There have been many significant accomplishments by women throughout Eastman School of Music’s history. In honor of Women’s History Month, we celebrate some of the incredible ‘firsts’ that have occurred in the last 100 years.
Historical information provided by David Peter Coppen, Special Collections Librarian and Archivist at the Eastman School of Music. This information is currently on display in Eastman’s Lowry Hall and can be seen in the forthcoming Spring 2025 issue of NOTES, Eastman’s alumni magazine.
1921 | Marjorie Truelove MacKown
When Eastman opened, there were four faculty members teaching music theory, one of whom was a woman, Marjorie Truelove MacKown.
Pianist and music educator Marjorie Truelove MacKown (1896-1972), a native of London, England, was one of the Eastman School’s charter faculty members, and one of four teaching music theory in the school’s inaugural year 1921-22. Over the years Mrs. MacKown taught both music theory and piano, continuing on the Eastman faculty until 1957. A frequent recitalist in Rochester and out of town, she gave recitals in New York City’s Steinway Hall (1929) and Town Hall (1930) together with her husband, violoncellist Allison MacKown.
1922 | Marion Berenice Eccleston & Roslyn Sylvia Weisberg
Eastman’s first two graduates were women.
Generally acknowledged as the “Eastman School’s first graduate,” Roslyn Weisberg (1901-2000) was an accomplished pianist who appeared as soloist with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and later won fellowships from the Juilliard Musical Foundation for three years in succession. Together with her husband Jacob R. Cominsky (1899-1968), she became one of the Eastman School’s most generous and prominent donors; their name is associated in perpetuity with the Student Living Center and with Cominsky Promenade.
1922 | Barbara Duncan
Appointment of Barbara Duncan as first head librarian of the Eastman School’s Sibley Music Library.
Native Bostonian Barbara Duncan (1882-1965) was recruited by the University of Rochester from her Boston Public Library position to serve as the first full-time head librarian of the Sibley Musical Library (that was the name, initially) shortly after the Library (est. 1904) was joined with the newly established Eastman School of Music. Barbara’s years at the helm (1922-47) resulted in the transformation into a full-service library accommodating the needs of a busy conservatory. Of particular importance to Barbara was providing for graduate research after Howard Hanson established the Graduate Department in 1927. Her six buying trips to Europe and her diligent correspondence with dealers abroad contributed to the development of a world-class collection of rare imprints. One of the founding members of the Music Library Association, she helped steer the MLA’s annual conference to Rochester in 1939.
1934 | Ruth Hannas
Ruth Hannas, Eastman’s first-ever PhD.
A mature learner upon her Eastman School enrollment—she had already been teaching public school music for several years—Ruth Hannas (1893-1976) earned the Eastman School’s first Ph.D. degree in 1934 at the age of 42, actually becoming the first woman in the United States to earn a Ph.D. in music. Her doctoral thesis was titled Evolution of Harmonic Consciousness: A Study of Pre-Eighteenth Century Technics.
A native of Greeley, Colorado, she was an alumna of the University of California. She taught at the high school level and the collegiate level before becoming the head of the Music Theory Department at the University of North Carolina Women’s College (today the University of North Carolina Greensboro). Throughout the 1930s and ’40s she was active in various social musical projects, including the Composer’s Forum and the WPA. Alongside her academic career, she was a prolific author of prose; a collection of her original work resides in the Sibley Music Library.
1941 | Alice McElroy Procter
The first woman to receive Eastman’s PhD in Composition was Alice McElroy Procter, ’41E (PhD).
Alice McElroy Procter (1915-1987), a native of Albany, New York and an alumna of Smith College (AM, 1936), earned the Ph.D. in Composition at Eastman in 1940 (three years after Wayne Barlow, ’34, ’35, ’37 had earned the school’s first composition Ph.D.). While a student at Eastman, two of her works for orchestra were broadcast nationally. Her Ph. D. thesis, Pandora: A Dance Pantomime, was an orchestral work.
She went on to serve on the faculties of Southwestern State College (Weatherford OK), 1939-43, and milton Academy, Milton, MA, 1962-78. Her original works included piano pieces, choral works, and songs. In addition, she compiled and edited a collection of piano music of contemporary American composers.
1943 | Louise Helen Johnson
Louise Helen Johnson ’43E, the first woman to teach flute at Eastman.
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1944 | Zena Gemmalo
Zena Gemmalo ’42E, (identified after her 1946 marriage as Mrs. Zena Baranowski) was the first woman to teach clarinet at Eastman.
