Showcasing the talents of Eastman School of Music students and faculty, a Grand Opening Dedication Concert and a chamber music marathon — both free and open to the public — will highlight the Festival Week events opening the School’s new Eastman East Wing.
Three outstanding ensembles — the Eastman Wind Ensemble with conductor Mark Davis Scatterday, the Eastman Philharmonia with conductor Neil Varon, and the Eastman Rochester Chorus with conductor William Weinert — come together for the Dedication Concert at 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 10, in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre to present three contrasting musical masterpieces. J.S. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, a famous organ work which has been used in popular media from film to video games, will be performed in a special arrangement by former Eastman Wind Ensemble conductor Donald Hunsberger. Don Juan is a symphonic tone poem by Richard Strauss that musically depicts the conquests and downfall of the famous fictional lecher. Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms is a three-movement choral symphony which was written in 1930 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
The public can enjoy the state-of-the-art acoustics of the Eastman East Wing’s new Hatch Recital Hall during a nine-hour chamber music marathon that starts at noon on Sunday, Dec. 12. Eastman faculty, students, and Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra musicians join forces in a variety of trios, quartets, and quintets that illustrate the diversity of repertoire for small ensembles of string, brass, and woodwind instruments. Offering a visually pleasing intimate setting for chamber performances, Hatch Recital Hall is equipped with a sound-dampening system that can be adjusted to match the room’s acoustics with the instruments being played on the stage. The hall was also designed and built as an independent structure within the Eastman East Wing in order to ensure sound isolation.
Festival Week celebrations start on Monday, Dec. 6, with a public tour of the Eastman East Wing at 6:30 p.m. and a concert by the Eastman Wind Ensemble and Eastman Wind Orchestra at 8 p.m. in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre. A full list of tours, concerts, guest lectures, and master classes is available on the New Eastman Evolution website at https://www.esm.rochester.edu/evolution/
The opening of the Eastman East Wing marks the completion of the Eastman School’s Expansion and Renovation Project. The $46.9 million project included renovations to the School’s Eastman Theatre performance hall, now named Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre, as well as the addition of a building for teaching, rehearsal, and performance space.
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