Eastman School of Music Posts and Musings
 The Craighead-Saunders Organ at Christ Church, Rochester, New York. Caroline Robinson, a South Carolina native, is a first-year masterâs student at Eastman. After receiving her undergraduate degree from Curtis Institute of Music, she traveled to Toulouse, France, where she studied organ performance on a Fulbright scholarship. We discussed her decision to study in Rochester, the…
Erin Morley as Sophie in Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier (above) at the Met, and Kathryn Lewek as Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Magic Flute at the English National Opera. Every day at Eastman, we students hope that all our hard work will pay off in the future. We attend classes, practice our instruments, and receive…
We wish a Bonne annee et bonne anniversaire to the French composer Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) – shown above in a drawing by his friend Jean Cocteau. The combination of seriousness, lightheartedness, rich harmonies, and appealing melodies in Poulenc’s music has made it increasingly popular since his death. Here at Eastman we have seen recent performances…
“Here they are, in all their glory”: the Summer@Eastman team, left to right: Donna Mero, GerryAnn Westcott, Howard Potter, Jennifer Watson, Sylvie Beaudette, Jose Pedro Zenteno. Photograph by Gerry Szymanski Itâs always summer at Eastman! Indeed, it takes an entire year to plan and market our summer programs, hire the best team of directors, instructors,…
   Howard Potter has directed the Eastman Community Music School since 2002. That same year, Potter was also began his involvement with Summer@Eastman, and in 2013 he created a one-of-a-kind annual summer music camp at Keuka College. I discussed with him why Eastman@Keuka has become the perfect summer camp for young people interested in music.…
Renee Fleming is shown after receiving an honorary doctorate from the Eastman School of Music in February 2011. Soprano RenĂ©e Fleming (MM ’83) is constantly lauded as the pinnacle of the diverse, multifaceted, artist Eastman inspires us to be. For the âMusic that Changed Meâ feature in the Christmas 2014 BBC Music Magazine, she talked…
Eastman Community Music School’s String, Harp, and Guitar Department invites you to join them in celebrating 2014 World Violin Dayâa chance for future violinists of the world to learn about and try the most prominent instrument in the orchestra. World Violin Day will take place on Saturday, December 13, and will feature a beginning strings…
Eastman was deeply saddened to hear of the death of Derrick Smith, a distinguished baritone soloist and a longtime faculty member of the Eastman Community Music School. Mr. Smith died on November 18 after a heart attack. A 1988 masterâs degree recipient from the Eastman School of Music, Derrick Smith was known to Rochester audiences…
When not crushing opponents on the Frisbee field, the Beastmen (shown here at Fauver Stadium after their victory) are performance majors: left to right, Andrew Melchionna, tuba; Jeremy Potts, violin; Andrew Psarris, trumpet; Matt Blom, jazz trumpet; Jarryd Elias, percussion; Thomas Steigerwald, piano. Â Eastmanâs Ultimate Frisbee team, the Beastmen, is not very well known. We…