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1945 | Bernadine Marie Thayer
Bernadine Marie Thayer was the first woman to teach trumpet at Eastman.
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1946 | Sister John Joseph Bezdek
Sister John Joseph Bezdek, C.S.J., ’47E (PhD), the first woman to receive the ESM’s PhD in Music Theory.
Sister John Joseph Bezdek, C.S.J. (1896-1990), an alumna of Chicago Musical College (B.Mus, 1924; M.Mus. 1933) and Fontbonne College (A.B., 1936), earned the Ph.D. in music theory in 1946 (five years after John R. Halliday had earned Eastman’s first Ph.D. in theory). Her thesis, titled The Harmonic and Contrapuntal Style of Orlando Lasso, dealt with the harmonic and contrapuntal style of Orlando di Lassus. She taught at her alma mater Fontbonne College 1930-82, serving as chair of the Music Department 1931-66. She founded Fontbonne’s first music festival in 1939; the college established a scholarship in her honor and the annual Bezdek Contemporary Music Award.
1946 | Flora Burton
Appointment of Flora Burton, Dean of Students, the first woman to serve in Eastman’s Administration.
A native of Zalma, Missouri and an alumna of the University of Missouri, Flora Burton (later Flora Burton Larson) (1906-1996) served as the Eastman School’s Director of Residences (1946-47) and then as Dean of Students (1947-72), becoming the first woman to serve in the school’s administration. Throughout her service she was actively affiliated with various organizations, including the National Association of Deans of Women, Sigma Alpha Iota, the Rochester chapter of Young Audiences, Inc., and was a past president of the Women’s Club of the University of Rochester.
1953 | Orpha Ochse
Orpha Ochse, ’48E (MM), ’53E (PhD), the first woman to receive Eastman’s PhD in Music Education.
Orpha Caroline Ochse (b. 1925), a native of St. Joseph, Missouri, studied organ with Harold Gleason (MM 1948) and earned the Ph.D. in Music Education (1953). Her thesis, Research Studies in Three Determinants of Organ Performance Ability and Pedagogical Implications, dealt with aspects of her chosen instrument. She held teaching positions at Central College, Western Illinois State College, and Phoenix College before moving to California in 1957, where she served for 12 years as Director of Music at the First Congregational Church in Pasadena for twelve years, and for 15 years as Lecturer in Music at the California Institute of Technology. She joined the faculty of Whittier College in 1969, retiring in 1987, and remained an active performer and spokesperson for the organ, the American organ in particular. She was the author of three authoritative books on organ history and performance, which become standard texts for organ students and organ builders throughout North America. She was a 2006 recipient of the Eastman School’s Alumni Achievement Award.
1958 | Anastasia Jempelis
The first Eastman violinist to perform on the May-Jaquet Stradivarius was Anastasia Jempelis in November 1957.
Virtuoso violinist Anastasia Jempelis (1924-2005), an alumna of the Eastman School of Music (BM 1946; PC 1947; MM 1948) and member of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, was the first Eastman violinist to perform on the May-Jaquet Stradivarius, which the Eastman School received by way of a gift in November, 1957. In a Kilbourn Hall recital on July 1, 1958, she appeared together with faculty artist, artist Madeline Bramer Ingram in works by Vivaldi, J. S. Bach, and Alan Hovhaness. A highly acclaimed local performer, Ms. Jempelis appeared frequently as soloist and chamber music collaborator, and as soloist with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the Eastman Chamber Orchestra, and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. In later years Ms. Jempelis’ faculty service included founding and coordinating a program in Shinichi Suzuki’s strings methods at Eastman; for years she wrote and lectured widely as an acknowledged Suzuki authority.
1962 | Mary Joanne Curnutt & Joan Marie Mack
Mary Joanne Curnutt (organ) and Joan Marie Mack (cello) were the first two women instrumentalists to receive the DMA at Eastman.
Organist Mary Joanne Curnutt (1927-2002), a native of Fairfax, Missouri and alumna of Cornell College (BM 1949) and Oberlin College (MM 1951), received the DMA in Performance and Pedagogy in 1962, studied organ with David Craighead. Her thesis was a translation of the tome The Organ: Its Tonal Design, Architecture, and History by Danish organ builder Paul-Gerhardt Andersen (1904-1980). She was a Fulbright Scholar in musicology and organ for three years at the University of Copenhagen (Denmark), also using that time to travel and study historical instruments in other countries of Europe. Returning home to the USA, she became an in-demand organ consultant and professional translator of Danish and German technical literature while continuing her recital work and also teaching at the North Texas State University School of Music.
