The initiative includes an instrument drive through March 31, with several drop-off centers located throughout the city, and two fundraising concerts.  Instrument donors will receive a tax receipt from the Rochester Education Foundation for their donation.

“The Rochester Education Foundation collects instruments through its ‘Spring for Music’ program for city school students, many of which are used by students in the Eastman Pathways program at the Eastman Community Music School,” said Emeric Viani, president of the Eastman student chapter of NAfME. “We’re looking forward to a successful collaboration and drive to help boost the music programs for elementary and secondary school students.”

“We are pleased to collaborate with the public-spirited students in the Eastman chapter of the National Association for Music Education on this musical instrument drive to benefit city students,” added Patricia Braus, Executive Director for the Rochester Education Foundation.

Donations for the instrument drive can include any orchestra or band instruments that are in playable condition, as well as spare cases, bows, and accessories. Several drop-off locations are located across the community.

In March, which is “Music in Our Schools Months,” Eastman School of Music students will present two concerts to help raise cash donations for the purchase of instrument supplies. Performers include soprano Sarah Toca; trombonist Matt Norman; and Sound Exchange, a new student-run orchestra that explores alternative ways of presenting classical music. The concerts will be held on Saturday, Mar. 3, at 3 p.m., with Toca and Norman at Reformation Lutheran Church, 111 North Chestnut St; and Saturday, Mar. 31, at 3 p.m., with Sound Exchange at Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word. Admission is free; donations of $10 are suggested.

Donations of instruments and accessories can be dropped off at the following secure locations; please call locations for hours

Bernunzio’s Uptown Music
122 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14604
585-473-6140

Reformation Lutheran Church
111 North Chestnut Street, Rochester, NY 14604
585-454-3367

Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word
597 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14607
585-244-6065

St. Mary’s Church
15 St. Mary’s Place, Rochester, NY 14607
585-232-7140

United Methodist Church in Webster
169 East Main Street, Webster, NY 14580
585-265-9720

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Performing at the Kennedy Center will be, from left, Zachary Burgess, Melissa Fajardo, Adelaide Boedecker, Tom Lehman, Joel Dyson, Matthew Grills, and Elizabeth Smith.

The Eastman School of Music will present Voice of Eastman, a program featuring seven students from the Voice and Opera Department, as part of the prestigious Conservatory Project at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Sopranos Adelaide Boedecker, Joel Dyson, and Elizabeth Smith, mezzo-soprano Melissa Fajardo, tenor Matthew Grills, baritone Thomas Lehman, and bass Zachary Burgess will represent Eastman in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, March 7, at 6 p.m.

The program will include a wide-range of song, from opera and lieder to spirituals and musical theater. Favorite opera scenes from The Bartered Bride, Cosi fan tutte, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Der Rosenkavelier, and The Pearl Fishers will highlight the program as well as musical theater selections by Jason Robert Brown and Jerome Kern.

Eastman Opera Theatre presents three staged performances a year including works from Handel and Mozart to Britten and Sondheim. Eastman’s Voice and Opera Department also presents Opera Scenes Programs twice each year as well as student performances of song and concerts by the Eastman Chorale.

The Eastman School was one of eight founding participants of the Kennedy Center Conservatory Project when it was launched in 2004, and student musicians have represented the school in front of Washington, D.C., audiences every year since then. The semi-annual event presents talented artists in classical music, jazz, musical theater, and opera from the nation’s leading conservatories and music schools.

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The musicians, who are recording and prize-winning artists as well as renowned cathedral organists, will be featured in the Italian Baroque Organ Showcase Series at the Memorial Art Gallery and in the Eastman at St. Michael’s Concert Series at St. Michael’s Roman Catholic Church.

Kristian Olesen, Sven-Verner Olsen, Søren Christian Vestergaard, and Hans Ole Thers will headline the program at St. Michael’s Church beginning at 2:30 p.m.  Their program will feature music of Germany and Scandinavia on the church’s Brombaugh and Steere organs. Admission to the monthly concert series is free; donations can be directed to the church.

At 5:30 p.m. in the Memorial Art Gallery, Bine Bryndorf, Søren Gleerup Hansen, Yuzuru Hiranaka, and Sven-Ingvart Mikkelsen will present selections by Frescobaldi, Buxtehude, Scheidt, Sweelinck, Muffat, Lorentz and Radeck on the only full-sized Italian Baroque Organ in North America. Tickets are $10 (students $7) and are available at the door.

