Twenty-five years after the September 11 attacks of 2001, the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music turns once again to music and community as a way to remember, reflect, and honor those who lost their lives and those whose lives were changed by the tragedy.

At the center of the September 11 remembrance concert will be the Eastman Horn Choir, whose 26 student musicians will perform a program of music that Peter Kurau ’74E, professor of horn and director of the ensemble, describes as “sorrowful, but soothing.” The concert will also feature performances by Eastman alumni who now serve in the U.S. Army, including Colonel Ted Price ’97E and Army Field Band members Master Sergeant J.G. Miller ’06E and Staff Sergeant Morgan Chalmers ’25E.

The program will begin in a darkened Kilbourn Hall while a single horn performs Hermann Baumann’s Elegia (Elegy), an unaccompanied work for natural horn. From there, the full ensemble will perform Felix Mendelssohn’s “Mitten wir im Leben sind” (“In the Midst of Life We Are in Death”), followed by works that invite contemplation and remembrance, including a world premiere of a new work by Miller. The concert will conclude with an arrangement of “America the Beautiful,” by Miller for horn choir.

For Kurau, this commemorative concert is an opportunity to help a new generation of students understand an event that, for many of them, exists only in history books. “It doesn’t escape my attention that virtually none of the current students here have any personal knowledge of this tragedy,” he says. “We’re here not just to train musicians, we’re trying to train world citizens, too. And they need to know how important this event is. It can’t be forgotten.”

Kurau remembers that day, early in the fall semester of 2001, vividly. As the attacks unfolded, he was teaching—among his students was future Eastman Dean Kate Sheeran—and could hear the commotion around him. A large screen was being set up on Cominsky Promenade so students, faculty, and staff could follow the breaking news.

“I can remember hearing all this noise while I’m trying to teach lessons,” he says. “I still remember it so clearly. There were so many people huddled around the TV watching what was going on.”

Although Eastman remained in session that day, an all-school gathering was held in what is now Lowry Hall a few days later. On September 23, Eastman presented a free performance of Mozart’s Requiem in Kodak Hall, featuring more than 200 singers from Eastman and the Rochester community. The performance honored the victims and heroes of the attacks, with donations benefiting the American Red Cross.

Twenty-five years later, the remembrance concert offers a different perspective—one shaped by the passage of time and by those who came of age in the years after 9/11.

That idea is at the heart of Qualia Memoriam, a new work by Miller that will receive its world premiere at the concert. Written for three solo horns, horn choir, and tuba, the piece reflects three different relationships to the tragedy: one person who was already serving and would soon deploy to combat, another who was in high school and did not yet know how profoundly the world would change, and a third who knows 9/11 primarily through the stories of others.

Inspired by the adage, “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn,” Miller says his piece “allows both audience and performers to reflect on how the world changes before, during, and after their lives.”

“Eastman has always looked to the horizons of what is possible for developing artists,” says Miller, who is horn section leader of The United States Army Field Band. “It is an honor to work with the incredible talent found at the Eastman Horn Studio, and that lineage of military musical service continues today on full display.”

Miller will be joined by Chalmers, a member of The United States Army Field Band since 2025, and Price, who has served in a variety of operational, staff, and leadership positions and has been awarded the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart. Their careers illustrate different ways Eastman musicians and alumni have carried music and service into the world.

SERVING ALUMNI: From left to right: Colonel Ted Price ’97E and U.S. Army Field Band members Master Sergeant J.G. Miller ’06E and Staff Sergeant Morgan Chalmers ’25E.

For current students such as horn performance major Lilah Costanzo, the concert offers an opportunity to encounter an important part of American history through the language she knows best. “It is such an honor to work with the Army Field Band members, and I can’t wait to play my horn alongside them,” Costanzo says. “It feels really special to collaborate for this occasion, and I think we’ll create truly positive energy in Kilbourn Hall that morning.”

That sense of joy and community, she says, can coexist with the more solemn purpose of the occasion. “I think this concert offers an opportunity to pause and reflect on the sacrifices made that day, creating a shared space to linger in heavy, uncomfortable emotions,” Costanzo continued. “It is also a moment to appreciate our community, considering how we can lead our lives with kindness as we navigate our country’s social and political climate.”

Interspersed with the musical works, Professor Emeritus of Humanities Jonathan Baldo, Professor of Viola George Taylor, and Dean Kate Sheeran will offer words and remembrances.  

For Kurau, bringing together those who remember September 11 firsthand with those who know it only through history is part of what makes the concert meaningful. The music becomes a bridge between experience and memory, respect and understanding, connecting generations through a shared act of remembrance.

On this momentous anniversary, the Eastman Horn Choir will not simply revisit the past. It will invite a new generation to listen, bear witness, and carry its memory forward.

Horn Choir: 9/11 25th Anniversary Remembrance Concert
Friday, September 11, 2026
11:30 a.m. | Kilbourn Hall
This concert is part of Eastman Explores America.

*To learn more about The United States Army Field Band, visit their website.