Eastman School of Music is delighted to welcome two distinguished chamber groups to campus as part of the James E. Clark Chamber Music Residency: the JACK Quartet and WindSync. Both ensembles have roots that bind them to Eastman, with alumni members in each. The JACK Quartet will perform on Tuesday, March 19 at 12:30 p.m. in Hatch Recital Hall, closely followed by WindSync on Tuesday, April 9 at 2:30 p.m. in the same venue. Both concerts are free and open to the public. While on campus, JACK and WindSync will also hold masterclasses, private coachings and mentoring sessions with Eastman student groups and individuals.
“The Clark Chamber Music Residency has been an annual highlight to our chamber music program, with well over 65 students interacting closely with distinguished guest musicians,” shares Janet Ying, Associate Professor of String Chamber Music. “Hearing, watching, asking questions, and playing for such world-class ensembles as the JACK Quartet and WindSync will provide our students opportunities for fantastic formative experiences, both in performance and thinking about career paths.”
Established in 2014, the Clark Residency aims to provide Eastman students with intense, up-close exposure to the playing and teaching of renowned ensembles. Dr. Clark’s daughter Jamie ’12E was an enthusiastic participant in the chamber music program at Eastman, inspiring him to give back to the school that had such a profound impact on her education. This is an endowed program and any contributions made are in support of the continuation of this residency.
THE JACK QUARTET
Deemed “superheroes of the new music world” (Boston Globe), the thrice GRAMMY-nominated JACK Quartet’s “stylistic range, precision and passion have made the group one of contemporary music’s indispensable ensembles.” (The New York Times)
The 2024 recipient of Chamber Music America’s Michael Jaffee Visionary Award, JACK has also received Lincoln Center’s Martin E. Segal Award, New Music USA’s Trailblazer Award, and the CMA/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. The quartet has performed to critical acclaim in concert halls internationally, including Carnegie Hall (USA), Wigmore Hall (United Kingdom), Suntory Hall (Japan), and Teatro Colón (Argentina).
Based in New York City, JACK is the Quartet in Residence at the Mannes School of Music at The New School. Comprising Eastman alumni Jonathan Pickford Richards ’02E, ’04E (MM), viola, and Christopher Otto ’06E, violin, as well as violinist Austin Wulliman and cellist Jay Campbell, the group was founded in 2005. Otto has shared that partaking in Eastman’s various ensembles “helped prepare them to start a professional string quartet.”
WINDSYNC
Versatile and vibrant, the musicians of WindSync “play many idioms authoritatively, elegantly, with adroit technique, and with great fun.” (All About the Arts) The quintet performs by memory and are uniquely adept at connecting with their audience because of this.
Composed of five outstanding North American wind musicians who come together as performers, educators, and community-builders, WindSync includes two Eastman alumni: oboist Emily Tsai ’11, ’11E; and bassoonist Kara LaMoure ’10E; alongside flutist Garrett Hudson, clarinetist Graeme Steele Johnson and horn player Anni Hochhalter. In 2018, they were named finalists in the prestigious M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition, and they are winners of the Concert Artists Guild and Fischoff national competitions.
This is WindSync’s second Clark Residency, but their first in person, with the former taking place virtually in 2021. Oboist, Emily Tsai has said, “My time at Eastman was the turning point of my career and life. It was my professor, Richard Killmer, who steered me toward chamber music during my undergraduate years and advocated for me to win the chamber music award upon graduation. I can’t thank him and the school enough.”
Learn more about studying Chamber Music at Eastman by visiting us online. To view all upcoming events at Eastman, our Events Calendar includes the most up-to-date information.
Media only: Lauren Sageer, Assistant Director of Public Relations and Digital Content,
(585) 451-8492, lsageer@esm.rochester.edu
###
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.