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.)
‘House of Cards’ Composer Jeff Beal Premieres Symphony Suite Before Cast Members at Kennedy Center
(Billboard 07/15/2016)
On the day that House of Cards received 13 Emmy nods, outstanding supporting actor nominee Michael Kelly happily shared the credit. “There would probably be a lot less Emmy nominations without this guy,” he said, pointing to the show’s composer, Jeff Beal. On the day that House of Cards received 13 Emmy nods, outstanding supporting actor nominee Michael Kelly happily shared the credit. “There would probably be a lot less Emmy nominations without this guy,” he said, pointing to the show’s composer, Jeff Beal.
The recognition came Thursday night immediately after Beal had conducted the National Symphony Orchestra through the world premiere of House of Cards In Concert — appropriately enough for the biting, deeply cynical show about U.S. politics — at Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center
For Beal, the concert was a family affair: his wife— and fellow Eastman School of Music grad— soprano Joan Sapiro Beal joined the orchestra for several numbers (Beal dubbed her “spooky opera lady”), while their son, Henry, played electric bass. Beal took a break from conducting to play a mournful trumpet on three passages.
Framinghams’ Halberstadt gives up track to pursue passion for music
(MetroWest Daily News 07/16/2016)
Paul Halberstadt spent his senior year breaking track records at Framingham High School. But all the while, he kept his focus on an entirely different ambition — his dream of one day joining the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Halberstadt was twice the Flyers’ team MVP, a four-year captain and a multi-record holder, but his passion is music. Next year, he will take his talent to upstate New York. In the fall, he will be attending the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester — one of the top music programs in the country — studying violin performance in a dual-degree.
Halberstadt started track at eight-years-old, but he has played violin since he was four. His parents are both musicians — they met at Eastman.
Animal Instincts
(TheaterJones 07/22/2016)
Dallas — The second of this summer’s four Basically Beethoven concerts packed Dallas City Performance Hall, with late arrivals struggling to find seats.
This week’s Rising Star performance was by cellist Alexander Davis-Pegis, with local talent Jonathan Tsay on piano. Davis-Pegis will matriculate at Eastman School of Music in the fall, and is the son of Dallas Symphony cellist Jolyon Pegis.
Natick resident to perform at Pilgrim Church in Sherborn
(MetroWest Daily News 07/16/2016)
Hailey McAvoy, of Natick will perform a Summer Song Recital at 4 p.m. July 31 at the Pilgrim Church, 23 S. Main St., Sherborn. McAvoy, a rising senior pursing a dual vocal performance and musical arts degree at the Eastman School of Music, has also sung and studied at the Franz Schubert Institute in Austria and the Colburn School in Los Angeles.
St. John’s concert combines organ, poetry and visual art
(Secoastonline.com 07/15/2016)
The Concerts on the Hill series at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Portsmouth continues with “La Chemin de la Croix” this Sunday, July 17 at 4 p.m. “La Chemin de la Croix” interweaves three arts: organ music, poetry and visual art. It features Philip Brisson, director of music at the Cathedral of the Assumption in Louisville, Ky., and Portsmouth-based poet Diana Durham. Music of Marcel Dupré, poetry of Vincent Paul Claudel, and visual art from the early 20th century combine to make this concert a multi-sensory musical event.
Brisson has performed in 40 states, England and continental Europe. He holds a doctorate from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y.
Eastman School of Music launches the Eastman Case Studies
(Gates-Chili Post 07/18/2016)
Eastman School of Music’s Paul R. Judy Center for Applied Research recently launched the Eastman Case Studies, which are the first series of case studies developed specifically for music schools to show how organizations addressed shifting demographics and financial stressors and describe tactics that worked and failed.