The Eastman School of Music is thrilled to present some of its most exciting performances of the 2024-2025 academic year this April! Whether it be Eastman Opera Theatre’s Spring production of Golijov’s “Ainadamar,” a guest artist performing as part of an Eastman Presents Series, or one of our many student ensembles, Eastman’s concert halls will be filled with wonderful music. The performances listed below are free and open to the public unless noted otherwise. To learn more about the ticketed events, visit our box office website at EastmanTheatre.org or call 585-274-3000.
Eastman Wind Ensemble
Wednesday, April 2nd at 7:30 | Kilbourn Hall
The Eastman Wind Ensemble presents music by Augusta Read Thomas, Howard Hanson Visiting Professor, and Paul Hindemith alongside the Eastman Harmonie’s performance of Igor Stravinsky’s neoclassical masterpiece, “Octet, K041.”
Eastman Opera Theater: “Ainadamar” (Ticketed)
Thursday, April 3rd – Sunday, April 6th | Kodak Hall
This dramatic one-act opera centers on three distinct images, each pertaining to the tragic fates of Mariana Pineda, Federico García Lorca and Margarita Xirgu. This mythical story takes place during times of political unrest in the Uruguay of 1969 and Spain of 1936, ultimately stressing the importance of leaning on courage and humanity to maneuver conflict. Rochester audiences will get to witness this moving performance in the same season as its Metropolitan Opera debut in New York City. Tickets are not yet available for purchase but will be sold at Eastman’s Box Office website.
Eastman Piano Series: Anna Fedorova (Ticketed)
Thursday, April 3 at 7:30 | Kilbourn Hall
Ukrainian pianist, Anna Fedorova, is one of the world’s premier young pianists and from an early age showed an innate musical maturity and amazing technical abilities. She regularly performs at the world’s most prestigious concert halls such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall, Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, Tonhalle Zürich, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, Bunka Kaikan in Tokyo, and London’s Barbican Centre and Royal Albert Hall. To purchase tickets, visit our Box Office website.
Howard Hanson Visiting Professor Chamber Music Recital feat. Augusta Read Thomas
Friday, April 4th at 4:30 | Hatch Recital Hall
Augusta Read Thomas is this year’s Howard Hanson Visiting Professor of Composition. Thomas was the first woman to serve on ESM’s composition faculty (1994-2001), and she will return to work with students over the course of a week, presenting some of her own music in this Friday afternoon recital.
Musica Nova
Friday, April 4th at 7:30 | Kilbourn Hall
The music of Augusta Read Thomas, Howard Hanson Visiting Professor, is paired alongside that of the late Pierre Boulez, who would have turned one hundred years old just days before this concert by Eastman’s new music ensemble.
Eastman Philharmonia
Monday, April 7th at 7:30 | Kodak Hall
Jerry Hou ’15E (DMA) leads a program of masterworks alongside graduate student Yonatan Dvir, from Richard Strauss’s epic tone poem “Don Juan, Op. 20, TrV156” to Brahms’s fourth and final symphony.
Eastman Saxophone Project
Tuesday, April 8th at 7:30 | Kilbourn Hall
Saxophone students from the studio of Chien-Kwan Lin present the culmination of their work this semester as the acclaimed ensemble known as the Eastman Saxophone Project.
Eastman Brass Guild
Wednesday, April 9th at 7:30 | Kilbourn Hall
Students from all five brass studios at Eastman join together to perform music for small brass ensemble, including Henri Tomasi’s “Fanfares Liturgiques.”
A Concert Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Edoardo Bellotti
Friday, April 11th at 4:00 | Christ Church
The public is invited to join Eastman faculty and guests to honor the life and legacy of Edoardo Bellotti, Associate Professor of Harpsichord, through performances and tributes. A reception will follow the concert.
Kilbourn Concert Series: Trio Wanderer (Ticketed)
Friday, April 11th at 7:30 | Kilbourn Hall
Acclaimed for their technical mastery and an extraordinarily sensitive – almost telepathic style – Trio Wanderer is one of the world’s foremost chamber ensembles. They have collaborated with artists such as Yehudi Menuhin, Christopher Hogwood, James Loughran, Fayçal Karoui, Marco Guidarini, François-Xavier Roth, and José Areán, and accompanied world-class orchestras, in triple or double concertos. They will perform music by Mendelssohn, Schubert, Boulanger, and Ravel.
