{"id":9050,"date":"2021-09-20T04:30:51","date_gmt":"2021-09-20T08:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/?p=9050"},"modified":"2025-10-07T10:50:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T14:50:22","slug":"robert-freeman-inauguration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/2021\/09\/robert-freeman-inauguration\/","title":{"rendered":"September 20th-26th: Robert Freeman inauguration and more"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1726755858602{background-color: #ffffff !important;}”]Published on Sep 20th, 2021<\/em><\/p>\n

Back to This Week at Eastman<\/a><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” css=”.vc_custom_1632153252687{background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1726770066913{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_custom_heading text=”1973: Inauguration of Robert Freeman as Director” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text css=””]\"\"<\/a>The inauguration of Robert Freeman as the Eastman School\u2019s fourth Director on September 20th, 1973 marked the beginning of a new era for the school. The evening ceremony in the Eastman Theater concluded two days of festivities which are outlined in the\u00a0Inauguration program, here presented in its entirety. The inauguration events had begun on September 19th with musical performances and with a highly publicized panel discussion in Kilbourn Hall under the title \u201cShould Music Survive?\u201d. The four panelists, each one a distinguished professional in his field, were generously quoted in print the following day by the staff music writer for the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle<\/em>. The same topic of discussion was taken up in two further sessions on September 20th, each with a new set of panelists, and the last session being moderated by Eastman School Director Emeritus Howard Hanson (photo seen here). (Curiously, both of Rochester\u2019s daily newspapers, the now-defunct Times-Union<\/em> and the Democrat & Chronicle<\/em>\u2014erroneously referred to Freeman as the Eastman School\u2019s third<\/em> Director.)<\/p>\n

The inauguration ceremony on September 20th, over which University Chancellor W. Allen Wallis presided, began with the conferral of honorary degrees on Edward Cone, Fernand Gillet, and Ralph Kirkpatrick. (Photos of Professor Kirkpatrick being hooded are displayed here.) There followed a performance by the Eastman Wind Ensemble of Stravinsky\u2019s Symphonies of Wind Instruments<\/em>, conducted by Dr. Freeman himself, representing a unique gesture in what was otherwise his installation as chief executive officer. Moving on to his inaugural address, the new Director spoke at length on the challenges facing musicians and the imperative of the musical world to reform if it were to survive. (Dr. Freeman was quoted at length the following day in the Rochester press.) Following his inaugural address, Dr. Freeman\u2019s first official act as the newly installed Director was to announce the institution of a new series of ESM-sponsored concerts and recitals such as would encourage and foster the performance careers of recent Eastman graduates, and also to announce the establishment of the Kilbourn Professorship, and naming Zvi Zeitlin as the first faculty member to hold the new Professorship (1974-75). Mssrs. Zeitlin and Freeman immediately took the stage to offer an unprogrammed performance of Stravinsky\u2019s Duo Concertant<\/em>. Their violin\/piano collaboration that evening would be the first of several collaborations in the ensuing years.<\/p>\n

Local commentary on the Freeman inauguration was glowing and optimistic. Two days after the ceremony, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle<\/em> proclaimed the Freeman inauguration \u201ca significant event in music.\u201d The unsigned editorial noted that the new Director had achieved \u201csome significant bridgebuilding across the streams of music\u201d in demonstrating his multi-faceted professionalism: \u201cThe conductor, the performer, the scholar, and the educator were all represented in one man.\u201d Several days later, Director Emeritus Hanson praised Freeman in his semi-frequently appearing column in the Rochester Times-Union. Hailing Freeman as \u201ca gifted conductor, a splendid pianist, and a distinguished scholar and speaker,\u201d Dr. Hanson maintained that finding \u201c. . .a distinguished scholar who is also an artist in performance \u2014 or an artist who is also a distinguished, creative scholar \u2014 is, even in this age of enlightenment, unusual and heartening.\u201d Hanson closed his column with the iteration of a challenge, echoing a theme that had run through the two days of inauguration festivities: \u201cThe battle for great music is not over. It is just beginning. Musical scholars and performers must fight together for its survival.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner equal_height=”yes” gap=”15″][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1726769971243{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_images_carousel images=”9052,9053,9054,9055,9056,9062,9061,9060,9059,9058,9057″ img_size=”medium” css=”.vc_custom_1726754968342{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1632165176915{margin-top: -10px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”]<\/p>\n

\u25ba Images: 1973 September Inauguration program<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1726769985378{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”9064″ img_size=”medium” css=”.vc_custom_1632162020926{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1632165163714{margin-top: -10px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”]<\/p>\n

\u25ba 1973 September Inauguration invitation FRONT<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_images_carousel images=”9067,9068,9069,9071,9073,9090,9078,9092,9087,9086,9080″ img_size=”medium” css=”.vc_custom_1726839050244{margin-top: 20px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1632162124276{margin-top: -10px !important;}”]<\/p>\n

