The Eastman School of Music celebrates 100 years of outstanding graduates as the Class of 2025 receives its Bachelor of Music, Master of Arts, and Master of Music degrees on Saturday, May 17, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre.
“This year’s commencement is not only a celebration of our students’ extraordinary achievements but a historic milestone—Eastman’s 100th graduation,” shares Joan and Martin Messinger Dean Kate Sheeran ’02E, who is completing her first academic year as Eastman’s dean. “This is the first class of graduates that I’ve had the privilege of ushering into the world as their dean, and I am filled with pride and excitement for what lies ahead in the lives and careers of a newly minted class of Eastman alumni.”
Curtis Stewart ’08E, ’08 will be this year’s Eastman graduation ceremony speaker and recipient of Eastman’s Distinguished Alumni Award. While studying at the University of Rochester, Stewart earned a BM in violin from Eastman and a BA in mathematics from the College of Arts and Sciences. A six-time Grammy nominee, Stewart is a violinist and composer who serves as Artistic Director of the American Composers Orchestra, is a faculty member at The Juilliard School, and part of award-winning ensembles PUBLIQuartet and The Mighty Third Rail. As part of its recent Spring Festival, the Gateways Music Festival presented Seasons of Change, Stewart’s re-composition of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, garnering praise from audiences in Rochester and New York City.
“I gained so much inspiration, structure, and hope from the Eastman School of Music—through my teachers, my colleagues, and the artists who came before me,” Stewart recalls. “It is an absolute honor to speak at my alma mater and to pay that creative energy forward to the next wave of changemakers.”
Additionally, this year the University of Rochester’s Frederick Douglass Institute and Department of Black Studies will award the Frederick Douglass Medal to Eastman alum Lee Koonce ’96E (MM). This medal is bestowed on “distinguished individuals whose scholarship and civic engagement honor Frederick Douglass’ legacy,” exemplified in no small part by Koonce’s tenure as President & Artistic Director of Gateways Music Festival from 2016 to 2024.
This year’s student addresses will be given by Ashley Schlusselberg ’25E, ’25—who has earned a dual degree in voice and psychology as well as an arts leadership certificate—and percussionist Brandon Berlanga ’25E (MM). Music will be provided by the Eastman Trombone Choir and there will be a featured performance with Curtis Stewart and musicians from Eastman’s class of 2025.
The University-wide Commencement Ceremony will take place on Friday, May 16, at 8:45 a.m. in Fauver Stadium at the Brian F. Prince Athletic Complex on the River Campus, featuring a performance by the Eastman Wind Ensemble under the direction of Mark Scatterday. This year’s address will be delivered by Tommy Evans ’99, an award-winning journalist and NPR editor. Also on May 16, all University of Rochester students receiving a Doctor of Musical Arts or Doctor of Philosophy degree will have a graduation ceremony in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre at 2:00 p.m.
For a detailed listing of commencement weekend activities, please visit University of Rochester’s commencement website. Eastman’s degree ceremony will be livestreamed here.
The featured image of Curtis Stewart was captured by Titilayo Ayangade.
Media only: Lauren Sageer, Assistant Director of Public Relations and Digital Content,
(585) 451-8492, lsageer@esm.rochester.edu
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About Curtis Stewart:
Praised for “combining omnivory and brilliance” (The New York Times), six-time GRAMMY® Award-nominated violinist and composer Curtis Stewart translates stories of American self-determination to the concert stage. Tearing down the facade of “classical violinist,” Stewart is in constant pursuit of his musical authenticity, treating art as a battery for realizing citizenship. As a solo violinist, composer, Artistic Director of the American Composers Orchestra, professor at The Juilliard School, and member of award-winning ensembles PUBLIQuartet and The Mighty Third Rail, he realizes a vision to find personal and powerful connections between styles, cultures, and musics. He was awarded a 2025 Sphinx Medal of Excellence in recognition of extraordinary leaders in the classical music field who are transforming lives while addressing systemic obstacles within Black and Latino communities.
As a soloist, Curtis Stewart has been presented by Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cal Performances, Washington Performing Arts, Virginia Arts Festival, The Juilliard School, and the 2022 GRAMMY® Awards, among many others. He has made special appearances with Los Angeles Opera and singer-songwriter Tamar Kali; as curator and guest soloist with Anthony Roth Costanzo and the New York Philharmonic “Bandwagon,” touring performance installations from NYC’s Whitney Museum, Guggenheim Museum, and Museum of Modern Art; to MTV specials with Wyclef Jean; and sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden with Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, and Seal.
Both Stewart’s 2021 album of quarantined song cycles and art videos, Of Power (Bright Shiny Things), and his 2023 album, of Love.—a tribute to his late mother Elektra Kurtis-Stewart—were nominated for GRAMMY® Awards for Best Classical Instrumental Solo. His recording of Julia Perry’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra with the Experiential Orchestra (Bright Shiny Things) was nominated for a 2025 GRAMMY Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo.
Stewart has been commissioned to compose new solo, chamber, and orchestral works by the Seattle Symphony, Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, Carnegie Hall’s Play/USA, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo and members of the New York Philharmonic, The Knights, La Jolla Music Society, Sybarite5, the New York Festival of Song, Newport Classical Festival, the Royal Conservatory of Music, the Eastman Cello Institute, Orlando Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and more. In 2022, he was named Artistic Director of the American Composers Orchestra, a national organization dedicated to the creation, celebration, performance, and promotion of orchestral music by diverse and innovative American composers.
An enthusiastic educator, Curtis Stewart currently teaches at The Juilliard School and the Perlman Music Program, and for ten years led all levels of music theory and orchestra at the LaGuardia High School for Music & Art and Performing Arts in NYC. Learn more at curtisjstewart.com.
About Lee Koonce:
Lee Koonce served as President & Artistic Director and later as Senior Advisor of Gateways Music Festival from 2016 to 2024. Following the retirement of Gateways’ founder Armenta Hummings Dumisani in 2009, he chaired the Festival’s Artistic Programs Committee until 2015. He has been a member of the Festival’s board of directors since 1997, a testament to his long-standing commitment to its mission and growth.
From 2004 to 2015, Lee Koonce held executive leadership roles at three of New York City’s most respected cultural institutions: Opus 118 Harlem School of Music, Third Street Music School Settlement—the nation’s oldest and largest community music school—and Ballet Hispánico. Across these organizations, he led transformative initiatives to strengthen board governance, expand and elevate programming, grow endowments, implement long-term strategic plans, boost enrollment, and develop high-performing management teams.
Before relocating to New York City, Lee Koonce served as Executive Director of Sherwood Conservatory of Music and as Director of Community Relations for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. At the Chicago Symphony, he led the development and implementation of programs designed to expand the Orchestra’s reach within diverse communities. Under his leadership, the Chicago Symphony launched A Time to Engage—a comprehensive, organization-wide community engagement plan. In addition to overseeing external initiatives, Koonce also guided internal efforts to increase diversity across the Chicago Symphony’s entire ecosystem, including musicians, trustees, staff, volunteers, audiences, and artistic programming.
He earned a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Literature from Oberlin College, and a Master of Music in Piano Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music.
Musical America’s named Lee Koonce one of the nation’s Top 30 Professionals in 2023 and he received the League of American Orchestras’ prestigious Gold Baton Award in 2024. His additional honors include the Legacy Award from the William Warfield Scholarship Fund (2025) and the Award for Outstanding Achievement from the National Association of Negro Musicians (2024). In 2025, he will receive the University of Rochester’s esteemed Frederick Douglass Medal.
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 170 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.
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.