Repertory Singers and Treble Chorus
Sunday, April 13th at 3:30 | Kilbourn Hall
Graduate conducting students from the studio of William Weinert lead the students of the Eastman Repertory Singers and Treble Chorus.
EMuSE with Andrew Lewis, guest composer
Monday, April 14th at 7:30 | Hatch Recital Hall
Students from the Electroacoustic Music Studios @ Eastman are joined by Andrew Lewis, internationally recognized figure in the field of acousmatic composition. His recent work also includes more music for orchestras and ensembles, but retains a strong interest in the phenomenon of sound as raw material and the use of technology to realise new kinds of musical ideas. He is especially interested in spatial sound, in the relationship between ‘real-world’ and ‘abstract’ sounds, and in the phenomena of aural perception as part of the creative process.
Eastman Jazz Ensemble and Eastman New Jazz Ensemble
Tuesday, April 15th at 7:30 | Kodak Hall
In the final installment of this academic year’s Ray Conniff Jazz Ensemble Series, the large jazz ensembles at Eastman led by Christine Jensen and Dave Rivello share a night of music making in Kodak Hall.
Eastman Wind Orchestra
Wednesday, April 16th at 7:30 | Kodak Hall
First and second year students from the Winds, Brass, and Percussion department collaborate on a set of five diverse works.
Faculty Artist Series: Nicholas Goluses and Friends – A 70th Birthday Concert (Ticketed)
Wednesday, April 16th at 7:30 | Hatch Recital Hall
Professor of Guitar Nicholas Goluses performs alongside faculty members Bonita Boyd, Robert Swensen, and others in this special installment in our Faculty Artist Series.
Gateways Spring Festival (Ticketed/RSVP)
Monday, April 21st – Thursday, April 24th | Assorted Venues
Gateways Music Festival in association with Eastman School of Music, of the University of Rochester, celebrates the transformative power of Black classical artistry with its Spring Festival 2025 in Rochester, NY. Pianist Rochelle Sennet, violinist and composer Curtis Stewart ’08E, and the Gateways Festival Orchestra are some of the featured acts this spring.
Links Scholarship Concert
Sunday, April 27th at 3:30 | Kilbourn Hall
In this annual performance, the 2025 recipient of the “Young, Gifted and Black: A Search for Excellence Scholarship,” presented by the Rochester chapter of the Links, Incorporated, presents a solo recital in Kilbourn Hall.
Holocaust Remembrance Concert
Sunday, April 27th at 7:30 | Kilbourn Hall
This series of annual concerts was launched in 2014 by Wegman Family Professor of Violin, Renée Jolles, in honor of her father, Jerome Jolles, who buried bodies as part of a work detail in Romania during the Nazi occupation. He survived and came to the United States, where he finished his studies at Juilliard in music performance and composition.
Eastman Wind Ensemble
Monday, April 28th at 7:30 | Kodak Hall
David Maslanka’s celebratory Symphony No. 8 is paired with the world premiere Professor of Composition Riccardo Zohn-Muldoon’s guitar concerto, featuring Dieter Hennings ’05E (MM), ’15E (DMA).
World Music Series: Gamelan
Monday, April 28th at 7:30 | Kilbourn Hall
Students, faculty, staff, and Rochester community members present their combined work in the study of the Bali tradition of Gamelan.
Collegium Musicum
Tuesday, April 29th at 7:30 | Kilbourn Hall
Students perform early works from the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries under the guidance of faculty members Paul O’Dette and Chirstel Thielmann.
Eastman Philharmonia
Wednesday, April 30th at 7:30 | Kodak Hall
The Eastman Philharmonia, led by Brad Lubman, performs a world premiere commission by Assistant Professor of Composition Daniel Pesca and two pieces by Stravinsky—his “Concerto for Violin in D Major,” featuring guest violinist Leila Josefowicz, and his incomparable “Rite of Spring.”
Vocal Jazz
Wednesday, April 30th at 7:30 | Kilbourn Hall
To close the second semester of Eastman’s newly established Jazz Voice degree program, the students of two-time GRAMMY-winning vocalist and educator Sara Gazarek will perform in Kilbourn Hall.
Click here to view the full 2024-25 Eastman Presents season and to purchase tickets. For all other happenings at Eastman, including more concerts throughout the month of April, 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 comprising more than 170 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.