\u25baPhotos by Louis Ouzer. Master negatives nos. R1785-3 and 12; R1786-15 and 20; R1789-5A; R1790-13A, 14A, 15A, 18A, 21A; R1801-4, 6, 13, 20; R1802-25.<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1631195320355{margin-top: 40px !important;}”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1726839070209{padding-top: 20px !important;}”][vc_custom_heading text=”1970: Reception for new freshmen (members of the class of 1974)” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text css=””]On September 25th, 1970, members of the new freshman class\u2014the future class of 1974\u2014were hosted by Eastman School Director Walter Hendl and Mrs. Hendl at Hutchison House on East Avenue.<\/p>\n

Hutchison House, the gracious mansion at 930 East Avenue immediately next door to the George Eastman House, was at that time the official residence of the Eastman School Director. It had been named for its former owner, Charles Force Hutchison, a long-serving employee of Eastman Kodak Company and personal friend of George Eastman who also served as a UR trustee and as a member of the Eastman School\u2019s Board of Managers. Mr. and Mrs. Hutchison gave the house to to the University of Rochester in 1951, and after 1964 it became the official residence of the Eastman School Director; both Mr. Hendl and his successor, Robert Freeman, resided there. The image of Hutchison House graced the front cover of the Eastman School\u2019s 1954 yearbook. (! The Eastman School yearbooks have been digitized, and you can access the entire sequence online\u00a0<\/a> ).[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1663688982089{background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_images_carousel images=”9102,9104,9106,9108,9110,9112,9114,9116,9119,9121,9122,9125″ img_size=”medium” css=”.vc_custom_1726839126568{margin-top: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u25baPhotos by Louis Ouzer. Master negatives nos. 984-2A, 4A, 5A, 7A, 8A, 9A, 10A, 20A, 22A, 26A, 28A.<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=”.vc_custom_1726755397002{margin-top: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1726755316113{margin-top: -20px !important;}”]During the years of official Eastman School residency, numerous functions were held at Hutchison House, whether for musicians and ensembles (both resident and visiting), patrons of music, students, and civic groups, such as the Civic Music Association (forerunner of today\u2019s Rochester Philharmonic Association). The house was particularly busy during the Eastman School\u2019s 1971-72 fiftieth anniversary year, when two or three functions per week were held there, each event involving any number of guests from ten to 400. On a more domestic level, Mr. and Mrs. Hendl\u2019s home life at Hutchison House was described in the local press.<\/p>\n

Further information about the Eastman School\u2019s involvement with Hutchison House will be shared in a future entry of TW@E. In the meantime, if you see yourself in any of these photos, or if you can identify any of your classmates, please email us and let us know![\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” css=”.vc_custom_1632156425725{margin-top: 40px !important;background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1726839208539{padding-top: 20px !important;}”][vc_custom_heading text=”1977: PRISM IV concert \u201cFanfare\u201d” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

On September 26th, 1977, the Eastman School staged a PRISM concert in the Eastman Theater, the fourth such concert since 1975. \u201cFANFARE\u201d was the title and theme of the 1977 PRISM concert; the printed program is displayed here in its entirety.<\/p>\n

PRISM was a performance concept devised in 1975 by the Conducting and Ensembles Department; Donald Hunsberger and Rayburn Wright were the co-chairmen of the founding committee, assisted by eight of their colleagues. The basic PRISM concept was expressed thus in the printed program: \u201cPRISM . . .music heard in juxtaposition, without the interruption of applause, without the limitations of the proscenium stage. . .shared performances heard in new ways. . .as through a PRISM.\u201d Two key aspects of the concept were the continuous<\/em> performance of music, without intervening applause, and the use of the total space, not confined to the stage alone. As a result, groups and ensembles were situated in positions throughout the ET house and balcony, as seen in these photos.<\/p>\n

There would be several more PRISM concerts in later years. Future entries in TW@E will share further information.<\/p>\n

