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.)
9 Musical Events Celebrating the National Park Centennial
(WQXR Blog 08/24/2016)
On Aug. 25, 1916, Woodrow Wilson signed an act that created the National Park Service, and to celebrate its centennial, the NPS has had music on its mind. Partnering with the National Endowment for the Arts, it granted more than $1 million in commissions for new works and performances related to the parks across the country. Read on for highlights of these projects, ranging from multimedia Messiaen to Hopi music in the Grand Canyon.
Where: Various parks across the country
Who: Robert Morris, Aaron Travers, Kevin Ernste, Tonia Ko, Adam Roberts, Daniel Pesca and others
What: Music in the American Wild, a project that will feature performances in several national parks of new music by 11 composers affiliated with the Eastman School of Music. Field recordings, an online travelogue and educational events will also be included.
Fact: A diverse group of talents for a diverse group of parks: The composers featured in the Music in the American Wild project range in age from 26 to 73 and specialize in styles spanning serialism to post-minimalism. (Also reported by Port Townsend Leader)
Waltz-Peters wins Central Tree PTO Scholarship
(The Landmark 08/25/2016)
The Central Tree Middle School PTO awarded the annual Community Service Based Scholarship to Miranda Waltz-Peters, a student who has volunteered with the Neighborhood Strings Program as well as the City to Saddle Riding Program to give musical and riding opportunities to children who would not otherwise have these experiences. Waltz-Peters is a graduate of Wachusett Regional High School and will be attending the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester to study Violin Performance and Political Science.
Amy Helm & The Handsome Strangers come to Arkansas
(Arkansas Times 08/25/2016)
FIDELIS STRING QUARTET WITH NORMAN BOEHM
If you hang around the Trieschmann Fine Arts Building at Hendrix College long enough, you’ll likely spot a man in a gray T-shirt and jeans passing through, a man so unassuming he often is mistaken for a member of the college’s diligent landscaping crew. That’d be Eastman School of Music graduate Dr. Norman Boehm, a marvelously sensitive pianist with a knack for improvisation (he ended up a concert at UALR last fall by riffing on themes provided by the audience) and for distilling massive orchestral pieces (Mahler’s “Das Lied von der Erde,” for example) down to solo piano reductions without losing texture or grandeur. He unearths emotionally intense pieces from the early 20th century, especially from inventive composers who don’t tend to get much mainstream play, such as Nikolai Kapustin, John Ireland, Erich Korngold, Sir Edgar Elgar or Alexander Scriabin. For this concert, Boehm’s joined by Houston chamber music group The Fidelis Quartet for Schumann’s Piano Quintet, and in the second half of the program, for a piano quintet Boehm wrote, as he told us, “in late classical style, just for fun.”
New Horizons Band seeking members of all skill levels
(Daily Courier-Observer 08/24/2016)
The first New Horizons program at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, was designed to serve the senior population. The idea has spread from there into an international organization.
JAZZ | Mike Titlebaum’s Music Because Music
(City Newspaper 08/24/2016)
Titles like “Schmeezlemop” and “The Sordid Tale of Glinkleglorp and Alisha” give you some idea of the unusual music journey offered by Mike Titlebaum’s Music Because Music. Titlebaum, who is director of jazz studies at Ithaca College, earned his degrees at the Eastman School of Music. A formidable saxophonist, Titlebaum has played with Lee Konitz, Randy Brecker, Kenny Wheeler, and many others. At Lovin’ Cup, his nine-piece group boasts trumpeter Mike Kaupa, drummer Aaron Staebell, and vocalist Catherine Gale.
Organ more than a pipe dream at Hurricane church
(The Herald-Dispatch 08/26/2016)
Another performer confirmed is for the classical concert at 3 p.m. on March 26, 2017. Nathan Laube is scheduled for this performance.
“Nathan is one of the younger, up-and-coming stars for the organ,” Gatewood said.
Laube, who travels the world performing, is an assistant professor of organ at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Laube holds a master’s degree in organ from Musikhochschule in Stuttgart, Germany. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
“That’s really one of the top schools for music,” Gatewood said.
Gatewood said Laube studied under one of “the really great organists of today” – Alan Morrison.
UPCOMING EVENTS
(The Chronicle-Express 08/24/2016)
Jim Scott performance
The Unitarian Universalist Church of Canandaigua (3024 Cooley Road) will host Jim Scott, composer and musical activist for their Service at 10 a.m. Aug.28. Jim Scott’s songs and poetry have inspired and educated audiences around the world. He has crafted songs that sensitize his listeners to the beauty of the earth, teaching principles of ecology in memorable verses. He was educated at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester and has toured with Pete Seeger.
