, Oklahoma! and A Christmas Story, The Musical. Other credits include On the Town and Godspell (Marriott Lincolnshire); Road Show and Shrek: The Musical (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Sweet Charity (Writers Theatre); The Spitfire Grill (BoHo Theatre – Jeff Nomination for Music Direction); and Pump Boys and Dinettes (Metropolis Performing Arts Center). As a cabaret artist, Tom has performed in Chicago, New York, San Diego and Melbourne, Australia. In 2014, he became the Founding Artistic Director of the Chicago Artists Chorale, a choral ensemble comprised of working professionals in the Chicago theatre community. Vendafreddo received a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and Music Education from Eastman School of Music and a Master of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from San Diego State University.
Garner: A classy end for Downton Abbey
(Democrat and Chronicle 12/31/15)
THE BEST JAZZ. Those of us who love jazz feel blessed to live in a town with the world-class Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival, the Eastman School of Music, a rare and special jazz radio station (Jazz 90.1) and a great tradition of homegrown jazz talent.