ROCHESTER, NY – Period costumes and narration by local storyteller Jay Stetzer will help bring music from plainchant to modern-day jazz to life in the next "Musical Elevenses" concert, to be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, November 18, in the Eastman School of Music’s Kilbourn Hall (26 Gibbs St.). This innovative Saturday-morning concert series, now in its second year, gives audiences of all ages – from 4 to 94 – the chance to experience live classical music in a non-traditional way.
"A Musical Walk through the Centuries" features several Eastman students in concert and in costume, performing works spanning the last 1000 years – from Gregorian chant to works by Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Clara Schumann, Ravel, Kurt Weill, to modern jazz. Student performers include Caleb Burhans (chant), Chris Petit (organ), Kris Bezuidenhout (piano), Jocelyn Swigger (piano), Nicole Cabell (soprano), and Ike Sturm (bass), who with his jazz combo will showcase music from today. Eastman faculty artist and Associate Professor of Opera John Greer also will perform on the piano. (His colleague Steven Daigle, director of the Eastman Opera Theatre, is providing the costumes.)
Stetzer – a musician, dancer, mime, visual artist, and storyteller who earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Eastman – returns again this season for a "Musical Elevenses" performance. He will provide short, insightful, and entertaining anecdotes to link the composers, the music, and the era. Stetzer is well known to Rochester audiences through his popular radio program "Tales in Two Minutes," which airs on both WXXI-FM and WJZR-FM.
The "Musical Elevenses" series is the brainchild of Lynn Blakeslee, professor of violin. Each concert in the series lasts just one hour, is informal, has no intermission, features a variety of musical styles and instruments, and is free and open to the public. The title "Elevenses" is gleaned from the popular children’s storybook character Paddington Bear. It is a British term for a snack taken at midmorning, usually around 11 o’clock.
The series continues in 2001 with concerts on February 10 and March 31.
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Note to editors: Lynn Blakeslee is available for interviews.