The group of Danish organists is touring conservatories and music schools in the United States to study the institutions’ music programs. They will be observing lessons and classes at the Eastman School of Music during their stay.

More information on the organ concerts is available by contacting 585-274-1564.

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Sunday, February 26
Eastman at St. Michael’s Concert Series. Organ faculty from The Royal Danish Academy of Music, Copenhagen.
2:30 p.m.
St. Michael’s Church, 869 North Clinton Ave.
Free, donations to church accepted

Sunday, February 26
Italian Baroque Organ Showcase Concert. Organ faculty from The Royal Danish Academy of Music, Copenhagen.
5:30 p.m.
Memorial Art Gallery Fountain Court, 500 University Ave.
Tickets: $10 (students $7), available at the Memorial Art Gallery during the museum opening hours, and at the door one hour before the concert (cash or check only).

The second concert of Season 3 will open with Schumann’s “Maerchenerzaehlungen” Trio for Clarinet, Viola, and Piano, performed by Eastman School Professors Jon Manasse, clarinet; Carol Rodland, viola; and Barry Snyder, piano.  Eastman’s Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs, Abra Bush, soprano, will be joined by eight Eastman cellists, including  Professors Alan Harris and David Ying, in Hector Villa-Lobos’ Bachianus Brasileiras #5.  The concert will conclude with Dvorak’s String Sextet, performed by Eastman professors Oleh Krysa, Rodland, and Ying, and their students Markiyan Melnychenko, Wendy Richman, and Jamie Clark. 

Rather than pay an admission price, attendees are asked to bring canned goods and non-perishable food items to help stock the Foodlink shelves.  Cash donations will also be accepted. 

The third concert of Season 3 will take place at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Friday, May 11.

Rodland, who is Associate Professor of Viola at the Eastman School, created If Music Be the Food  . . . in 2009 with the assistance of Robert Poovey, Director of Music at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, to raise awareness and provide relief for the hungry in the Rochester community. All proceeds go directly to Foodlink.  All of the musicians donate their services for these performances and the churches donate the performance spaces and assist with the collection of food and cash contributions.  The success of If Music Be the Food  . . . is inspiring other musical institutions in the United States to implement similar initiatives in their own communities. 

Foodlink is a non-profit regional food bank that distributes food to soup kitchens, shelters and emergency food pantries, and to non-emergency programs such as group homes, and senior centers. Founded in 1978, Foodlink serves a 10-county area in the Genesee Valley and Finger Lakes Region of Upstate New York. Foodlink’s mission is to empower at-risk communities by providing food, nutrition, education and resources in Central and Western New York. Today, the food bank serves nearly 90,000 meals each week or a total of 4.5 million meals annually.

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Two Eastman School of Music graduates were recognized in the 54th Grammy Awards:  Robert (Bob) Ludwig (BM ’66 music education and MM ’01 trumpet) was honored for Best Surround Sound Album and Christopher Lamb (BM ’81) won for Best Classical Instrumental Solo.

Ludwig was the surround mastering engineer on the album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. Before opening up his own business, Gateway Mastering Studios, Inc., in 1993, he worked at A&R Recording, Sterling Sound, and Masterdisk Corporation.

Ludwig has worked on projects for such artists as The Band, Jimi Hendrix, U2, Phil Collins, Sting, The Police, Bryan Adams, Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, and many more, and has mastered countless Gold and Platinum records. A respected figure in the music industry, he has won numerous TEC (Technical Excellence and Creativity) Awards and is in demand as a panelist and speaker at universities and professional organizations. He is the author of technical articles and has been the subject of stories in such publications as the New York Times, Boston Globe, and USA Today.

Previously, Ludwig has won a Latin Grammy and a Grammy for Best Surround Recording. This year, he was also nominated for an engineering award for the album Music is Better than Words in the category of Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical; the award in that category went to the engineers of the album Paper Airplane.

Lamb, who has been principal percussionist of the New York Philharmonic since joining the orchestra in 1985, received the Grammy for his work in Joseph Schwanter’s Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra. The work appears on the CD Schwantner: Chasing Light, recorded with the Nashville Symphony.

Lamb was a member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Buffalo Philharmonic before joining the New York Philharmonic.  He has given the world premieres of Schwantner’s Percussion Concerto, Tan Dun’s Concerto for Water Percussion, and Susan Botti’s EchoTempo for Soprano, Percussion, and Orchestra.

