One of the legendary teachers and performers in Eastman’s history, the great American mezzo-soprano Jan DeGaetani, was born on this day in 1933. When she came to Eastman in 1975, DeGaetani was highly regarded as an interpreter of contemporary music, including masterworks by Schoenberg, Varese, Carter, and Crumb. By the time of her death…
The vengeful Puritans of Howard Hanson’s opera Merry Mount — as embodied by the Eastman-Rochester Chorus — take the stage of Carnegie Hall tonight, along with soloists,the Nazareth Bach Children’s Chorus, and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, all led by Michael Christie. (They shown here in last month’s performance in Kodak Hall.) Merry Mount is…
Jeff Tyzik, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra’s Principal Pops Conductor, is also an Eastman grad (BM ’73, MM ’77). A prolific composer, Jeff pays tribute to a number of “Eastman Legends” in his recent work Trilogy on Themes by Howard Hanson, which will be performed by the Eastman Wind Ensemble next Wednesday night, April 30,at…
Howard Hanson’s Merry Mount is a challenging opera to bring off, but the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra did just that last week (April 10 and 12) in its concert version, with help from Eastman forces including the Eastman Rochester Chorus, Eastman Chorale, and several soloists chosen from recent graduates and current students. Conductor Michael Christie of…
April 14 is the 54th anniversary of the opening of Bye Bye Birdie on Broadway in 1960 – the first musical composed by Eastman alumnus Charles Strouse (BM ’47). Strouse went on to compose such hits as Golden Boy, Applause, and Annie, not to mention the theme song from TV’s All in the Family, and…
This Sunday Eastman presents a recital by this year’s winner of the annual scholarship awarded by the Rochester, New York Chapter, The Links, Incorporated. The Links Scholarship celebrates the talents and achievements of an African-American scholar musician. This year’s recipient is sophomore Carmen Livada Johnson-Pajaro (pictured), an Alabama native and a violin student of Ayano…
Lotte Lenya (1898-1981) sang in a voice once described as “an octave below laryngitis”, but she was one of the great musical theatre performers of the 20th century and one of the supreme interpreters of the songs of her husband, composer Kurt Weill (1900-1950). Weill and Lenya are shown in the photograph above; the photograph…
…for the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra’s presentation this week of Howard Hanson’s rarely performed opera (in fact, his only opera), Merry Mount. This three-act piece was written when Hanson was director of the Eastman School of Music, and premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in 1934. The Rochester Philharmonic’s concert performance, conducted by Michael Christie, previews a…
Eastman musicians provide accompaniment for silent movies not just on DVD soundtracks, like Donald Hunsberger (see the Hunchback of Notre Dame posting before this one), but also live. This Thursday, April 10, Carl Theodor Dreyer’s landmark film The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), considered one of the great works of silent cinema, will be…
A new Blu-Ray DVD release of the 1923 silent movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame, starring Lon Chaney and (literally) a cast of thousands, features a background score by Donald Hunsberger (BM ’54, MM ’59, DMA ’63), Eastman professor emeritus of conducting and longtime director of the Eastman Wind Ensemble. In a New York…