The annual graduation ceremony for Eastman School of Music bachelor’s and master’s degree students will take place on Saturday, May 13, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre. The Saturday ceremony is for students receiving their Bachelor of Music, Master of Arts and Master of Music degrees. The ceremony for students receiving a Doctor of Musical Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degree will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, May 12, in Kodak Hall. The University-wide Commencement Ceremony will take place on Friday, May 12, at 9:00 a.m. in Fauver Stadium at the Brian F. Prince Athletic Complex on the River Campus, featuring a performance by the Eastman Wind Ensemble.
Mark Volpe ’79E, ’14E (Honorary) will be this year’s graduation ceremony speaker on May 13. Mr. Volpe served as President and CEO of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1997 to 2021. In his role, he was responsible for all activities of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops and Tanglewood. After his retirement from the BSO, Volpe has advised numerous orchestras and music festivals in the United States and Europe and lectured/taught at the most prestigious universities in the nation.
“I am deeply honored to play a role in the commencement exercises at the Eastman School of Music. There are certain threshold moments in life and getting a degree from the Eastman School of Music has to be one of them,” shares Volpe, who holds bachelor’s and honorary degree from Eastman. “Given the challenges precipitated by the worldwide pandemic, the Class of 2023 has been through a great deal and has considerable reason to celebrate. I am very much looking forward to experiencing the joy and sense of accomplishment that certainly will be part of the occasion.”
This year’s student address will be given by Students’ Association President, Megan Brilleslyper ’23E (BM), and Alexis Victoria Prescott as Graduate students’ speaker, with music performed by the Eastman Trombone Choir.
For a detailed listing of commencement weekend activities, please visit University of Rochester’s commencement website. Eastman’s degree ceremony will be livestreamed here.
Media only: Lauren Sageer, Assistant Director of Public Relations and Digital Content,
(585) 451-8492, lsageer@esm.rochester.edu
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About Mark Volpe:
Mark Volpe ’79E, ’14E (Honorary) served as President and CEO of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from September 1997 until June 2021. In his role, he was responsible for all activities of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, and Tanglewood as well as the real estate holdings of the BSO, the most extensive of any orchestra in the world. During his tenure, the BSO reaffirmed its status as one of the world’s leading orchestras. As steward of the organization’s finances, he oversaw an annual budget of $107 million, quadrupled the endowment (the largest of any orchestra in the world) to $540 million, raised more than $850 million in annual and capital funds and secured $100 million from 40 corporate sponsors.
Other accomplishments during Volpe’s tenure in Boston include: the construction of Tanglewood’s four-building Linde Center for Music and Learning (one of the buildings Is named in his honor), the creation of the multi-dimensional Tanglewood Learning Institute, a significant touring program (14 international and 40 domestic tours), the release of 50 recordings with 6 garnering Grammys, the development of the most visited web platform of any American Orchestra, and 23 years of labor harmony.
Prior to Boston, Volpe had leadership positions with the orchestras of Detroit, Minnesota, and Baltimore. In Detroit, Volpe helped lead an initiative that resulted in the construction of the Fisher Music Center as well as the $100 million Detroit School for the Arts. The project was a catalyst for the resurgence of the Woodward Corridor, one of the central arteries in the city of Detroit.
After his retirement from the BSO, Volpe has advised numerous orchestras and music festivals in the United States and Europe and lectured/taught at Harvard University, Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University, the University of Rochester, Southern Methodist University, and the University of Miami. During the fall of 2022, Volpe taught/lectured at the Universita di Bologna, the Universita della Svizzera Italiana, the Universita Ca’ Foscari Venezia, the University of Rome Tor Vergata and Bocconi University as well as being a panelist at the Forum Impresa Cultural Italia in Rome. He has co-authored a book on fundraising for the arts that will be published by Bocconi University Press in the summer of 2023.
Volpe obtained his Juris Doctorate cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1983 and was awarded a bachelor’s degree in music from the Eastman School of the University of Rochester in 1979. In 2017, Volpe was elected to the 237th class of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the first-ever chief executive of an orchestra to receive this honor. In 2020, he was awarded the Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by France’s Minister of Culture. Volpe holds honorary doctorates from Boston University, the University of Rochester, Northeastern University, the New England Conservatory of Music, and Westfield State University. Volpe and his spouse, Martha Volpe, have two daughters, Francesca and Madeline. He was raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where his father played trumpet in the Minnesota Orchestra for 43 years.
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.
More than 900 students are enrolled in the Collegiate Division of the Eastman School of Music—about 500 undergraduates and 400 graduate students. They come from almost every state, and approximately 23 percent are from other countries. They are taught by a faculty comprised of more than 130 highly regarded performers, composers, conductors, scholars, and educators. They are Pulitzer Prize winners, Grammy winners, Emmy winners, Guggenheim fellows, ASCAP Award recipients, published authors, recording artists, and acclaimed musicians who have performed in the world’s greatest concert halls. Each year, Eastman’s students, faculty members, and guest artists present more than 900 concerts to the Rochester community. Additionally, more than 1,700 members of the Rochester community, from young children through senior citizens, are enrolled in the Eastman Community Music School.
About the University of Rochester:
The University of Rochester is one of the nation’s leading private research universities, one of only 62-member institutions in the Association of American Universities. Located in Rochester, N.Y., the University gives undergraduates exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close collaboration with faculty through its unique cluster-based curriculum. Its College, School of Arts and Sciences, and Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences are complemented by the Eastman School of Music, Simon School of Business, Warner School of Education, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, School of Medicine and Dentistry, School of Nursing, Eastman Institute for Oral Health, and the Memorial Art Gallery.