On a warm Thursday afternoon, Dean Kate Sheeran welcomed in the 2026–27 academic year during Eastman’s convocation ceremony in Kilbourn Hall, bringing together students, faculty, and staff for a gathering of music, reflection, and celebration.

The moment was infused with excitement and anticipation as Eastman’s newest class was welcomed into a community whose traditions stretch back more than a century—and whose sights remain firmly set on the future.

Dean Sheeran was joined at the podium by University of Rochester President Sarah Mangelsdorf and Provost Nicole Sampson. Sampson used the occasion to introduce several new faculty members: Evans Lam Professor of Music and Medicine David Greenberg, Assistant Professor of Music Theory Erin Johnston, Associate Professor of Harp Bridget Kibbey, Assistant Professor of Piano Pedagogy Sarah Rhee ’01E, ’09E (DMA), Visiting Professor of Conducting and Ensembles Donald Nally, and Visiting Instructor of Double Bass Brett Shurtliffe ’01E.

Together, the new faculty members bring an extraordinary range of experience to Eastman, from music and medicine to pedagogy, performance, and music theory, adding new voices and perspectives to a faculty already distinguished for its breadth and artistry. And Professor Nally wasted no time putting that artistry—and the spirit of the day—into action.

A PERFORMANCE FIRST: Visiting Professor of Conducting & Ensembles Donald Nally leads everyone in song. Photo Credit: Lauren Sageer.

Nally conducted those in attendance in a rendition of Samuel Barber’s Sure on This Shining Night, accompanied by student pianist Dominic Fiacco. Everyone from across the Eastman community joined together in song, transforming the hall into one collective voice.

The performance offered a fitting introduction to Nally’s first year at Eastman—and a reminder that at a school of music, community is not simply something to talk about; it is something that can happen in real time. “My first rehearsals preparing with Chorale and Rep Singers for the Barber were really fun and totally engaging,” Nally said afterward. “It’s a great piece through which to get to know each other!”

COMMUNITY, COLLABORATION, AND CONTRIBUTION: Dean Kate Sheeran asks the incoming class of 2026-27, “What can we do together that we could never do alone?” Photo Credit: Lauren Sageer.

That spirit of looking ahead continued beyond the music itself. In her speech, Sheeran highlighted a major investment in Eastman’s performance spaces, pointing to the significant audio and visual upgrades that took place in Kodak Hall this summer, thanks to a substantial $1 million grant from New York State championed by Senator Jeremy Cooney. The project, the first of its kind in the country, means patrons will immediately notice the improvements in sound quality—with consistent sound throughout the theatre leaving no bad seats in the house. Learn more here.

The theme of Sheeran’s speech then followed the three tenets of community, collaboration, and contribution. Citing the more than 250 ways Eastman students engage with people in and around Rochester, Sheeran said, “When it comes to bringing music to communities near and far, I’m quite certain that each of you in this room has experienced the special magic that occurs when you’re able to share music with people who don’t get to experience it daily, like we do.”

From there, Sheeran turned from the community Eastman serves to the community it creates within its own walls. She discussed the many ways Eastman musicians might collaborate, citing the recent release of In Plain Sight: The Black Anthology, an album spearheaded by Assistant Professor of Voice Joshua Conyers that brought together more than 40 Eastman students and faculty members for the first complete recording of all 42 songs in the Anthology of Art Songs by Black American Composers. The project offered a powerful example of what can happen when individual talents are brought together around a shared purpose.

With that in mind, Sheeran asks, “What can we do together that we could never do alone? The answer to that question may lead to your most meaningful work.”

That question also opened the door to Sheeran’s third theme: contribution, and the idea that the work Eastman musicians begin today can continue to shape the school—and the musical world—for generations to come. In thinking about contribution, Sheeran pointed to the historic formation of the Eastman Wind Ensemble almost 75 years ago by conductor Frederick Fennell ’37E, ’39E (MM), ’88E (Honorary), as well as the founding of OSSIA, the student-run new music ensemble, as examples of Eastman ideas that have grown into enduring parts of the school’s musical life.

INTRODUCING BRIDGET KIBBEY: Eastman’s newest professor of harp. Photo Credit: Lauren Sageer.

The lesson was both simple and ambitious: meaningful contributions do not have to begin as traditions. Sometimes, they begin as an idea, a collaboration, or a group of people willing to try something new.

And then, fittingly, it was time to hear some of that artistry firsthand. Next to the stage was Professor Kibbey, only the fourth harp professor in Eastman’s history, with a program that “married folk music to the renaissance and baroque,” she says.

Kibbey was first joined by Professor of Violin David Bowlin on Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Sonata for Violin and Piano in G Minor. Kibbey then performed her original composition Bards and Griots, a homage “to the musicians who traveled along the great global highway during the Islamic Era—snapshots of Persian, Turkish, and Celtic cultures,” Kibbey says. “It really gave me a chance to improvise a bit on stage, which I love to do, and show the expressive power of the harp.”

To round out a trio of works, Kibbey was joined by Assistant Professor of Violin YooJin Jang for Joaquín Rodrigo’s “De los álamos vengo, madre” (“I come from the poplars, mother”)—the lively conclusion to the Spanish composer’s collection of four art songs about love, Cuatro madrigales amatorios (1947).

The performance was a fitting finale to an afternoon centered on the many ways Eastman’s community comes together: across disciplines, across generations, and across musical traditions.

EXPRESSIVE POWER: Bridget Kibbey was joined on stage by professors Bowlin and Jang.

Following a rousing round of applause, the celebration moved outside, where Gibbs Street became the setting for the year’s first Club Eastman. Food trucks served up everything from yummy sandwiches to healthy bites and colorful smoothies, while students, faculty, and staff mingled in the late-summer sunshine.

Following an afternoon spent looking toward the year ahead, Eastman’s newest academic year was officially underway—with music already made, new collaborations already beginning, and a community ready to see what comes next.