Eastman School of Music faculty members, students, and alumni will play a part at several different venues in and around downtown Rochester during the eleventh annual KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival, running from September 13-24, 2022.
The schedule of Fringe Festival shows taking place at Eastman venues includes:
Friday, September 16
Eastman Percussion Ensemble: Theater Percussion | 6:30 PM & 8:30 PM| Kilbourn Hall | Tickets $10
Theater has long been an important art form for percussionists. Dating back to the works of John Cage in the 1940s, percussionists have embraced the idea of this unique performance art. The Eastman Percussion Ensemble will present a concert immersing the audience in this compellingly dramatic and entertaining world, including storytelling, miming, bouncing balls, and scraping jars! Don’t miss this unique performance by one of the country’s premier and award-winning, conservatory-level percussion groups.
Saturday, September 17
Across the Universe: Music for Yoga and Meditation | 7:30 PM | Hatch Recital Hall | Tickets $10
Enjoy an evening of music that has played a role in the yoga and meditation movements in the U.S. since the 1960s, featuring selections by John Lennon, George Harrison, Krishna Das and others performed an all-acoustic performance by Alana Cahoon, Chris Meeker, and John Covach in Eastman’s beautiful, resonant Hatch Hall. Audience sing-alongs will be encouraged, and a portion from the sale of each ticket will be donated to Lollypop Farm, the Humane Society of Greater Rochester.
Wednesday, September 21
Bruce Molsky: An Evening of Old-Time Mountain Music | 7:30 PM | Hatch Recital Hall | Tickets $20
Described as “an absolute master,” Grammy-nominated Bruce Molsky transports audiences to another time and place with his authentic, personal interpretations of rarities from the Southern Appalachian songbook and other musical traditions from around the globe. Best known for his work on the fiddle, Bruce’s banjo, guitar and his distinctive, powerful vocals also resonate with listeners. Join Bruce for an unforgettable solo evening performance in Eastman’s Hatch Hall.
Thursday, September 22
Hungwe: Mbira Music of Zimbabwe | 7:30 PM | Hatch Recital Hall | Tickets $10
Hungwe presents the sacred spirit music of the Zimbabwean mbira dzavadzimu. Born into a family of great mbira players in Mwangara village, Zimbabwe, Zimbabwean mbira master Musekiwa Chingodza began playing at age five. Chingodza and Eastman faculty member Jennifer Kyker have performed together since 1995, and they are joined in this performance by vocalist/percussionist Memory Makuri. “Our music is both medicine and food, as mbirahas the power to heal and to provide for people,” says Musekiwa. “Mbira pleases both the living and the dead.”
Friday, September 23
Ethel – Live to Picture with Empire Film and Media Ensemble | 7:30 PM | Kilbourn Hall | Tickets $10
The award-winning documentary, ETHEL presented with acclaimed composer, Miriam Cutler’s score performed live to picture by Eastman’s elite, Empire Film and Media Ensemble. ETHEL is a 95-minute feature-length documentary about the life of Ethel Kennedy. The film was produced and directed by Mrs. Kennedy’s Emmy Award-winning daughter, Rory Kennedy. The film is an insider’s view of a political dynasty, a personal story interwoven with some of the most important moments of the 20th century.
The following are additional shows in the tenth annual KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival which feature Eastman performers—faculty, students and alumni—in other venues:
Tuesday, September 13, 2022
Vienna 1847: J.K. Mertz’s Bardenklänge, Op. 13 | 6 PM | The Theater At Innovation Square: The Atrium | Tickets $10
This program is a culmination of guitarist Andrew Flory’s ‘22E (DMA) love for Mertz’s music, in which he dives into Mertz’s largest collection of works and takes the listener back in time to Vienna in 1847, when this collection was published. Vienna 1847 features classical guitar from Johann Kaspar Mertz’s Bardenklänge, Op.13. Andrew finds these works best capture the essence of Mertz’s music, which ranges from the melancholic to the sublime.
BIODANCE/Elemental Forces Redux | 8:00 PM | The Theater at Innovation Square: The Stage | Tickets $15
*Additional performance Saturday, September 17 at 6:30 PM
BIODANCE/Missy Pfohl Smith, Dave Rivello Ensemble and W. Michelle Harris reimagine this multi-sensory dance, sound, and media performance. Drawing from the elements of nature in the midst of catastrophic climate change, this show invites immersion in both the beauty and destruction all around.
Featuring: Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies and Contemporary Media, Dave Rivello
Friday, September 16
Girls’ Night Out at the Opera | 7 PM | CenterStage Theatre at the JCC: Hart Theater | Tickets $15
Uh, oh! Diva personalities collide during a bachelorette party! Girls’ Night Out invites audiences of all ages to experience the drama of opera in a fun, fresh way. This one-hour, cabaret-style performance will delight veteran opera fans and entertain the “classical-music-curious.” Come join the party, and experience opera in a new way!
