The Faculty Artist Series presents Russell Miller, Professor of Vocal Coaching and Repertoire at Eastman, Wednesday, August 29, at 7:30 p.m. in Kilbourn Hall. The concert, with guest artist Jolyon Pegis, cello, features works by Debussy, Fauré, and Ravel.
Pianist Russell Miller has been a coach and teacher of vocal repertoire at Eastman since 1995. He has performed throughout the United States and abroad as soloist and chamber musician, with notable collaborations including Schubert’s Winterreise with tenor Robert Swensen at the Pierpont Morgan Library, as well as recitals with Jan Opalach, Julia Broxholm, Lynn Blakeslee, Zvi Zeitlin, Susan Shafer, Todd Graber, and Marilyn Horne.
Dr. Miller studied at the University of Southern California, the Manhattan School of Music and the Juilliard School, and holds a doctorate from the University of Michigan. He also served as pianist and harpsichordist for several professional opera companies, including the Florentine Opera of Milwaukee (Rossini’s La Cenerentola and Verdi’s Aïda), Mercury Opera of Rochester (Mozart’s Don Giovanni), and several productions for Eastman Opera Theatre.
For twelve years he was the musical director for the vocal quartet “SATB”, which performed a wide variety of repertoire from classical chamber pieces to Broadway. Thanks to the generosity of ReachOut Kansas, Inc., he enjoys an ongoing relationship with the School of Music of the University of Kansas in Lawrence as a visiting vocal coach and teacher of collaborative piano. In recent summers, he has taught and performed at the Pine Mountain Music Festival in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the Vancouver International Song Institute (VISI) in British Columbia, and at the International Conducting Workshop and Festival (ICWF) in the Czech Republic.
Jolyon Pegis has been a member of the Dallas Symphony since 2000. He is also the Assistant Principal Cello of the Chautauqua Symphony. Previously, he was the Principal Cellist of the San Antonio Symphony. He is from Rochester, NY and studied cello at Indiana University and the Hartt School of Music. He made his formal NY recital debut at Carnegie Recital hall in 1990 as a result of winning the Artist International Awards. He has appeared as soloist with the Dallas Symphony as well as the orchestras of San Antonio, Virginia, Chautauqua, West Virginia and Maui. He is a past participant of the Roycroft Chamber Music Festival in Buffalo and the Anchorage Festival of the Arts.
The Faculty Artist Series is generously supported by Patricia Ward-Baker.
Tickets for Eastman’s Faculty Artist Series are $10 for the general public and free to current Season Subscribers. Tickets can be purchased at the Eastman Theatre Box Office, 433 East Main St.; by phone (585) 274-3000; or online at http://eastmantheatre.org
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About Eastman School of Music:
The Eastman School of Music was founded in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman (1854-1932), founder of Eastman Kodak Company. It was the first professional school of the University of Rochester. Mr. Eastman’s dream was that his school would provide a broad education in the liberal arts as well as superb musical training. The current dean is Jamal Rossi, appointed in 2014.
About 900 students are enrolled in Eastman’s Collegiate Division– about 500 undergraduate and 400 graduate students. Students come from almost every state, and approximately 20 percent are from other countries. They are guided by more than 95 full-time faculty members. Six alumni and three faculty members have been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music, as have numerous GRAMMYÒ Awards. Each year, Eastman’s students, faculty members, and guest artists present more than 800 concerts to the Rochester community.