Come September, the Rochester community will hear world-class music making by students, faculty, and guest artists at the Eastman School of Music almost every day of the week. From classical to New Music, from American Jazz to World Music, and with headliners like the Canadian Brass and Turtle Island String Quartet, the fall season is packed with outstanding and exciting concerts.
Highlights include series such as the Kilbourn Series, held in the Eastman School’s Kilbourn Hall and featuring Grammy Award-winning classical guitarist David Russell on Tuesday, Oct. 2, and the Eastman-Ranlet Series of string quartet concerts, with Eastman’s resident Ying Quartet kicking off the series on Sunday, Dec. 2. The World Music Series includes a performance by Middle Eastern musician Simon Shaheen on Tuesday, Sept. 25, and a multi-media concert of “Spiritual Sounds of Central Asia: Nomads, Mystics, and Troubadours” on Thursday, Oct. 18.
The Ying Quartet will be joined by the Turtle Island String Quartet on Wednesday, Oct. 17, to present a “live” version of 4 + Four, the two groups’ Grammy Award-winning recording for Best Classical Crossover Album in 2006. Each quartet will perform by itself; the eight strings join for the second half of the concert to perform classical and jazz compositions.
Canadian Brass, a favorite with Rochester audiences, will join the young virtuosi of the Eastman Wind Ensemble in Eastman Theatre on Friday, Sept. 28, to kick off the recording for the wind ensemble’s new CD, Manhattan Music. The ensemble will be joined by guest emeritus conductor Donald Hunsberger for a program of Mozart, Strauss, Gabrieli, and Stravinsky on Saturday, Oct. 20.
Eastman School faculty are world-renowned soloists and chamber musicians, packing in audiences when they perform out-of-town, and recitals in Kilbourn Hall are an important part of their performing schedules. Twelve faculty concerts are scheduled this fall, ranging from jazz to voice recitals, and from solo piano to chamber music by Eastman composers.
The University of Rochester’s Memorial Art Gallery is home to the only full-size Italian Baroque organ in North America, and Eastman students give a 25-minute mini-recital every Sunday at 1 and 3 p.m. The Italian Baroque Organ Showcase series features once-a-month concerts by faculty and guest musicians on Sundays after the gallery closes. Highlights this fall include the observance of the 300th anniversary of the death of composer Dietrich Buxtehude on Sunday, Oct. 14, and a recital of improvisation and dance on Sunday, Nov. 18.
A series of events is planned around local appearances by virtuoso guitarists David Russell, Pepe Romero, and Oscar Ghiglia. Master classes by Romero on Friday, Sept. 28, by Russell on Wednesday, Oct. 3, and by Ghiglia on Sunday, Oct. 7, will be open to the public for guitar enthusiasts to sit in and listen.
A multitude of concerts by student ensembles and orchestras give local audiences many unbeatable opportunities to hear a Renee Fleming- or Ron Carter-in-the-making. The Eastman Philharmonia and the Eastman School Symphony Orchestra will present seven concerts between them this fall, including a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 by the Eastman Philharmonia on Friday, Nov. 16. Musica Nova presents concerts of cutting-edge contemporary music and 20th century classics, ranging from the music by Schoenberg and Webern on Wednesday, Sept. 26, to compositions by Frank Zappa and Phillip Glass on Friday, Nov. 30. Ossia, which regularly solicits repertoire proposals from local audience members, performs Thursday, Oct. 11, and Wednesday, Nov. 28. Composers’ Sinfonietta will feature new works by three female student composers on Tuesday, Nov. 6.
Two opera productions will be presented in the fall. Beginning Thursday, Nov. 1, Eastman Opera Theatre will present four performances of Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, which features a gorgeously orchestrated score and Sondheim’s most famous song, “Send in the Clowns.” A collaboration between Eastman’s Early Music Program and Bowling Green State University Opera Theatre will bring La virtu de’ strali d’Amore (The Strength of Love’s Arrows), by Baroque master Francesco Cavalli, to Rochester on Friday, Nov. 9.
Other events include the Gateways Festival, featuring distinguished guest pianist Paul Badura-Skoda on Saturday, Sept. 8; a program of all of Chopin’s mazurkas performed by guest pianist Michael Wesolowski on Sunday, Sept. 30; a choral celebration on Sunday, Nov. 18, in memory of Alfred Mann, the late Eastman professor and internationally respected authority on 18th century choral music; and “The Gift of Music: A Prism Concert,” which will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the New York State School Music Association on Thursday, Nov. 29, during the association’s annual meeting.
A full listing of concerts and events can be found on the web by visiting Eastman’s homepage at www.esm.rochester.edu. The 24-hour MusicLine at (585) 274-1100 offers recorded information on concerts in the coming four-to-seven days. Information is also available by calling the Concert Office at (585) 274-1110 during business hours.
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