The recipient of a Fulbright Scholar Award to lecture and conduct research in Australia,  Lamb has been on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music since 1989 and has given master classes and clinics throughout the United States and abroad.  He has recorded chamber works on the New World, Cala, and CRI labels.

The Grammys were awarded Sunday, Feb. 12, in Los Angeles.

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The instrument drive will take place from Feb. 1 to March 31. Donations can include any orchestra or band instruments that are in playable condition, as well as spare cases, bows, and accessories. Several drop-off locations are located across the community.

In March, which is “Music in Our Schools Months,” Eastman School of Music students will present two concerts to help raise cash donations for the purchase of instrument supplies. Performers include soprano Sarah Toca; trombonist Matt Norman; and Sound Exchange, a new student-run orchestra that explores alternative ways of presenting classical music. The concerts will be held on Saturday, Mar. 3, at 3 p.m., with Toca and Norman at Reformation Lutheran Church, 111 North Chestnut St; and Saturday, Mar. 31, at 3 p.m., with Sound Exchange at Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word. Admission is free; donations of $10 are suggested.

Donations of instruments and accessories can be dropped off at the following secure locations; please call locations for hours:

Bernunzio’s Uptown Music
122 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14604
585-473-6140

Reformation Lutheran Church
111 North Chestnut Street, Rochester, NY 14604
585-454-3367

Lutheran Church of the Incarnate Word
597 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14607
585-244-6065

St. Mary’s Church
15 St. Mary’s Place, Rochester, NY 14607
585-232-7140

United Methodist Church in Webster
169 East Main Street, Webster, NY 14580
585-265-9720

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“(Violinist Itzhak) Perlman sends me a photo every year of his growing family,” Zeitlin noted, pointing out a compilation of snapshots of Perlman’s children and grandchildren. Another picture shows composer Aaron Copland and Zeitlin sitting together in Zeitlin’s home. A photo taken in Tel Aviv during an Israel Philharmonic rehearsal shows Igor Stravinsky – who said of Zeitlin that “his gifts deserve the widest recognition” – discussing his score with the violinist.

There are many more, including a shot of Zeitlin with composer-conductor Serge Koussevitzky in Tanglewood in 1950; in a concert tour under composer-conductor Gunther Schuller; on the Carnegie Hall stage with Olga Koussevitzky and then-Israeli ambassador to the United States Abba Eban, when Zeitlin received an award for his musical contributions and service to both countries; and a photo and letter from Yehudi Menuhin. In a prime location on the wall are two pictures: one of Zeitlin with conductor Leonard Bernstein and one with cellist Pablo Casals, both of whom played major roles in helping to launch his career in his early days.  There are snapshots of some of the hundreds of students he’s taught, many of whom hold leading positions in orchestras, chamber groups, and universities around the globe.

In a career full of milestones, Zeitlin will mark yet another. On the eve of his 90th birthday (on Feb. 21), he will give a full recital, a feat which few violinists have attempted beyond their seventies. The program of Schubert works, which will be presented at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 19, in Eastman’s Kilbourn Hall, marks his “Farewell Faculty Recital” prior to retiring after 45 years of teaching at the School. He’ll be joined by fellow Eastman faculty member Barry Snyder, piano, and a quartet of Eastman students.

Asked to share some words about his friend for the occasion, Perlman wrote, “Dear Zvi, Your insatiable intellectual curiosity has always played a major part in your life and made you the wonderful musician and teacher that you are. Congratulations on all the years of great music making and giving back to your students. Teaching is a mitzvah and you are fulfilling it and will continue to do so I am sure. Mazal Tov.”

Said Douglas Lowry, the Joan and Martin Messinger Dean of the Eastman School of Music, “Throughout Zvi Zeitlin’s remarkable career, he has exemplified the highest standards of artistry and teaching. His deep knowledge of violin playing has been informed by not only his insightful powers of observation and musicianship, but his being a force in these evolving traditions. The impact of his teaching is evidenced by the many former students who occupy some of the most prestigious musical posts throughout the world.”