East End Arts New Horizons Adult Band Weekly Sessions Start Thursday, September 15
(Long Island Exchange 08/25/16)
The New Horizons Band program was founded 25 years ago by Professor Roy Ernst, the Music Education Department Chair at Eastman School of Music, one of the top music schools in the United States. The New Horizons Bands program has grown to over 215 groups, more than 9,000 participants across the world on three continents, and sponsors numerous summer band camps in North America. Professor Roy Ernst, the founder of the New Horizons program stated: “Playing music in groups supports good mental and physical health, besides being an unending source of joy.”
Concert in Salem raises awareness of Asian nation’s culture, music
(Gloucester Daily Times 08/24/2016)
This Friday’s concert at Old Town Hall in Salem, “The Music of Tibet,” is … Migmar brought the concert to Salem with help from Richard Guerin of Salem Classical, which promotes local events, and from Adrian DiMatteo, who is also performing at Old Town Hall on Friday.
DiMatteo studied music at the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, and played blues, jazz and other forms of popular Western music before he became interested in sacred music. (Also reported by The Salem News)
Planetarium to host Fringe performance of ‘Anomaly’
(Fairport-E.Rochester Post 08/24/2016)
The art forms of “Anomaly” will feature cinematic effects, musicians and … Ossia New Music, of the Eastman School of Music, will perform music from leading modern composers, … (Also reported by Irondequoit Post)
Irving Fields, bandleader who fed postwar mania for Yiddish mambo, dies at 101
(The Washington Post 08/23/2016)
Growing up, Mr. Fields preferred stickball to the piano, he recalled in an autobiography written with Tony Sachs, “The Pianos I Have Known.” His parents obliged him to continue his piano lessons, which eventually led him to the Eastman School of Music. (Also reported by The Durango Herald)
After years away, New Horizons offers opportunity to play music again
(The Suffolk Times 08/23/2016)
The New Horizons International Music Association was founded 25 years ago by Roy Ernst, chairman of the music education department at Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. There are now more than 215 New Horizons bands worldwide, with over 9,000 participants on three continents. (Also reported by Riverhead News-Review)
Learn To Play The Zimbabwean Mbira
(City Newspaper 08/23/2016)
The melodic sounds of the Zimbabwean mbira have captivated audiences around the world. A ritual instrument used in healing ceremonies and for entertainment, the mbira is meditative and danceable. Come learn to play a classic mbira song, “Karigamombe,” and experience how two simple parts combine to produce an interlocking musical whole. Instructor Jennifer Kyker is a faculty member at Eastman School of Music, and a long-time performer and teacher of mbira music.
MSU School of Music to present concert at Bobcat Stadium Sept. 18
(Montana State University 08/22/2016)
The event will feature the Spirit of the West marching band and MSU brass professors Jeannie Little on trombone and Sarah Stoneback on trumpet with the MSU Wind Symphony.
Little is assistant professor of low brass and director of University Band at MSU. She joined the faculty in 2015 after completing doctoral studies at the Eastman School of Music, where she was awarded the prestigious performer’s certificate in recognition of excellence in music performance.
Chris Lomheim Trio in the Dunsmore Room, August 23
(Jazz Police 08/22/2016)
The trio (with Gordy Johnson and Jay Epstein) has performed in many of the metro’s top venues
Gordy Johnson graduated from the Eastman School of Music where he majored in flute.
(The Blade 08/23/2016)
‘Food-crazed soprano’ Deborah Norin-Kuehn is singer, professor, and cook
“I sent my music resume,” said Ms. Norin-Kuehn, as her only professional cooking effort had been a side job baking cookies while working toward her doctorate at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY.
New School of Music dean plans to use her experience to enhance music education
(The Depauw, Depauw University 08/23/2016)
The new dean of the School of Music not only knows her way around a french horn, but also a fencing saber.”Ayden is an accomplish horn player, but she was also a fencer, I mean she really has a diverse background,” said DePauw University President, Dr. Mark McCoy.Ayden Adler officially started as dean of the School of Music to replace McCoy who was named president of DePauw University on July 1st.Adler received her Bachelor’s degree from Princeton and her Master’s from Juilliard and went on to earn two doctorates from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. While at Eastman she won a full-time commission as a horn player in the Rochester Philharmonic, a position she held for 10 years. While at the Rochester Philharmonic, …