Concerts at Eastman School of Music this semester celebrate a vast range of musical styles and genres through an exciting line-up of guest artists and dramatic performances by world-renowned Eastman faculty, gifted students, and guest artists.
On Friday, Jan. 23, Eastman alumna and Grammy Award winner Maria Schneider brings her Jazz Orchestra to the Eastman Theatre. During her visit here, Schneider will also participate in an entrepreneurial workshop hosted by the School’s Institute for Music Leadership. On Sunday, Jan. 25, bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley, renowned for his banjo picking skills and his distinctive tenor voice, performs with the Clinch Mountain Boys on the Eastman Theatre stage.
On Sunday, Feb. 1, the Eastman-Ranlet Concert Series features The Miró String Quartet, who the New York Times describes as a group with “irresistible warmth and intensity.” The concert features a new work by Eastman alumnus Kevin Puts as well as selections from great Czech composers. On Sunday, March 22, the series continues with the Takács String Quartet in a program of three contrasting masterworks. The Ying Quartet, the Eastman School’s string quartet-in-residence, returns on April 5 with the most recent compositions from its LifeMusic project, which reflects contemporary American life and features new works by Peter Knell and Sebastian Currier.
In February, Eastman Guitarfest takes center stage, beginning with a duo recital by Eastman professors Nicholas Goluses, guitar, and Bonita Boyd, flute, on Tuesday, Feb. 10, as part of Eastman’s Faculty Artist Series. Guitarfest is held in association with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. The festival includes master classes, lectures, and an exciting appearance by the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet in Kilbourn Hall on Sunday, Feb. 15. Additional performers will include the talented Eastman students of the Great Lakes Guitar Quartet and Eastman faculty jazz artist Bob Sneider.
Festivals continue later in the spring with the fifth annual Women in Music Festival at Eastman. Scheduled March 23 through 27, the event celebrates women involved in all aspects of music, including composition, performance, teaching, and scholarship. The festival will feature the premiere of a new work titled Housewife by festival composer-in-residence Judith Lang Zaimont on March 25. On Saturday, April 11, trombone choirs from Eastman School of Music, Ithaca College School of Music, and Penn State School of Music come together for the Frühling Posaunen Festival.
Fans of the Lotte Lenya Competition, an internationally recognized theater singing competition, will have two opportunities to hear singers compete. A regional preliminary round will be held at Eastman on Saturday, Feb. 21, with the final round and winners’ concert scheduled for Saturday, April 18. The School’s World Music Series features Le Vent du Nord, a Canadian folk group that performs traditional Quebecois music, on Tuesday, March 3, and Eastman’s own Gamelan Lila Muni on Monday, April 27. The Verdehr Trio, an acknowledged leader in the field of new music, comes to Kilbourn Hall for a guest artist recital on Friday, March 6. A recital with guest artist soprano Ellen Hargis and Eastman Professor and lutenist Paul O’Dette will be presented on Friday, April 24, as part of the annual conference of the Society for Seventeenth-Century Music. O’Dette and Hargis will perform a concert of Baroque and Renaissance songs at Kilbourn Hall as part of the national event, which is hosted by Eastman this year from April 23 to 26. Monthly showcase concerts with faculty and guest artists on the Italian Baroque Organ in the Memorial Art Gallery, as well as weekly recitals by Eastman students, continue through the spring. On Friday, Feb. 27, a recital on the Craighead-Saunders Organ in Christ Church (Episcopal) will be given by guest artist Jon Laukvik, a prize-winning Norwegian organist and composer.
For Eastman faculty, recitals in Kilbourn Hall are an important part of their touring schedules. Twenty faculty performances are scheduled from solo to group recitals featuring voice, piano, violin, viola, cello, guitar, trumpet, trombone, tuba, flute, and percussion.
Eastman’s impressive vocal and instrumental student ensembles will be performing concerts with repertoires ranging from early music to jazz in both Kilbourn Hall and Eastman Theatre. Music lovers are rewarded with high-level, enthusiastic presentations by the talented student orchestras, wind and jazz ensembles, and choral and chamber groups that make Gibbs Street the place to be almost every night of the week.
The Eastman School Symphony Orchestra takes the stage on Monday, Feb. 9. Fifteen Rochester choruses will present the “A Taste of Song” Community Choral Prism Concert on Sunday, Feb. 22.
Jazz fans will enjoy the Eastman Studio Orchestra in performance with Emmy-award winning composer, producer, performer, and alumnus Jeff Beal on Friday, March 6. While in Rochester, Beal will lead a master class with Eastman students. Eastman’s Wind Ensemble finishes the month with a performance on Monday, March 30.
Highlights in April include Eastman Opera Theatre’s presentation of Le Nozze di Figaro Thursday, April 2, through Sunday April 5 and a concert by Musica Nova on Monday, April 13. The following month, the Eastman Rochester Chorus and Eastman School Symphony Orchestra concert takes place at Eastman Theatre on Friday, May 1, and the Jesse Kneisel Lieder Competition Winners Concert is Saturday, May 16.
A full listing of concerts and events can be found on the web by visiting Eastman’s homepage at www.esm.rochester.edu. All are open to the public, and many are free. Tickets for concerts that require paid admission, with the exception of tickets for the Faculty Artist Series, are available at by calling (585) 454-2100, at the box office at 108 East Ave., and online at www.esm.rochester.edu/concerts.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 Monday-Friday 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
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