Anne Theodora Cummins Anne Theodora Cummins (1888-1977), who became the Eastman School’s first dean of women in 1922, was born in England and studied at the University of London, the Sorbonne, the University of Perugia, Harvard University, and Middlebury College. A member of the Eastman School’s humanities department from 1924-1953, she taught generations of students…
Catherine Crozier Called “an internationally renowned teacher and one of the most highly regarded organists of our time” by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Catherine Crozier studied organ at Eastman with Harold Gleason. Born in 1914, she earned her bachelor’s degree in 1936 and master’s degree in 1941, as well as both the Performer’s Certificate and the…
David Craighead Born in 1924, David Craighead, professor emeritus of organ and former chair of the Eastman organ division of the keyboard department, received a bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. In his last year at Curtis, Mr. Craighead joined the faculty of the Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey.…
John Celentano John Celentano, distinguished professor emeritus of chamber music, received his bachelor’s degree with Performer’s Certificate from Eastman in 1937, and his master’s degree in 1941. He also studied in Milan and New York City. Born in Montreal in 1912, Mr. Celentano served in the United States Army and Air Force from 1942 to…
Charles Castleman Charles Castleman was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1941. When he was only six, he appeared as a soloist with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra, and at nine, he made solo recital debuts at Boston’s Jordan Hall and New York’s Town Hall. He was a student of Ivan Galamian at the…
Abram Boone Abram Boone (1907-2000) served on the Eastman string faculty as a senior instructor of violin and viola for 26 years, from 1947 to 1973. After earning a bachelor of music degree from the School in 1929, he worked for Bausch & Lomb in Rochester during World War II and began his Eastman teaching…
Lynn Blakeslee Lynn Blakeslee was born in Los Angeles, and began violin studies at the age of four. Her teachers and mentors read as a stellar history of violin performance and pedagogy: Sascha Jacobsen (a student of Franz Kneisel), Efrem Zimbalist (Leopold Auer), Ricardo Odnoposoff (Karl Flesch), Franz Samobyl, and Sandor Vegh (Jenö Hubay). She…
Warren Benson A professional performer by the age of 14, Warren Benson (1924-2005) played timpani in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under Ormandy, Reiner, Goossens, Bernstein, and others while an undergraduate at the University of Michigan. He also was the percussion instructor there during his freshman year, 1943. From 1950-1952, Mr. Benson was awarded two successive…
John Beck A graduate of the Eastman School, John Beck returned to teach percussion from 1964 to 2008. Beck’s career as a performer and teacher includes posts as percussionist, timpanist, marimba soloist with the United States Marine Band (1955-59); principal percussionist with the Rochester Philharmonic (1959-62); and timpanist for the Rochester Philharmonic (1962-2002). He has…
Cherry Beauregard Cherry Beauregard, professor of tuba at the Eastman School, received his bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University, and his master’s and doctoral degrees from Eastman. After completing his undergraduate degree, Dr. Beauregard joined the Bavarian State Opera Orchestra. In 1962, he returned to Rochester to begin his graduate degree studies at Eastman, and…