Here are some select recent clippings showing the variety of hits/mentions identifying musicians and scholars as Eastman School of Music alumni, faculty or students. (Note: Some links may have expired.)
Baroque Consort to Perform at the St. Charles Public Library
(Chicago Tribune / Aurora Beacon-News 03/16/2017)
Mark Ponzo holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music with the Performer’s Certificate. Dr. Ponzo is a professor at Northern Illinois University where he joined the faculty in 1990. In addition to performing with Antiqua Baroque Consort, he is principal trumpet of the Fox Valley Orchestra. Ponzo has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Elgin Symphony, Illinois Chamber Symphony, among others.
Meet Rei Hotoda, the Fresno Philharmonic’s 5th conductor candidate
(Fresno Bee 03/14/2017)
Rei Hotoda is one of six finalists vying for the opportunity to become music director of the Fresno Philharmonic. Now it’s her turn in the spotlight.
Education – She holds a doctor of musical arts degree in piano performance from the University of Southern California and a bachelor of music degree in piano performance from the Eastman School of Music.
Jazz: The moment when the journey begins
(Reno Gazette-Journal 03/16/2017)
Adam Benjamin moved to Reno three years ago to fill the jazz faculty piano position at UNR. He is currently UNR’s director of jazz studies and tours extensively and records with Kneebody. . . . He auditioned at the Eastman School of Music, and they heard potential that perhaps Benjamin was not even aware of. . . . Within a year, he had met Ben Wendel and Shane Endsley and began playing with them. He still does, they are his band mates in Kneebody.
Touro students attend medical conference – Coming Up
(Times Herald-Record)
Weekly free Cadet Chapel organ recitals at West Point will begin Sunday at 3:30 p.m. and continue through May 21. (There will be no recital on Easter Sunday, April 16.) The programs are about 35-45 minutes long and will highlight the tonal variety of the largest all-pipe organ in a house of worship in the world. The monumental Cadet Chapel pipe organ contains more than 23,500 pipes. The first recital will feature West Point Organist/Choirmaster Craig Williams and Staff Sgt. Bill Owens on trumpet. The March 26 recital features Marko Pranic of the Eastman School of Music.
Steven Pasquale Will Join Jason Robert Brown for Two Shows at SubCulture
(Broadway World 03/15/2017)
The concert series, curated by the renowned Tony Award-winning composer, lyricist, conductor, and director, Jason Robert Brown, incorporates an eclectic mix of material, featuring music from throughout his acclaimed career, along with new works in development. . . . Jason studied composition at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., with Samuel Adler, Christopher Rouse, and Joseph Schwantner. He lives with his wife, composer Georgia Stitt, and their daughters in New York City.
Chatham Choral Prepares a French Fête
(Cape Cod Today 03/13/2017)
The Prélude (in toccata form) will be played by another rising star from the Cape, Julian Petrallia, who also takes the organ part in the Requiem. Julian began studying the organ at age 15, learning his art from Joseph Marchio, among other teachers in Chatham. Currently he is associate organist at Chatham’s First Congregational Church and a sophomore at the renowned Eastman School of Music, pursuing a degree in organ performance. In 2014, he won third prize in the prestigious L. Cameron Johnson Organ Competition.
UMSL professor wins state musical composers’ award
(St. Louis Post-Dispatch 03/13/2017))
Zachary Cairns, a professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, has been named as a winner of the sixth annual Missouri Composers Project competition. . . . Cairns, 38, teaches music theory and composition at UMSL and has two degrees from Penn State and a doctorate degree from the Eastman School of Music. He previously won a project award, in 2015, for his orchestral work “Refracted Moonlight.”
Nyaho to perform at Omak PAC April 14
(Quad City Herald 03/15/2017)
OMAK – Audience will delight in the piano music of William Chapman Nyaho, who will perform at the Omak Performing Arts Center Friday, April 14 at 7 p.m. A unique cultural experience is guaranteed as this prize-wining pianist shares his African roots in an inspirational musical event. He has performed in Africa, Europe, The Caribbean and North America. . . . He received his B. A. in Music from Oxford University in the United Kingdom. After studies in piano at the conservatoire de Musique in Geneva, Switzerland and with Henri Gautier he earned a Master of Music degree at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.
Cordancia to showcase Mexican composers
(Penfield Post 03/14/2017)
Rochester chamber orchestra Cordancia will perform “Dialogos” to highlight works by Mexican composers during two performances April 1-2. The theme of the show is “Conversations.” Cordancia, led by conductor Rachel Lauber, will perform “Silueta como Sirena” by Eastman School of Music composer Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon.
GSO takes on 40-minute Brahms work for latest concert
(The Daily News 03/13/2017)
It takes nearly one year for a concert pianist to master the work, Zajac said. He feels quite fortunate to have guest pianist and Eastman School of Music grad Brian Preston to tackle the job. Preston had been at one of Zajac’s prior concerts and expressed his own admiration for the conductor’s gift. Preston said that if Zajac landed a job with the GSO — or anywhere else for that matter — that he would like to work on the concerto together. And so they are.