Featuring: performer Yvonne Trobe ’17E (MM), director Emily Cuk ‘17E (MM), with piano accompaniment by Eastman’s Assistant Professor of Opera, Wilson Southerland.
Saturday, September 17
Mysterium: A Cappella Works from Around Pacific Rim | 3:00 PM | The Little: Theatre 1 | Tickets FREE
Mysterium, a new project chamber choral ensemble, presents a cappella works by composers from around the Pacific Rim. The program will include pieces in a variety of languages, including Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, and aboriginal Taiwanese. Members of Mysterium are Rochester-based professional singers, and the ensemble is co-founded and co-directed by Dr. Yunn-Shan Ma ’17E (DMA) and Dr. Bob Cowles.
Live Painting Live Jazz | 7 PM | CenterStage Theatre at the JCC: Dawn Lipson Canalside Stage | Tickets $20
Imagine listening to Miles Davis while watching Jackson Pollock paint … Live! Watch art created live by painter Nate Hodge, all to the sounds of the Herb Smith Freedom Trio. After the painting is finished, enter a raffle to win it!
Featuring: Herb Smith ‘91E, Director of Eastman Community Music School Jazz Orchestra Freedom Trio
Sunday, September 18
More Fire | 5 p.m. | The Theater at Innovation Square: The Stage | Tickets $15
fivebyfive presents “More Fire” in collaboration with More Fire Glass Studio and in celebration of the UN International Year of Glass (2022). Watch as More Fire artists create blown glass in real time, inspired by live music performed by fivebyfive, and take part in (safe) audience participation glass smashing!
fivebyfive includes several ESM alumni – Ken Luk ‘11E, ‘13E (MA/MM), ‘18E (DMA), Marcy Bacon ‘08E (DMA), Eric Polenik ‘06E (MM), Haeyeun Jeun ‘08E (MM), ‘16E (DMA), including a piece by Marc Mellits ‘88E
Night of the Stars | 7:30 PM | The Theater at Innovation Square: The Stage | Tickets $21
*Additional performance Saturday, September 24 at 6:00 PM
This show reprises the nightclub acts of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bobby Darin, Jimmy Durante, Louis Armstrong, and more. “Night of the Stars” also includes many definitive readings of the songs most closely identified with these famous performers. Frank Torchio performs the song and comedic impressions, and the 12-piece Russell Scarbrough Orchestra ‘swings like the Count.’
Featuring: Russell Scarbrough ‘04E (MM), ‘08E (DMA)
Tickets for all Fringe events, as well as more information on the Rochester Fringe Festival, are available on the festival website www.rochesterfringe.com. Tickets can also be purchased by phone at (585) 957-9837, or in person at the Fringe Box Office, One Fringe Place, located across from the Eastman Theatre on the corner of Main & Gibbs Streets, Rochester, NY 14604.
Media only:
Jessica Kaufman, Director of Communications, 274-1057, jkaufman@esm.rochester.edu
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About Eastman School of Music:
The Eastman School of Music was founded in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman (1854-1932), founder of Eastman Kodak Company. It was the first professional school of the University of Rochester. Mr. Eastman’s dream was that his school would provide a broad education in the liberal arts as well as superb musical training.
More than 900 students are enrolled in the Collegiate Division of the Eastman School of Music—about 500 undergraduates and 400 graduate students. They come from almost every state, and approximately 23 percent are from other countries. They are taught by a faculty comprised of more than 130 highly regarded performers, composers, conductors, scholars, and educators. They are Pulitzer Prize winners, Grammy winners, Emmy winners, Guggenheim fellows, ASCAP Award recipients, published authors, recording artists, and acclaimed musicians who have performed in the world’s greatest concert halls. Each year, Eastman’s students, faculty members, and guest artists present more than 900 concerts to the Rochester community. Additionally, more than 1,700 members of the Rochester community, from young children through senior citizens, are enrolled in the Eastman Community Music School.
The three-semester-long Eastman Centennial celebration began in Fall 2021 and continues throughout 2022. Highlights include acclaimed guest artists performing alongside Eastman’s ensembles; national academic and music conferences; alumni events throughout the country; a documentary being produced in partnership with WXXI, and more. For up-to-date information on the Eastman Centennial, including feature stories, future events, videos, testimonials, ways to engage, and more, please visit our Centennial website at https://www.esm.rochester.edu/100.
About the University of Rochester:
The University of Rochester is one of the nation’s leading private research universities, one of only 62-member institutions in the Association of American Universities. Located in Rochester, N.Y., the University gives undergraduates exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close collaboration with faculty through its unique cluster-based curriculum. Its College, School of Arts and Sciences, and Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences are complemented by the Eastman School of Music, Simon School of Business, Warner School of Education, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, School of Medicine and Dentistry, School of Nursing, Eastman Institute for Oral Health, and the Memorial Art Gallery.