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.)
Lee Koonce and the Gateways Music Festival
(School Band and Orchestra April 2017)
Lee Koonce is the president and artistic director for the Gateways Music Festival and senior adviser to the dean of the Eastman School of Music. He grew up in the south side of Chicago and started out on piano at the age of eight. Like many kids in the Chicago public school back in the 1960s, he was handed an instrument in third grade, which was a violin and so he played violin (he says, “horribly”) in elementary school. When Lee got to high school, there was both a band and an orchestra. There he first took to baritone horn, and then after that played the flute and continued with the flute through college, playing his first two years in a symphonic band. The festival attracts professional classical musicians of African descent from the nation’s top orchestras, chamber music ensembles, and educational institutions – and has been awarded two grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Where did you go to college?
I went to the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio for undergrad in piano performance. Then I went to the Eastman School of Music, where I happen to work now, for a piano performance masters.
Hold Up! Renée Fleming Is Not Retiring From Opera
(NPR Classical 04/06/2017)
The key word here is “may.” Truth be told, Fleming has no plans to quit opera at all. “I never said that I was stepping away from the opera stage for good. Never, never, never did I say that to anybody,” Fleming insisted in a phone conversation from her home in New York City earlier today. (Also reported by RochesterFirst.com)
Editor’s note: Renée Fleming is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and a Distinguished Visiting Artist.
Quartet from Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra gets jazzy
(Chicago Tribune 04/03/2017)
A quartet of musicians from the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra will fill the Mayslake Peabody Mansion with the sounds of “All That Jazz” on April 6. “We decided that each member of the group should choose one tune of their own,” said Alison Gaines, the Elmhurst Symphony’s assistant conductor, who leads the quartet. The bassist is joined by cellist Patti Garvey, pianist Anthony Perry and drummer Kevin Kosnik.
Garvey said she chose a Fats Waller piece for the program because, “I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for old stride piano jazz. Back when I took jazz history at Eastman School of Music, my teacher started the class with Fats Waller.”
It’s Kim Again
(Oregon Coast Today 04/03/2017)
A familiar face will return to the Neskowin Chamber Music series this Sunday, April 9, when pianist Albert Kim steps on stage at the chapel in Camp Winema. . . . Kim received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard and a Master of Music and a Doctor of Musical Arts, both from the Eastman School of Music. He is currently on the music faculty at Linfield College in McMinnville.
Bloomingdale School of Music to Present NOTES FROM 108th STREET to Support Student Scholarships
(Broadway World 04/05/2017)
A highlight of the evening will be the performance of Jon Deak’s 1987 composition, Bye-Bye! performed by NY Philharmonic flutist Mindy Kaufman in the role of narrator and musician accompanied by a pianist. . . . Solo piccolo and flutist Mindy Kaufman joined the New York Philharmonic in 1979 at the age of 22, after performing for three seasons with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. She received a bachelor of music degree from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Walfrid Kujala, Bonita Boyd, and James Galway.
Pianist Jocelyn Swigger to perform Chopin’s Études
(Paso Robles Daily News 04/06/2017)
On Saturday, April 29, in the historic Paso Robles Inn ballroom, Pianist Jocelyn Swigger will perform all 27 of the famously difficult Études, or exercises for piano, written by Polish composer Frederic Chopin, are three sets of solo studies for the piano published during the 1830s. . . . Swigger is Associate Professor of Music and Coordinator of Keyboard Studies at the Sunderman Conservatory of Gettysburg College. She performs as a soloist and collaborative pianist on the East Coast, Europe and South America, and has bachelor’s degrees from Oberlin College and Conservatory and master’s and doctoral degrees from the Eastman School of Music.
See Buster Keaton film with live organ accompaniment
(Elmira Star-Gazette 04/04/2017)
The Clemens Center in Elmira will offer a screening of the 1926 silent comedy film “The General” starring Buster Keaton at 4 p.m. Sunday, with theater-organ accompaniment from David Peckham. . . . Peckham’s classical training at the Eastman School of Music has allowed him to pursue more traditional organ venues as well. He is the organist at the Horseheads First United Methodist Church, his role since 1985, and he has accompanied numerous choral and instrumental groups throughout the Southern Tier.
Trio Alexander to perform 2 concert in region
(Elmira Star-Gazette 04/04/2017)
The Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes will present the final performances of its 2016-17 Musicians’ Choice Chamber Series with back-to-back performances by Trio Alexander on Friday and Saturday. . . . Trio Alexander is flutist Caroline Sonett, violist Adam Paul Cordle and harpist Rosanna Moore, who met as graduate students at the Eastman School of Music. Aside from performance, the trio is invested in scholarly research with regards to performance issues and repertoire for the ensemble.
Sway along to the music of Reggie Thomas, SUU Jazz Concert
(St. George News 03/03/2017)
The annual Southern Utah University Jazz Concert returns Saturday with accomplished guest artists Reggie Thomas, Jeff Campbell and Dennis Mackrel. . . . Jeff Campbell excels in his career as a jazz and classical bass player. He maintains an active schedule performing with Marian McPartland, Gene Bertoncini, Rich Perry, Trio East, Harold Jones and the Eastman Jazz Quartet featuring Harold Danko, and has appeared with McPartland’s Piano Jazz program on National Public Radio. Campbell is in high demand across the globe and currently teaches at the Eastman School of Music.
Lakes Area Music Festival 2017 Season Announced
(The Northland Press 04/04/2017)
The Lakes Area Music Festival (LAMF) formally announced its ninth annual season this past weekend. The 2017 season will run July 30 through August 20 with classical music performances, education activities, and outreach activities in the Brainerd Lakes Area. . . . The season kick-off will be a community concert featuring musicians from the Lakes Area of central Minnesota on Sunday, July 30. The remaining concerts will showcase guest artists, beginning with an innovative vocal recital program curated by the Festival’s associate artistic director, baritone John Taylor Ward, on Wednesday, August 2. Ward, a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and Yale, performs with opera companies and ensembles around the world; as a co-founder of LAMF, he returns to Brainerd every summer.
(City Newspaper 04/05/2017)
Contemporary composer and conductor Juan Trigos may have gone under your classical music radar before, but now there’s no excuse. Trigos will be at Eastman School of Music as a Howard Hanson Visiting Professor, presenting two free recitals featuring his alluring yet mysterious music. On Wednesday, April 5, a concert given by classical guitarist and Eastman alumnus Dieter Hennings will include the Mexican-born Trigos’s “Partita” — a texturally complex and lyrical work — and “Twelve Variations and Fugue on the ‘Folia de España.'”
Eastman to host Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio
(Greece Post 04/05/2017)
The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio will be in residence April 17-18 at Eastman School of Music, 26 Gibbs St., Rochester. The trio is celebrating its 40th anniversary year during the 2016-17 season. Pianist Joseph Kalichstein, violinist Jaime Laredo and cellist Sharon Robinson will perform at noon April 17 in Hatch Recital Hall, and an audience Q&A session will occur after. (Also reported by The Henrietta Post, The Penfield Post)