Organ & Historical Keyboards

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The tradition of organ study at Eastman has been extraordinary since the founding of the School. Organ alumni hold many of the country's most important church and university positions. Organ students are prepared rigorously for multifaceted careers as church musicians, teachers, and concert performers. Studies in organ literature and performance practices, organ maintenance and design, organ pedagogy, conducting, keyboard skills, jazz improvisation, organ improvisation, and liturgical music, in addition to a weekly Department Colloquium featuring guest lecturers and discussions pertaining to the profession, give Eastman students the skills they need to become leaders in the profession. BM, MM, and DMA degrees are offered. The DMA may include a wide variety of minor fields, such as sacred music, theory, music history, or conducting.

A Sacred Music Diploma program was implemented in 2001 by Eastman's Institute for Music Leadership for students pursuing a major in organ, as well as students in choral conducting, music education, and voice who possess significant organ skills. The diploma curriculum, taken in tandem with a regular degree program, includes study in the major area plus courses in liturgy, hymnology, and sacred music skills, as well as supervised internships in churches in the Rochester area.

In addition to performing in weekly studio classes, all organ students give annual public recitals and are encouraged to take advantage of the abundant performance and employment opportunities in local churches. The School's excellent practice facilities include nearly 20 organs of many kinds. The Schmitt Organ Recital Hall features a Van Daalen organ renovated by Dobson in 2000. A new pedal-clavichord built by the GOArt Organ Research Center further enhances the Eastman instrument collection. Currently underway is a significant long-term project to acquire new organs at Eastman, known as the Eastman Rochester Organ Initiative (EROI).

Recent guest artists have included Marie-Claire Alain, Catharine Crozier, David Fuller, Roberta Gary, Jon Gillock, Peter Hurford, Wilma Jensen, Wayne Leupold, Wm. A. Little, Ludger Lohman, Karen McFarlane, Peter Planyavsky, Simon Preston, Daniel Roth, George Stauffer, Freedrick Swann, Zsigmond Szathmary, Thomas Trotter, Jacques Van Oortmerssen, Harald Vogel, and Gillian Weir.