ROCHESTER, NY — There are some exciting changes in store for the Eastman School of Music’s Community Education Division (CED) — the non-collegiate division of the School that offers more than 1,100 students of all ages and ability levels a wide variety of opportunities to learn and perform music.
CED to be renamed ‘Eastman Community Music School’
To better reflect its mission and its role in the Rochester community, the name of the Community Education Division is being changed to the Eastman Community Music School, effective May 1. The new name is the result of an in-depth, 18-month process involving CED faculty, administration, students, and parents — along with senior administration from the Eastman School.
“Most people would agree that the current name — especially when referenced by the letters ‘C-E-D,’ as it most commonly is — has never embodied the essence or the excellence of our outstanding community education division,” said James Undercofler, director and dean of the Eastman School. “The CED has always been a full-fledged community music school within the setting of our world renowned collegiate division — yet often has been overshadowed by it. The new name ultimately was selected because it most clearly and accurately sums up the essence of the CED to people both inside and outside the School.”
Despite the change in name, the Eastman Community Music School’s relationship to the Eastman School of Music remains exactly as it has been since its founding in 1921: an integral one that remains true to George Eastman’s vision of enriching the community life of Rochester through music. All of the current lessons, courses, programs, and ensembles that are presently offered through the CED will continue, with periodic enhancements.
The School will begin to use the new name — along with a new logo that has been developed for the Community Music School — on May 1. It has begun incorporating the name and identity into its website, publications, and other correspondence, realizing that there will be a gradual “phase in” process that could take several months before all “CED” materials fully reflect the new name and identity.
Building at 10 Gibbs Street to house Eastman Community Music School
In addition to a new name, there is another exciting development for the Eastman Community Music School: It will ultimately be located in a new, highly visible, “storefront” location in the Lincoln Building on the corner of East Avenue and Gibbs Street (which formerly housed the Rochester Broadway Theatre League and Ticket Express).
A generous gift by Eastman Board of Managers member and University of Rochester trustee Martin Messinger has allowed the Eastman School to purchase the building at 10 Gibbs Street, which will provide ample administrative and faculty studio space for the Community Music School. The building (which already houses some of Eastman’s administrative offices) will be officially dedicated to Mr. Messinger’s mother, Anne Waltuck Messinger, in a ceremony to be held upon completion of necessary renovations. Once completed, the new “home” will fully accommodate the Community Music School’s need for space, which has long stressed Eastman’s Main Building at 26 Gibbs Street.
“For years, the CED offices have been tucked away on the fourth floor of the School’s Main Building, and faculty studio space has been scattered throughout the building,” said Undercofler. “While CED students and faculty will always have a presence in the Main Building, this new location will be much more accessible for them and will make Eastman’s role in community education much more visible to the public as a whole. Plus, it extends and further establishes Eastman’s downtown ‘campus’ on Gibbs Street.”
Undercofler adds that Java’s — the popular coffee shop on Gibbs Street — will remain in its current location in the building, as will the three other tenants currently there.
“We’re ecstatic about these changes,” said Howard Potter, Eastman’s associate dean for community and continuing education. “Since the days of George Eastman, community education has always been an important part of the Eastman School of Music — albeit under different names. Now, as the Eastman Community Music School, the Rochester public will have a clearer understanding of how we serve the community.”
For information on the Eastman Community Music School and its lessons, courses, and offerings, call 274-1400 or visit www.rochester.edu/eastman/community.
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Note to editors: An electronic version of the new Eastman Community Music School logo is available.