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.)
Seven classical pianists, traveling in a pack
(SFGate 08/09/2016)
Like other members of the animal kingdom, performing musicians vary in their inclination to join herds. String players are naturally gregarious, forming quartets and quintets at a moment’s notice. Brass players are somewhere in the middle, and pianists tend to be loners, at least when it comes to their own kind.
But even pianists can find comfort in numbers, and so we have the New Piano Collective, which takes a bow this weekend at Old First Presbyterian Church. Founder and Artistic Director Jeffrey LaDeur has assembled some of his fellow alumni from the Eastman School of Music to showcase the range of 21st century pianism.
Over the course of two programs, LaDeur and his six colleagues — including Owen Zhou, Paul Sanchez and Igor Lipinski — will perform music by Liszt, Rameau, Debussy, George Tsontakis and more.
Special programs in Olympic National Park will celebrate National Park Service’s 100th anniversary
(Peninsula Daily News 08/14/2016)
Music in the American Wild is a collaboration featuring seven classical musicians performing original works by 11 composers who will present three free concerts in Olympic National Park. …
Music in the American Wild is directed by Emlyn Johnson, flutist. She is joined by six other musicians performing on clarinet, horn, violin, viola, cello and percussion. All of the performers, as well as the composers, are affiliated with the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. (Also reported by Port Townsend Leader)
Organists battle it out at RiverCenter
(Ledger-Enquirer 08/13/2016)
James B. Cochran, special guest artist, will play the first half of the concert on the Jordan Concert Organ. Cochran holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music and has been featured nationally as a recitalist.
Dixieland Jazz Coming To Las Cruces
(KRWG 08/12/2016)
Sometimes a local treasure is taken for granted, but when somebody else notices, you realize that it really is something special. That’s a little what it’s like with our very own Jim Shearer and the Second Line Survivors, who will be performing at the Rio Grande
Shearer is the Regents Professor of Music at New Mexico State University, where he also holds the title Distinguished Achievement Professor. He holds both the D.M.A. in Performance and Literature and a Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music. …
Moving Landscapes: Innovative Dance from Triphammer Arts
(The Lansing Star 08/12/2016)
Baritone Steven Stull, pianist John White, and bassist/guitarist Peter Chwazik will accompany the dancers and will also perform a selection of songs and improvisations. … Stull holds degrees in vocal performance from Oberlin College Conservatory and the Eastman School of Music, and has performed with opera companies and symphony orchestras across the U.S.
(Washington City Paper (blog) 08/11/2016)
The Young Lions hit the stage at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library downtown this June, and by all accounts they tore the roof off the place. And that’s good news for more than just its own sake: It turns out that the concert that day was a dry run for what will now become a regular monthly series at the library. It’s called “Jazz in the Basement,” and it will take place on the second Sunday of each month beginning this very week. It kicks off, at least as a regular occurrence, featuring a quartet led by bassist Tyrone Allen. The young native of Temple Hills, Md., is a rising senior at Eastman School of Music in New York State; this is his last summer hoorah before he returns to school. He performs in a quartet (with saxophonists Kenny Nunn and Theo Rosenfeld and pianist Joshua Espinoza) at 3 p.m. at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G St. NW. Free.
Conductor thrives on what’s new
(Jackson Hole News&Guide 08/10/2016)
Jerry Hou, assistant conductor for the Grand Teton Music Festival, is especially interested in new music. … Eventually Hou came back from Europe and completed his doctorate at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.
DSU hosting recital for food pantry
(The Dickinson Press 08/08/2016)
The Dickinson State University music faculty are hosting a second recital, “If Music Be The Food,” to benefit the AMEN Food Pantry in Dickinson.
“If Music Be the Food — Dickinson” is a satellite of the benefit series started by Carol Rodland, a faculty member of Eastman School of Music. The original series began in 2009 in Rochester, N.Y., and there are satellite series in Tampa, Fla., Tucson, Ariz., and around New York and New Jersey.
Racine Concert Band final concert set Aug. 14
(The Journal Times 08/08/2016)
The concert features soprano Melissa Cardamone, horn soloist Adam Maegaard and the Summer Sweepstakes Spectacular. …
A graduate of Lawrence University and the Eastman School of Music, Cardamone is a staff pianist at Carthage College and a member of the …
AT THE CROSSROADS: MUSIC FOR FAUST to Begin Next Week at FringeNYC
(Broadway World 08/08/2016)
In his live score, composer Ben Singer translates this emotionally charged story with a symphonic sensibility filled with demonic gallops, bubbling textures, breezy sambas, whistling winds, and an unrelenting drum beat. This unique work blends music, theater, film, and live performance to result in a mesmerizing experience. …
Singer combines the formal training in jazz and classical music he received at Eastman School of Music with the roots music of his British folk-singing, bluegrass-playing parents and with the technology of being a computer programmer. …
Symphony, concert band combine for free concert
(Coast Weekend 08/08/02
Cary Pederson’s Beacock Music Concert Band is a 50-member ensemble that is part of the New Horizons music program in operation across the nation. These programs provide entry points to music-making for adults. Their motto: “If you consider yourself to be an adult, you’re eligible.” The first New Horizons program was founded in 1991 at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.
Florida Grand Opera Announces New Roster of Young Artist Program Take-Ons
(Broadway World 08/08/2016)
Florida Grand Opera (FGO) is pleased to announce the members of its 2016-17 class for its Young Artist Program. These artists, consisting of both new and returning members, were selected from more than 600 singers who auditioned for the coveted program
Filipina-American Mezzo-soprano Melissa Fajardo makes her debut with Florida Grand Opera this season. … Melissa earned her bachelor’s degree from Westminster Choir College and her master’s degree from The Eastman School of Music.
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