As students return to campus for the spring 2025 semester, world-class concerts and events also return to the halls of the Eastman School of Music. These include our many student ensemble performances—which are free and open to the public—and installments in our ticketed Eastman Presents Series. Patrons can secure their seats by calling our Box Office at (585) 274-3000 or visiting the website EastmanTheatre.org.
JANUARY
Faculty Artist Series (ticketed)
Various dates, times, and places
Over one dozen faculty members will be performing in January and February as part of the Faculty Artist Series. To learn more and purchase tickets, please view our box office site.
William Warfield Scholarship Concert (ticketed)
Sunday, January 19 at 4:00 p.m. | Kilbourn Hall
The William Warfield Scholarship Fund celebrates Warfield’s legacy as a baritone and Rochester native by funding a scholarship for young African American classical singers. This year’s recipient is Eastman student Holden Turner ’25E, baritone, who will be joined by a lineup of acclaimed performers, including Grammy Award-winning baritone Kenneth Overton. General admission tickets are $50, fees not included, and $10 for students with URID.
Beal Institute: Visual Music 7.0
Friday, January 24 at 7:30 at 4:00 p.m. | Kilbourn Hall
This concert will feature a live to picture performance of the 1928 silent film Laugh, Clown, Laugh, presenting a new score composed, conducted and performed by students from the Beal Institute for Film Music and Contemporary Media. Additionally, this program includes the world premiere of “Vienna,” a 30-minute work for strings and harp, written by esteemed Eastman alumnus Laurence Rosenthal ’47E, ’51E (MM).
Eastman Ranlet Series: Ying Quartet (ticketed)
Sunday, January 26 at 3:00 p.m. | Kilbourn Hall
Eastman’s quartet-in-residence the Ying Quartet presents its second performance this academic year as part of the Eastman-Ranlet Series.
LGBTQ+ Celebration Concert
Monday, January 27 at 7:30 p.m. | Hatch Recital Hall
The George Walker Center Recital Series presents a celebration of LGBTQ+ performers and composers, featuring many students from the Eastman Queer Alliance (EQ).
Eastman Piano Series: Alexandre Kantorow (ticketed)
Thursday, January 30 at 7:30 p.m. | Kilbourn Hall
In 2019, at the age of 22, Alexandre Kantorow was the first French pianist to win the Gold Medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition, also receiving the Grand Prix, previously awarded only three times in the competition’s history. In demand across the globe, his debut recital at Eastman includes works by Brahms, Liszt, Rachmaninoff and Bach.
FEBRUARY
Eastman Wind Orchestra
Monday, February 3 at 7:30 p.m. | Kodak Hall
The Eastman Wind Orchestra kicks off the semester with works by Bryant, Bassett and McTee. The students of undergraduate horn quartet “Bells n’ Roses” appear as soloists on James Beckel’s “In the Mind’s Eye: Images for Horn and Orchestra.”
Eastman Wind Ensemble
Wednesday, February 5 at 7:30 p.m. | Kodak Hall
Professor Mark Scatterday leads works by Zaimont, Varèse and Kuster; graduate student Zachary Griffin conducts Leslie Bassett’s “Sounds, Shapes, and Symbols.”
Eastman School Symphony Orchestra
Sunday, February 9 at 3:30 p.m. | Kodak Hall
Jherrard Hardeman, Assistant Conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, returns to Kodak Hall to lead Eastman’s first- and second-year student orchestra on a program of works by Zhou Tian, Mary Watkins and Aaron Copland.
Eastman Philharmonia
Monday, February 10 at 7:30 p.m. | Kodak Hall
Doctoral candidate Rebecca Bryant Novak conducts the Eastman Philharmonia as they perform Saariaho, Britten and Sibelius’s Fifth Symphony.
Eastman Jazz Ensemble
Tuesday, February 11 at 7:30 p.m. | Kodak Hall
The storied Eastman Jazz Ensemble, one of the world’s premier collegiate jazz organizations, presents its first concert of the spring semester, led by Christine Jensen.
Musica Nova
Wednesday, February 12 at 7:30 p.m. | Kilbourn Hall
Brad Lubman conducts works by Pierre Boulez, Chen Yi and Sir Harrison Birtwistle.
Kilbourn Concert Series: Kevin Hays Trio (ticketed)
Thursday, February 13 at 7:30 p.m. | Kilbourn Hall
Grammy Award-winning jazz pianist/composer Kevin Hays has received critical acclaim from The New York Times, Downbeat Magazine and Jazz Times, as well as the “Coup de Coeur” award from the Académie Charles Cros (France). Joining him is bassist Alexander Claffy and drummer Eric Harland. Tickets are available here.
Eastman New Jazz Ensemble
Tuesday, February 18 at 7:30 p.m. | Kodak Hall
Eastman’s big band dedicated to performing repertoire primarily written in the last 20 years takes center stage in Kodak Hall under the direction of Dave Rivello.
Black History Month Showcase
Wednesday, February 19 at 7:30 p.m. | Kilbourn Hall
The George Walker Center Recital Series presents the Black Students Union at Eastman (BSUE) in a concert that highlights music written and performed by Black artists.
Friends of Eastman Opera Competition
Friday, February 21 at 7:30 p.m. | Kilbourn Hall
Rochester-based organization Friends of Eastman Opera continues its annual concert competition, featuring Eastman students and a distinguished guest adjudicator. The finalists who perform in this event will be selected by members of Eastman’s Voice, Opera & Vocal Coaching Faculty at a preliminary audition.
Kodak Hall Series Presents: “Titanic” LIVE (ticketed)
Friday, February 21 at 7:30 p.m. | Kodak Hall
Nominated for 14 Academy Awards, Titanic (1997) remains one of the most loved films ever made. The event will see the film screened in high definition, as James Horner’s timeless score is played live to picture by a full orchestra, featuring Eric Rigler on Uilleann pipes and whistles and vocal soloist Alice Zawadzki, under the baton of conductor Mark Watters. Tickets are available for this event on our box office website.
Repertory Singers & Treble Chorus
Sunday, February 23 at 3:30 p.m. | Kilbourn Hall
Dr. Philip Silvey leads these two vocal ensembles, featuring singers from Eastman and the University of Rochester’s River Campus.
Eastman Wind Orchestra
Monday, February 24 at 7:30 p.m. | Kodak Hall
Winds, brass and percussion students perform music from a wide ranging repertoire—from motets by Palestrina to 20th century composers.
Eastman Wind Ensemble
Wednesday, February 26 at 7:30 p.m. | Kodak Hall
Aaron Copland’s cornerstone “Emblems” is performed alongside works by Roshanne Etezeady and Michael Gilbertson.
Click here to view the full 2024-25 Eastman Presents season and to purchase tickets. For all other happenings at Eastman, visit our Events Calendar for 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
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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.
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, NY, 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.