Joan Marie Mack (1927-2021), from Rochester, New York and an alumna of the Eastman School (B.Mus., 1949), received the DMA in Performance and Pedagogy in 1962. The Transition Period in Violoncello Pedagogy: as manifested in Violoncello Methods (1961) was the title of her DMA thesis.
Enjoying a singularly long career, she was a performer and teacher for almost 70 years, teaching right up into her 90s. She played violoncello in several ensembles, including the Nashville Symphony (principal), the Owensboro Symphony, the Bowling Green-Western Symphony, and the Testore String Quartet. In addition to teaching in public schools and as a private Suzuki instrument, she taught at the Julius Hartt College of Music (Hartford, CT; today the Hartt School Community Division), Converse College (Spartanburg, SC; today Converse University), George Peabody College (Nashville, TN), Webster College (Webster Groves, MO; today Webster University), Butler University (Indianapolis, IN), East Carolina University (Greenville, SC), Brescia College (Owensboro, KY; today Brescia University), and Henderson Community College (Henderson, KY).
1972 | Jane Bowers
In the 1970s, several women served on the Musicology faculty on short-term appointments: the first two were Jane Bowers (pictured), Assistant Professor of Musicology (1972-75) and Priscilla Drucker, Associate in Musicology and Music History (1972-73).
Baroque flutist Dr. Jane Meredith Bowers (1936-2022) served as an assistant professor of musicology and music history (1972-75), one of the two women first appointed to Musicology. A frequent recitalist, she gave several performances on period instruments during her Eastman years both locally and out of town. Jane was later appointed to the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, serving for more than 30 years. She was a passionate advocate for early music as both performer and scholar; she was an organizer of Early Music Now and served on the group’s Board for several years. She was cited as a noteworthy music educator by Marquis’ Who’s Who and was a co-editor of the book Women Making Music (University of Illinois Press, 1985).
1980 | Barbara Butler
The first woman in the Eastman Brass Quintet was Barbara Butler, who taught trumpet here from 1980 until 1998.
Former Eastman dean Robert Freeman spoke fondly of the lessons that Barbara Butler taught while on faculty at Eastman School of Music. Butler was known to preach the importance of building relationships and cultivating artistry in her students. Currently, she is the Professor of Trumpet and Director of the Artist Diploma Program at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, and she has also taught at her alma mater, Northwestern University. As performer and as pedagogue, Butler has appeared worldwide as a solo recitalist and with chamber groups, wind ensembles, and symphony orchestras. She has been a member of several orchestras, either as lead trumpet or assistant lead, in Vancouver, Grant Park, Houston, and St. Louis.
1980 | Ellen Koskoff
Appointment of Ellen Koskoff, first Ethnomusicologist on faculty.
Dr. Ellen Koskoff was the first Ethnomusicologist on the Eastman faculty, serving from 1980 until her retirement in 2017. Her research interests included the role and contributions of women in music, including her book A feminist ethnomusicology : writings on music and gender (University of Illinois, 2014). Her twenty years’ research of Hasidic women and the role of music in their lives resulted in her book Music in Lubavitcher Life (University of Illinois, 2001). She has served as the first Editor of the University of Rochester’s Eastman/Rochester Studies in Ethnomusicology Series. Her embrace of world music extended into a special public service with her WXXI-FM broadcast feature What in the World is Music? which many in the local Rochester community remember with affection.
1984 | Ruth Watanabe
Retirement of Ruth Watanabe, the longest-serving Sibley Head Librarian (1947-84).
Ruth Taiko Watanabe (1918-2005), a native of Los Angeles and an alumna of the University of Southern California and the University of Rochester (Ph.D., 1952), arrived on the staff of the Sibley Music Library in 1944 and was appointed Head Librarian in 1947, serving until her retirement in 1984. RTW presided over tremendous growth of the library’s holdings and services to match the Eastman School’s increased enrollment in the post-WWII era. She possessed a legendary encyclopedic memory that enabled her to lecture in class without notes and taught the required “Historical Survey” course in music history to many students over the years. Her leadership set an example for the library profession both nationally and internationally, and ESM Director Robert Freeman praised her as “the spirit of Meliora” upon her retirement.
1989 | Eileen Malone
Retirement of Eileen Malone, the longest-serving female faculty member (1930-89).
