The Eastman School of Music, of the University of Rochester, is excited to announce that Leslie Odom, Jr., the Broadway star of Hamilton fame, has been added to the 2024-25 Eastman Presents season. An Evening with Leslie Odom, Jr. will take place on Friday, September 27, 2024, at 8:00 p.m. in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre.
Odom has crafted an expansive career spanning multiple performance genres, earning acclaim for his distinctive commitment to storytelling. He gained prominence for his Tony Award-winning portrayal of ‘Aaron Burr’ in the Broadway sensation Hamilton and received praise for his performance as the soul-singing icon Sam Cooke in Regina King’s 2020 film, One Night in Miami. This year, Odom was named to Time magazine’s list of the “100 Most Influential People of 2024” following a much-anticipated return to Broadway in fall 2023. By starring in and co-producing Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch, written by the legendary Ossie Davis, Odom earned two more Tony Award nominations.
This concert takes place during the University’s annual Meliora Weekend, for which Odom is a headliner. He will perform songs from his five full-length albums, including 2023’s When a Crooner Dies, a collection of ten original tracks.
Tickets to An Evening with Leslie Odom, Jr., and all Eastman Presents concerts, are on sale now and can be purchased online, in person at the Eastman Theatre Box Office (433 East Main St.) or by calling 585-274-3000. To learn more about these performances, and other upcoming events from the Eastman School of Music, visit our Concerts and Events Calendar.
Media only: Lauren Sageer, Assistant Director of Public Relations and Digital Content,
(585) 451-8492, lsageer@esm.rochester.edu
###
About Leslie Odom, Jr.:
Leslie Odom, Jr. is a multifaceted Tony and Grammy Award-winning, three-time Emmy and two-time Academy Award-nominated vocalist, songwriter, actor, and New York Times bestselling author. With a career that spans all performance genres, Odom has received recognition for his excellence and achievements in Broadway, television, film, and music. Most recently, Odom made his long-awaited return to Broadway starring in, and co-producing, the new Broadway production of the classic American comedy Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch by the legendary Ossie Davis, which opened in September 2023 to widespread critical acclaim. Additionally, he stars in the highly anticipated sequel to the original iconic film The Exorcist for Blumhouse and Universal Pictures out October 6, 2023. Odom recently starred in Rian Johnson’s 2022 Knives Out sequel, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, which broke records for Netflix and is currently streaming worldwide. In 2020, he starred as legendary singer Sam Cooke in the award-winning Amazon film adaptation of One Night in Miami…, directed by Regina King. His critically acclaimed and highly lauded portrayal of the soul icon and musical performance of original song “Speak Now” earned him multiple awards and nominations. He also starred in The Many Saints of Newark, a prequel to David Chase’s award-winning HBO series The Sopranos, released in October 2021.
Well-known for his breakout role as ‘Aaron Burr’ in the smash hit Broadway musical Hamilton, Odom hosted “The Tony Awards Present: Broadway’s Back!” on CBS in September 2021 (2022 Emmy nomination). Additional film and television credits include Apple TV+’s Central Park (2020 Emmy nomination), Hamilton on Disney+ (2021 Emmy nomination), Abbott Elementary, The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, Love in the Time of Corona, Harriet, and many more. Co-written with Nicolette Robinson, Odom’s first children’s book, I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know, was published by Feiwel & Friends on March 28, 2023. The book debuted on the New York Times bestseller list at #7 in its first week. Odom is a BMG recording artist and has released five full-length albums. Released in November 2023, Odom’s fifth full-length album and his first of all-new original music since 2019, When A Crooner Dies, features a collection of 10 newly penned, original tracks that mark his most personal body of music to date.
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.