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.)
American Health Names James VanDemark to Education Board
(American Health Council 08/23/2017)
Mr. James VanDemark, Professor of Double Bass and Chair of Musical Arts at the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music, has been selected to join the Industry Board at the American Health Council. He will be sharing his knowledge and expertise in Musical Arts, Fine Arts, and Student Wellness. …
Mr. VanDemark was appointed Professor of Double Bass at the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music at age 23, one of the youngest to ever hold such a position at a major music school or university. He has served for many years as Chair of the String Department at Eastman and is also the Chair of the Musical Arts major, Eastman’s interdisciplinary academic honors program. Mr. VanDemark’s day-to-day responsibilities include individual teaching, student wellness, conditioning, boxing, oversight of the academic department, and running the conditioning and health program. (Also reported by Citybizlist, Broadway World, GlobeNewswire (press release))
This Music Teacher Played His Saxophone While In Brain Surgery
(NPR 08/25/2017)
Dan Fabbio was 25 and working on a master’s degree in music education when he stopped being able to hear music in stereo. Music no longer felt the same to him. When he was diagnosed with a brain tumor, …
Working with Elizabeth Marvin, a professor of music theory with the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music, Mahon came up with a series of music tests for Fabbio.
That map was a guide for Pilcher and his medical team during the surgery in July 2016. Fabbio was not only awake, but he once again performed the music and language tests, this time with his brain exposed. Marvin, who was in the operating room, scored those tests in real-time, helping the surgeons identify which areas to avoid. … (Also reported by WAMU 88.5, Medical Xpress, kalw.org, WBAA)
Trumpeter overcomes tragedy and finds a place in classical music
(Democrat and Chronicle 08/25/2017)
Smith (Herb) has made changes to heal his fractured life. But the healthiest of his dichotomies remain. “I recognized early on that he’s an amazing classical player, and a great jazz player,” RPO Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik says. “He can do so many things. He can sing, he keeps discovering new things.”
Smith will be in the third trumpet chair when the RPO returns to Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre for a Sept. 12 concert with violinist Itzhak Perlman, and an evening of classical themes from film. Followed by “A cELLAbration: The Music of Ella & More,” Sept. 15 and Sept. 16. The centennial year of the great jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald’s birth, with the jazz vocalist Carmen Bradford, one of Fitzgerald’s favorite singers. It’s being billed as an Eastman School of Music reunion with Tyzik, saxophonist Brian Scanlon and Joe Locke, considered to be one of the finest jazz vibe players in the world.
And Smith, another Eastman grad, featured on trumpet.
Performing arts center would augment our ‘City of the Arts’
(Rochester Business Journal 08/22/2017)
Question: Which city has the largest concentration of professional musicians in the nation? If you guessed Nashville, you’d be right.
But Rochester’s in second place. Among all metro areas with at least half a million employed, Rochester leads San Francisco and Portland, both recognized for their music scene.
And Austin—“The Live Music Capital of the World”—clocks in at No. 16. Musicians may flock to Austin for SXSW and Austin City Limits, but many of them live right here.
Many of the nation’s professional musicians learned their trade right here, too. Among roughly the same group of large metros, Rochester colleges and universities graduate more musicians per capita than anyplace but Boston
Much of the credit goes to the Eastman School of Music, routinely ranked one of the globe’s top music schools. In addition to frequent performances by …
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