The Eastman School Symphony Orchestra presents its next concert on Friday, November 18 at 7:30 p.m. in Kodak Hall. Professor Neil Varon and DMA conducting student Matthew Straw will lead works by Grieg and Schumann, but the program also includes a vocal showpiece: Rossini’s short song cycle La Regata Veneziana, to be sung by senior…
Recently rediscovered: composer Florence Price The music of the African American composer Florence Price (1887-1955) has recently been the subject of excited attention. Many of her works have been unearthed and rediscovered, and one of her orchestral works, The Oak, has an important Eastman connection. DMA conducting student Austin Chanu will conduct the Eastman Philharmonia…
Austin Chanu rehearsing Banner with the Philharmonia strings in Kodak Hall. Photograph by Maurice Cohn. By David Raymond On Monday, October 19, in a livestreamed concert, the strings of the Eastman Philharmonia will perform Banner, a 2014 work by the contemporary American composer Jessie Montgomery. Master’s conducting student Austin Chanu will conduct this work,…
The Eastman Philharmonia in rehearsal By Sarah Forestieri On Wednesday, November 14, 2018, Neil Varon, conductor, and The Eastman Philharmonia present Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 at 7:30 p.m. in Kodak Hall. Mahler’s Sixth Symphony is a fantastical work that is thought to draw on elements of his life. As a result, Mahler may have subtitled…
Eastman Philharmonia to perform an entirely romantic program, featuring Concerto Competition winner Maria Vasilevskaya performing Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death. By Sarah Forestieri Join the Eastman Philharmonia, along with conductors Neil Varon and Zeke Fetrow, on Friday, October 19, 2018 for an evening that will feature some of the most iconic works and composers…
Neil Varon conducting the Eastman Philharmonia By Sarah Forestieri On Wednesday, September 26, 2018 at 7:30 p.m., the Eastman School Symphony Orchestra and the Eastman Philharmonia will be presenting an eclectic program taking the audience on a journey to Italy, France, and Austria, all led by Maestro Neil Varon. No matter where your tastes lie,…
This is the second in a series of posts from students playing in the Philharmonia’s premiere performances of Kevin Puts’s Letters from Georgia on November 12 in Kodak Hall and on November 14 at Alice Tully Hall in New York. This post is by Martha Chan, who will play first flute in the concerts. By…
The poster for the Alice Tully Hall performance on November 14, 2016. Tomorrow night the Eastman Philharmonia, under Neil Varon, gives the world premiere of Kevin Puts’ Letters from Georgia in Kodak Hall, with soprano Renee Fleming as the soloist. The following Monday, all of them will travel to New York to repeat the concert…
Renee Fleming with the Eastman Philharmonia in 2011 This Saturday, November 12, marks the world premiere of Letters from Georgia, a new orchestral song cycle by Eastman alumnus Kevin Puts (BM ’94, DMA ’99), who won a 2012 Pulitzer Prize for his first opera, Silent Night. Based on passages from the letters of Georgia O’Keeffe,…
Soprano Robin Steitz By Kameron Ghanavati Robin Steitz, currently a second-year graduate student of voice at Eastman, was intrigued after hearing a performance by Dawn Upshaw. The piece Upshaw sang was compelling and detailed, sprinkled with Surrealist poetry, tonal ambiguity, and childlike thoughts. With her interest in 20th-century French poetry, Robin decided to research this…