Extensive Performance, Teaching Activities
Zeitlin’s resume spans almost eight decades. At age 11, he became the youngest scholarship student in the history of the Juilliard School. When he was 80, the Toronto Star hailed him as “one of the violin world’s grand old men, a true musical Methuselah.” He has performed with most of the great orchestras of the world under such conductors as Leonard Bernstein, Zubin Mehta, Christoph von Dohnanyi, James Levine, Pierre Boulez, Lorin Maazel, Rafael Kubelik, Jascha Horenstein, Antal Dorati, and many others. He has frequently toured Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Latin America. The New York Times described one of Zeitlin’s concerts as an “aristocratically romantic performance transformed into universal truth and beauty,” while the London Times wrote he displayed “a superlative exhibition of violin playing, a remarkable example of how an absolutely assured technique can be put to the service of the music in question.”

Among the world premieres Zeitlin has given are the concerti of Gunther Schuller, Paul Ben Haim, and Carlos Surinach – all of which were commissioned for him, by the Eastman School, Israel Philharmonic, and Music Academy of the West, respectively. His discography includes all of Stravinsky’s violin and piano works, the Schoenberg Concerto, and American composers such as Samuel Adler, Aaron Copland, Jacob Druckman, Lukas Foss, Verne Reynolds, and George Rochberg.

Zeitlin’s pedagogical activities are as expansive as his concertizing. In 1967, he was invited to join the faculty of Eastman by the School’s director, Walter Hendl, a conductor with whom Zeitlin had performed. In the ensuing years, he was named the School’s first Kilbourn Professor in 1974 and Distinguished Professor of Violin in 1998. In 2004, he received the University of Rochester’s Edward Peck Curtis Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.

In addition, Zeitlin has been on the faculty of the Music Academy of the West since 1973. He holds annual master classes in Great Britain at the Royal Academy of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and Yehudi Menuhin School. He has taught in Japan, Korea, China, Israel, Germany, Norway, and throughout the United States and Canada.

Zeitlin’s former students include San Diego Symphony Concertmaster Jeff Thayer, who stated, “I consider him to be responsible, in great part, for who I am today as a musician and human being. I cannot imagine getting the kind of dedication that he gave to me and to his other students from many other people.  He is one of the great artists of his generation, and I know that every violinist who spent time in his studio would acknowledge that.” Recollecting his studies with Zeitlin, Thayer said, “I fondly recall sitting for hours in his studio, just listening to the great old violinists in his wonderful LP collection. This was an education in itself. In addition, he educated us with stories and bits of information from his vast experience and connection to the older generations of musicians.”

Thayer is now also a colleague of Zeitlin’s at the Music Academy of the West, where he once told his former teacher about an upcoming performance of the Goldmark Violin Concerto.  “It was he who introduced this piece to me when I was studying with him at Eastman,” Thayer said. “He proceeded to pick up his violin and play through the entire first movement from memory. I don’t know many minds as great as his – this is just one example of his genius.”

Former student Catherine Van Hoesen, who has played in the first violin section of the San Francisco Symphony for 30 years, began studying with Zeitlin was she was 14. Even at that young age, Van Hoesen recalled, Zeitlin “showed me what to do, demanded I do it, and insisted I get it right the first time. He taught me how to listen and how to concentrate. He insisted I focus on whatever new event I needed to do. Even if it was new information, he showed me how with proper thought I could get it right away with the right mind. He insisted I do this every time I played anything for him.” Today, Van Hoesen keeps a signed photograph of Zeitlin in her teaching studio at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Roots across Several Continents
Zeitlin was born in the Soviet Union, in the Belorussian town of Dubrovna. When he was two, the Communist government exiled his family for possessing Zionist literature. Growing up in British-ruled Palestine, Zeitlin pursued his talent for violin. After receiving a diploma and postgraduate diploma from Juilliard on the eve of World War II, Zeitlin returned to Palestine, began concertizing, and attended the Hebrew University in Judaic Studies. He joined the Royal Air Force in 1943, performing for British, American, and Soviet troops throughout the Middle East.

After the war, Zeitlin returned to Juilliard in the fall of 1947 and continued his studies with Sascha Jacobsen, Louis Persinger, and Ivan Galamian. He gave his professional New York debut recital in 1951, and has been on the go since then.

Though he still carries a full teaching load at Eastman and continues to give master classes, Zeitlin has stopped touring. Asked if he has any advice for professional longevity, he offered thoughtfully: “Work consistently and seriously. Make sure you have a good teacher. Make sure you keep developing your horizons and intellect. Practice consistently and do it intelligently.”

