Dear Eastman School graduates in Music Education,
The year 2021-2022 marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Eastman School of Music. We can all be proud to know that the Eastman School offered a degree in music education from the very beginning.
Our great legacy as a department comes from the far-reaching impact YOU have had as you enable countless students to grow as musicians and people. To celebrate your influence as teachers, we invite graduates of our degree programs to create a short video to help us celebrate the school’s milestone birthday.
In the video, we would like you to appear with a group of your students (lesson group, class, or ensemble) performing “Happy Birthday” (graduates from recent decades will recall preparing this for the Sophomore Review skills exams). If sung, please use the phrase “Happy Birthday Dear Eastman.” We can’t wait to see the creative, imaginative ways you and your students arrange the tune and film the video.
We realize that Covid-19 might pose challenges to creating such a video. We strongly urge you to follow all federal, state, and school protocol for the safety and health of all participants. We’d like you to try to submit your video by June 1, 2021. Please adhere to the following guidelines and steps for submission:
– Plan for optimum audio/video quality (consider lighting, microphone, means of recording, allowing time for multiple takes and video editing)
– Video record yourself stating your name, degree, graduation year, and current school/institution:
“Hello. I’m [name], [degree letters], [graduation year]. My students at [school/institution] join me in wishing the Eastman School of Music a Happy 100th Birthday!”
– Video record you and your students joyfully singing/performing an original arrangement of “Happy Birthday Dear Eastman!”
– Fill in the requested information and upload the video in the form below
We look forward to receiving your video and hope to share yours and others on our website, through social media, and at live performances next year.
Sincerely,
Philip Silvey