Harpist, pedagogue Eileen Malone (1906-1999), a native of Victor, New York and alumna of the Eastman School (B.Mus. 1928), distinguished herself as the longest-serving female faculty member at Eastman, serving from 1930 until her retirement in 1989 (six years in the Preparatory Department and 53 years in the collegiate division). She was an exponent of the French school of harp playing, having studied with both Marcel Tournier and Marcel Grandjany. For much of her Eastman School tenure she was principal harpist of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Off-site, she was much in demand as a recitalist, both in a solo capacity as orchestra, and as an adjudicator at festivals and competitions. She travelled widely giving master classes and workshops. Her professional affiliations included the American Harp Society and the International Harp Society, sitting as a member of the founding committee of each.
1994 | Augusta Reed Thomas
Appointment of Augusta Reed Thomas, first woman to serve on the composition faculty.
Augusta Reed Thomas (b. 1964) was the first woman to serve on the Eastman School’s composition faculty (1994-2001). During that time she began her residency as composer-in-residence for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (1997-2006). In 2024 she was commissioned to write a work for two saxophones, “Bebop Riddle V,” honoring former Eastman Dean Jamal Rossi.
1995 | Armenta (Hummings) Dumisami
Armenta (Hummings) Dumisami, Eastman School of Music associate professor and founder the Gateways Music Festival, hosted the festival at Eastman for the first time.
Concert pianist, educator, and community activator Armenta (Hummings) Dumisami (b. 1936) founded the Gateways Music Festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1993 and brought it to Rochester shortly after her appointment to Eastman’s faculty in 1995. She served as President and Artistic Director of the festival until her 2009 retirement. A former Associate Professor at ESM, Dumisami served as the school’s Distinguished Community Mentor from 1994-2009. While serving at Eastman, she was instrumental and effective at building partnerships throughout the community by bringing music directly into the homes of Black community members, Black churches, and homeless shelters, while also fostering opportunities for young Black musicians to sit alongside professional musicians in rehearsal and performance.
1998 | Donna Brink Fox
Donna Brink Fox named the Eisenhart Professor of Music Education, which was Eastman’s first endowed professorship.
The Eastman School’s first endowed professorship went to Dr. Donna Brink Fox when she was named the Eisenhart Professor of Music Education in 1998. First appointed to the Music Education (renamed Music Teaching and Learning in 2016) faculty in 1984, Dr. Fox served until her retirement in 2022, during which time she was Chair of Music Education (1992-2001). Dr. Fox also made a significant contribution at the administrative level, serving as the Eastman School’s Senior Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs. She founded and directed (1992-2020) the Eastman School’s Orff Schulwerk Teacher Education course. An international authority in the field of early childhood music education, she also founded and directed (1984-2022) an early music childhood program for the Eastman Community Music School.
2019 | Elizabeth West Marvin
Elizabeth West (Betsy) Marvin named the Minehan Family Professor of Music Theory.
In 2019, Elizabeth West (Betsy) Marvin was named the Minehan Family Professor of Music Theory. Betsy served on the faculty from 1987 until her retirement in 2022; in that time she also served as Dean of Academic Affairs (2000-04). Her research and academic interests included music cognition, music theory pedagogy, theory and analysis of atonal music, contour theory, history of theory, and analysis and performance, in all of which she has published. Together with Jane Pipe Clendinning, Betsy co-authored The Musician’s Guide to Theory and Analysis, first published in 2005 by W. W. Norton; today in its 4th edition.)
2022 | Christine Jensen
Christine Jensen, the first woman appointed to the jazz studies and contemporary media faculty.
As a Downbeat Critic’s Poll winner for Rising Star Big Band, Arranger, and Soprano Saxophonist, Christine Jensen is constantly in motion. Her jazz orchestra recordings have gone on to win Juno awards, including Habitat (2014), Treelines (2011), and Day Moon (2023). She is a two-time recipient of SOCAN’s Hagood Hardy Jazz Composer Award. Habitat received the coveted 5 stars in Downbeat, along with being included at the top of several international critic’s polls, including Jazz Album of the Year in 2014. She is the current director of the award-winning Eastman Jazz Ensemble.
2023 | Sara Gazarek
Sara Gazarek, the first Associate Professor of Jazz Voice.
2024 | Kate Sheeran
Appointment of Kate Sheeran ’02E, Joan and Martin Messinger Dean.
Alumnus Kate Sheeran ’02E, an accomplished educator and academic administrator, professional musician, and executive director of Kaufman Music Center in New York City, was named the Joan and Martin Messinger Dean of the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music on July 15, 2024. In Eastman’s 100-year history, Sheeran is only the eighth dean, and the first woman to hold the position. She received an undergraduate degree, certificate in arts leadership, and performer’s certificate from Eastman, and a master’s in music degree from the Yale School of Music.