Good words to heed from an artist who has lived them.

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Sunday, February 19
Eastman School of Music Faculty Artist Series: Farewell Recital,  Zvi Zeitlin, violin. With Barry Snyder, piano; John Irrera and Samantha Moraes, violin; Kelsey Farr, viola; Austin Fisher, cello. Schubert: Sonata (Duo) in A Major; Fantasie in C, D 934, Op. Post 159; Rondo in A Major
3 p.m.
Kilbourn Hall, 26 Gibbs St.
Tickets: $10, free to UR ID holders; available at the door.

Before joining the Eastman faculty in 1966, Professor Maloy sang more than 1,000 performances with opera companies throughout Germany and Switzerland, including leading tenor roles in Bremerhaven, Gelsenkirchen, Wuppertal, and Berne. He also gave Lieder song recitals over North German and Austrian radio, did concert appearances in Spain, and made recordings in London.  

At Eastman, Professor Maloy served as chair of Eastman’s voice department from 1977 to 2002 and received the School’s Eisenhart Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2003. He retired in 2005 and was named Professor Emeritus of Voice that same year. 

“John Maloy led the Voice Department with grace, dignity, and an honorable professionalism that inspired the best in all of us, solving problems and meeting challenges, all while teaching a full load,” said Professor of Voice Carol Webber.  “His natural elegance and great intellect informed everything he did. A master teacher of singing, he also taught German diction with magical results, coaching all comers from all studios, not just his own, and set the standard for excellence in the Kneisel German Lieder Competition. He was proud of every one of his students. His legacy lives on in each of them.” 

Said Netherlands-based American soprano Claron McFadden about Professor Maloy, “I am what I am today and do what I do because of him and I will be eternally grateful,” while Professor of Voice Rita Shane described him as the “heart and soul of (Eastman’s) voice department.” 

Over the course of his career, Professor Maloy amassed a repertoire of 35 operatic and 10 oratorio roles. He continued to perform while teaching, appearing as a soloist with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and in the popular summer series “Opera Under the Stars,” held in Rochester’s Highland Park. He gave recitals and sang as a guest soloist with Eastman School ensembles. 

Professor Maloy also joined the casts of Eastman Opera productions, including The Magic Flute and Albert Herring in 1966. In 1973, he appeared in The Truth About Windmills, a one-act opera about three residents of an old age home. The production was only the third performance of the work, which had a score by Alec Wilder and libretto by Arnold Sundgaard. Opera News, which reviewed the performance, noted that “Maloy’s spunky Mr. Traherne (emerges) as the most sympathetic characterization.” 

In 1976, he sang the role of the barber in The Disappointment: or The Force of Credulity. Written in 1767, the work is considered America’s first ballad opera, setting lyrics to popular tunes of the period. The setting of original tunes was written by composer and Eastman faculty member Samuel Adler. 

“John Maloy’s presence continues to be felt in the voice and opera department,” said Steven Daigle, department chair. “His leadership and influence on all the students he nurtured and taught during his long tenure at the Eastman School of Music will have a lasting impact on vocal music throughout the world. Those who had the good fortune to work with John will remember his sincere generosity, positive spirit, and selflessness.” 

Born on Oct. 12, 1930, in St. Joseph, Missouri, Professor Maloy spent his early years in Shenandoah, Iowa, and began singing in high school there. In 1955, he received his Bachelor of Music Degree in voice performance from the University of Indiana, where his first operatic roles included Wagner’s Parsifal. After two years of service in the Army, he continued his operatic studies at the University of Southern California, and spent the year 1957-1958 at the Hochschule fur Musik in Hamburg, Germany, on a Fulbright grant. Professor Maloy was a member of Phi Kappa Lambda, the American Association of University Professors, and the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and served on the National Screening Committee for Fulbright Awards in Voice.

Professor Maloy is survived by his wife, Charlotte; daughter Caroline M. (Mark) Rohlin; grandchildren Andrew and Carly Rohlin; and cousin Judy Hynnek. A funeral service was held on Monday, Jan., 16, in Rochester. Contributions in his memory may be made to the John T. Maloy Scholarship Fund at the Eastman School of Music and sent to: Eastman School of Music, Office of Advancement, 26 Gibbs Street, Rochester, NY 14604.  Checks may be made payable to “Eastman School of Music” with “John Maloy Scholarship” in the memo line.

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