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.)
A conversation with TONY LEVIN of King Crimson
(Herald de Paris 05/21/2017)
Tony Levin is currently a member of the bands King Crimson, Peter Gabriel Band, Stick Men, Levin Brothers. . . . Born in Boston, June 6, 1946, Levin grew up in the suburb of Brookline, started playing upright bass at 10 years old. In high school he picked up tuba, soloing with the concert band, and started a barbershop quartet. But he primarily played Classical music, attending Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, where he had the chance to play under Igor Stravinsky and in the Rochester Philharmonic. As fate would have it, at the school was drummer Steve Gadd, who introduced Tony to jazz and rock, leading to his trading in his upright for a Fender bass, later moving to New York, joining the short-lived band Aha, the Attack of the Green Slime Beast, and becoming a studio musician.
TL: Hah… you seem to have done your homework! It’s true I had the chance, when at Eastman Music School, to play under the great Stravinsky. At that time, I was immersed in being a Classical bassist… not long after that I changed course, playing jazz, then rock.
TL: Steve and I were at Eastman together, playing gigs to help with tuition. He was already an accomplished jazz drummer at that time, and he patiently hung in with me while I made the adjustment from Classical to jazz, and then from acoustic bass to the electric Fender bass.
Another Tuku book released
(Daily News Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe 05/25/2017)
American musician, author and academic Jennifer Kyker has released a book on the life and career of Zimbabwe’s music legend Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi. . . . In the book’s introduction, Kyker—an assistant professor of ethnomusicology at the Eastman School of Music and the College of Arts, Sciences and Engineering at the University of Rochester—said she was inspired by the complexity of Tuku’s music to do an academic research on one of Zimbabwe’s enduring music icons. (Also reported by Nehanda Radio )
Jake Heggie Wants to Get the Arts Back into Public Schools
(D Magazine 05/22/2017)
I was in Rochester, New York, yesterday to see my sister graduate from the Eastman School of Music with a master of music degree in vocal performance. I was already plenty excited to be at the ceremony—to see her walk across the stage, accept her diploma, enter the world of opera hopefuls. But when I was scanning the printed program before it began, I saw that the commencement speaker was a name I recognized: Jake Heggie.
A Tempo: Exploring the Future of Music Schools
(WWFM 02/13/2017)
Music schools and conservatories face constant challenges, from attracting students and offering relevant curricula to seeking out funding to support their endeavors. This week on A Tempo (5/13), host Rachel Katz takes a look at an upcoming leadership conference sponsored by the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, featuring a roundtable with some of the conference participants: Jamal J. Rossi, the Joan and Martin Messinger Dean of the Eastman School of Music; Director of Eastman’s Institute for Music Leadership Jim Doser; Toni-Marie Montgomery, Dean of the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University; and Robert Cutietta, Dean of the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California.
Connections: The Gateways Music Festival and the importance of diversity in classical music
(WXXI 05/23/2017)
Our guests give us a preview of the festival and discuss how to make classical music more accessible to underserved communities. In studio: Jamal Rossi, dean of the Eastman School of Music; Paul Burgett, chairman of the board of the Gateways Music Festival, and University of Rochester vice president; Jamal Rossi, dean of the Eastman School of Music; Lee Koonce, president and artistic director of the Gateways Music Festival; Dalanie Harris, double bassist, and sophomore at the Eastman School of Music.
How RPO and Geva are showing some R.E.S.P.E.C.T.
(Rochester Democrat & Chronicle 05/26/2017
Three days later, June 2, and then again on June 3, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra presents its final Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre pop performances of the season, Women Rock. A tribute to the songs of 10 women who were powerhouses of the Billboard charts, including Franklin, Joan Jett and Tina Turner. It’s produced by Jami Greenberg, who in these old songs also sees relevance to today: Are women moving forward, or suddenly losing hard-fought ground? . . . Greenberg now manages about 30 clients. That’s the business end of the business. But she crept back into the creative end a little more than two years ago, when she and Tyzik started talking with Robert Thompson about an idea, Women Rock. Thompson, like Greenberg, is an Eastman School of Music alum, and president of G. Shirmer Music Sales Corp. Women Rock is the first production of the Greenberg-Thompson partnership.
Hagerstown church refurbishes 1929 Moller organ
(Herald-Mail Media 05/24/2017)
Its first big test will be a special concert at 5 p.m. on June 4 when internationally known organist Nathan Laube, an assistant professor of organ at Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., will play the organ, kicking off a concert series on the instrument for the church.
Three Thoughts About Sub-Brands
(Inside Higher Ed 02/23/2017)
There is no “one” ideal way to design a symbiotic relationship between a sub-brand and its parent brand. For example, the relationship of the Eastman School of Music‘s brand to that of the University of Rochester differs considerably from that which exists between Peabody Institute and its “parent brand,” Johns Hopkins University.
Spring Concert Series to continue June 2
(Henrietta Post 02/22/2017)
The Church of St. Luke and St. Simon Cyrene, 17 S. Fitzhugh St., Rochester, will continue its free Spring Concert Series at 12:15 p.m. June 2. Jazz saxophonist Colin Gordon will perform with fellow from Eastman School of Music artists.