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.)
Eastman School of Music embraces major renovations
(13WHAM-TV 12/18/2017)
Rochester, N.Y. – The Eastman School of Music is excited about its nearly $3 million renovations. Crews will be gutting the upper two floors of the Eastman Community Music School in Messinger Hall. 24 teaching studios will be added, along with a new classroom, a keyboard lab, percussion and drum … (Also reported by Classical 91.5, RochesterFirst, WXXI News, Monroe County Post)
Six Rice Students Tapped for NY Phil’s Global Academy Fellowship Program
(Broadway World 12/13/2017)
Cellist Andrew Laven, 22, was raised in Boston and is a first-year master’s student of Desmond Hoebig, a Shepherd School professor of cello. Mr. Laven graduated from the Eastman School of Music in May 2017, receiving his bachelor’s degree with a performance certificate from the studio of Steven Doane and Rosemary Elliott. While at Eastman, he was active in chamber music and participated in master classes for Peter Serkin, Peter Oundjian, and the Ying, Brentano, Jerusalem, and Dover string quartets. He was also a member of chamber groups that were selected to perform in Eastman’s Honors Chamber Music Concert in every semester, 2014-17. Rotated as principal cello of the Eastman Philharmonia, Andrew Laven was also a substitute cellist with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and the New World Symphony. (Also reported by Newsroom America)
Album review: ‘Bluer Than You Think’
(City Newspaper 12/13/2017)
After reviewing hundreds of jazz albums, I’m always looking for something refreshing and new. An album by a band incongruously named Cowboys and Frenchmen seemed promising, and “Bluer Than You Think” did not disappoint. The group’s name was inspired by a short film by David Lynch, “The Cowboy and The Frenchman.” This offbeat take on the Western film genre is an apt metaphor for the group’s beautifully twisted approach to jazz. The disc is overflowing with unpredictable melodic turns, unusual voicings, and unorthodox rhythms.
The group’s two leaders, saxophonists Owen Broder and Ethan Helm, and pianist Chris Ziemba all attended the Eastman School of Music. They’re joined by Ethan O’Reilly on bass and drummer Matt Honor. Ryan Truesdell, who won a Grammy Award for his work with the Gil Evans Project, produced the album. Compositions, all but one of which are by group members, range from catchy melodies (like the title tune) to serial patterns (“Beasts”); from runaway horn lines (“Clear Head”) to beautiful ballads (“Lilies Under The Bridge”). The common denominators are originality and innovative improvisation.
Bach Consort goes full-fanfare in a crisp if orchestrally weak “Christmas Oratorio”
(Washington Post 12/10/20/17)
Washington Bach Consort presented the first, second, fifth and sixth of these cantatas Saturday night at National Presbyterian Church to a capacity crowd. Dana Marsh, director of the historical performance program at Indiana University Bloomington, conducted the four soloists, chorus and some 28 instrumentalists.
Marsh is the second of four guest conductors invited to work with the Consort this season, one of whom will be named successor to the group’s founder, the late Reilly Lewis. Marsh’s background is rich, spanning childhood experience as a chorister at St. Thomas Choir School in New York and Salisbury Cathedral in Britain, plus degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Oxford.
Eastman School of Music to host scholarship concert
(Monroe County Post 12/14/2017)
Eastman School of Music will present its 41st anniversary benefit concert for the William Warfield Scholarship Fund at 4 p.m. on Jan. 7 at Kilbourn Hall, 26 Gibbs St., Rochester.
The fund provided financial aid to more than 35 students since its establishment in 1977. Scholarship recipient Jonathan Rhodes will perform with Mount Vernon Missionary Baptist Church Male Chorus, ROCmusic Collaboration and Taliz Oscasio, of School of the Arts.
(City Newspaper 12/13/2017)
While a student at the Eastman School of Music, saxophonist Luke Norris was already turning heads. He won second place in Keilwerth’s Saxophone Idol Competition and third prize in the North American Saxophone Alliance Jazz Saxophone Competition. In the jazz world, he’s worked with Dave Liebman, Charles Pillow, and Tim Hagans, but he’s also lent his talents to Rochester rock and soul groups, ranging from Thunder Body to Danielle Ponder and The Tomorrow People. At the Bop Shop, Norris will be joined by Mike Baggetta on guitar; Tyrone Allen, bass; and Daniel Sunshine, drums …
(City Newspaper 12/13/2017)
The Eastman School of Music students who comprise the quintet Juniper Winds will head off-campus this Sunday to perform at the George Eastman Museum as part of the “Musicale: Performance Plus Series.” Maurice Ravel’s “Le Tombeau de Couperin” is the program’s main draw, but audience …
Cellist Amos Yang To Join Faculty Of San Francisco Conservatory Of Music
(Broadway World 12/14/2017)
Yang’s awards include the Performer’s Certificate at the Eastman School of Music and first prizes in the American String Teachers Association and Grace Vamos competitions. He was finalist in the Pierre Fournier International Cello Competition and was awarded the C. Jackson Prize at the Tanglewood …
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