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\u25baImages: PRISM IV concert program, pages captured individually<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_images_carousel images=”9163,9160,9158,9156,9154,9144,9146,9148,9150,9152″ img_size=”medium” css=”.vc_custom_1726839646388{margin-top: 20px !important;}”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1726840349367{padding-top: 20px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”9142″ img_size=”full” css=””][vc_single_image image=”9140″ img_size=”medium” css=”.vc_custom_1726839592380{margin-top: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u25baPhotos by Louis Ouzer. Master negatives nos. R2418-8, 13, 15, 24; R2419-5A, 7A, 12A, 13A, 16A, 19A, 26A; R2420-3A, 6A; R2422-2.<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1631195291275{margin-top: 40px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”2001: Concert in Memory of 9\/11″ font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In the wake of the 9\/11 attacks, the ESM rallied at once to render support to those in need and to honor those whose lives had been lost. Later in the week, Director and Dean Jim Undercofler invited the community to gather in the Main Hall one noon hour for a time of reflection. Local pastor Deborah Fae Swift of the Calvary St. Andrew\u2019s Presbyterian congregation offered [words of comfort], and Professor Steven Doane performed an unaccompanied selection on the violoncello.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, September 23rd, a near-standing room only capacity audience gathered in the Eastman Theater for a performance of the Mozart Requiem organized by Dr. William Weinert and other faculty members. The Eastman Philharmonia under conductor Dr. Weinert were joined by four soloists\u2014one Eastman School faculty member, one Eastman Community Music School faculty member, and two Hochstein School faculty members\u2014and a chorus of almost 200 singers drawn from the Eastman School and from member choruses of the Greater Rochester Choral Consortium. Dr. Weinert was the conductor. Donations taken up on the day of the concert amounted to more than $ 9,000 in aid of the Red Cross. A CD service copy of the September 23rd concert is available for listening in the Sibley Music Library (shelved at the Recordings\/Reserves department under call no. SMO 0919). Due to the Concert Office\u2019s printing deadline, a list of the choral personnel was not available to be included in the printed program. ! Readers who happened to participate in the concert by volunteering their voices in the chorus are invited to contact us and let us know for archival purposes.<\/p>\n

In the following week, on October 5th, the Voice Department organized An Evening of Opera as a benefit concert in aid of the Red Cross. Voice majors and collaborative pianists performed sixteen selections from the operatic repertory before a supportive audience in Kilbourn Hall.<\/p>\n

In the weeks following 9\/11, the UR\u2019s Rochester Review<\/em> carried news of the impact of the attacks on the University community at large, and paying tribute to those six alumni whose lives had been lost.<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” css=”.vc_custom_1632156810109{margin-top: 40px !important;background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1726842146701{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_custom_heading text=”The Weekly Dozen” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_row_inner equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”top” gap=”5″][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1632157190103{background-color: #dddddd !important;}”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u25ba September 24, 1981<\/strong><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_images_carousel images=”9223,9224,9225″ img_size=”350×520″ css=”.vc_custom_1726841419542{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1632157210494{background-color: #dddddd !important;}”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u25ba September 22, 1984<\/strong><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_images_carousel images=”9226,9227,9228″ img_size=”350×520″ css=”.vc_custom_1726841477353{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1726841539729{background-color: #dddddd !important;}”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u25baSeptember 20, 1987<\/strong><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_images_carousel images=”9171,9173,9175,9176,9178″ img_size=”350×520″ css=”.vc_custom_1726841497179{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”top” gap=”5″][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1726841724796{background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u25baSeptember 27, 1987<\/strong><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_images_carousel images=”9238,9239,9240,9241,9242,9243″ img_size=”350×520″ css=”.vc_custom_1726841655483{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1726841734673{background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u25baSeptember 20, 1991<\/strong><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_images_carousel images=”9229,9230″ img_size=”350×520″ css=””][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1726841746519{background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u25ba September 23, 1991<\/strong><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_images_carousel images=”9197,9199″ img_size=”350×520″ css=”.vc_custom_1726841712676{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”top” gap=”5″][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1632157401544{background-color: #dddddd !important;}”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u25baSeptember 20, 1994<\/strong><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_images_carousel images=”9200,9202,9204,9205,9206″ img_size=”350×520″ css=”.vc_custom_1726841829525{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1632157411952{background-color: #dddddd !important;}”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u25baSeptember 23, 1998<\/strong><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”9207″ img_size=”350×520″ css=”.vc_custom_1726841858140{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1726841920153{background-color: #dddddd !important;}”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u25baSeptember 23, 2002<\/strong><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_images_carousel images=”9208,9209,9210,9232″ img_size=”350×520″ css=”.vc_custom_1726841896750{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”top” gap=”5″][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1726842030766{background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u25baSeptember 24, 2004<\/strong><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_images_carousel images=”9211,9212″ img_size=”350×520″ css=”.vc_custom_1726841971426{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1726842039450{background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u25ba September 26, 2011<\/strong><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_images_carousel images=”9213,9214,9215,9216″ img_size=”350×520″ css=”.vc_custom_1726841986358{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1726842049901{background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

\u25baSeptember 24, 2016<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_images_carousel images=”9217,9218,9219,9220,9221,9222″ img_size=”350×520″ css=”.vc_custom_1726842002572{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1631195300893{margin-top: 40px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”3″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1726842120457-081331f8-6385-0″ taxonomies=”17″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The inauguration of Robert Freeman as the Eastman School\u2019s fourth Director on September 20th, 1973 marked the beginning of a new era for the school.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":276,"featured_media":9079,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[17],"coauthors":[3],"class_list":["post-9050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-this-week-at-eastman","tag-september"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/276"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9050"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22032,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9050\/revisions\/22032"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9050"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=9050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}