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.)
Saturday services will honor Lawrence music man Sturm
(Green Bay Press-Gazette 11/12/2014)
A memorial service celebrating the life and honoring the career of De Pere resident Fred Sturm, longtime director of jazz studies and improvisational music at Lawrence University, will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel, 5510 E. College Ave., Appleton.
An award-winning composer and nationally recognized jazz educator, Sturm spent 26 years as a member of the Lawrence Conservatory of Music faculty from 1977-91 and 2002-14. In between, he taught at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., where he was the chair of the jazz studies and contemporary media department.
Rochester Early Music Festival
(WROC TV 8 11/13/2014)
The 14th annual Rochester Early Music Festival will be held Friday, November 14 at 7:30 inside St. Anne Church on Mount Hope Avenue in Rochester. Performer Glenna Curren and Festival Committee Chair Joe Finetti discussed the event Thursday on News 8 at Noon.
The Festival will feature a variety of rising musicians playing music from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Curren, an Eastman School of Music graduate, will perform a movement of solo Bach – the Prelude for the 4th Cello Suite. “In performing, certain things come to life that aren’t necessarily so easy to bring to practicing,” said Curren, who has played the cello for 17 years. “Playing for an audience always makes it that much more meaningful.”
Pianist Shichao Zhang to perform at Morningside College
(Sioux City Journal 11/07/2014)
Pianist Shichao Zhang will perform a solo recital at Morningside College at 3 p.m. Sunday, in Eppley Auditorium, 3625 Garretson Ave.
The recital will include two sonatas by Scarlatti, “Sonata in B minor” by Franz Liszt, “Sonata Pathétique” by Beethoven and “Piano Sonata” by Béla Bartók. The performance is free and open to the public.
Zhang is originally from Beijing, China. He came to the United States in 2007 to study at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. He has been featured in solo recitals, chamber music concerts and concerto performances at major concert halls in China and the United States. He has debuted compositions of contemporary Chinese composers.
Kelli O’Hara, Steven Pasquale, Carolee Carmello & More Will Perform with Jason Robert Brown at Subculture
(Broadway World 11/06/2014)
On December 6, Jason Robert Brown will launch his 2015 Artist-In-Residence at SubCulture. The evening features, for the first time on one stage, original cast members from every one of his New York productions, from 1995’s SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD to this season’s THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY.
Jason studied composition at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., with Samuel Adler, Christopher Rouse, and Joseph Schwantner. He lives with his wife, composer Georgia Stitt, and their daughters in New York City.
Estes Park music festival performance is ushering in the season
(Trail Gazette 11/15/2014)
Estes Park will welcome back the talented duo of violinist Jerilyn Jorgensen and pianist Cullan Bryant. Performing in the historic music room in the main building of the Stanley Hotel Sunday, Nov. 16. The Sunday program of these superb musicians will usher in the Thanksgiving Holiday season.
Jorgensen is a member of the performance faculty of Colorado College and has been adjunct faculty in violin and chamber music at the Lamont School of Music of the University of Denver. From 1980-2004 she was first violinist of the Da Vinci Quartet and as a member of that ensemble she performed throughout the United States. Jorgensen was a prizewinner in the Shostakovich International String Quartet Competition, finalist in the Naumburg Chamber Music Competition and has appeared on PBS’s NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.
Ms. Jorgensen holds bachelor of music degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the Juilliard School and a master of music degree from Juilliard.
Cove High’s wind ensemble, Heights Concert Band play today
(Killeen Daily Herald 11/13/2014)
Ken C. Wood, a featured euphonium soloist at this concert, will play the classic “Carnival of Venice” with the wind ensemble. The bands also will premiere his two newest marches.
Wood is a former U.S. Army bandsman and has over 80 euphonium solos in his current repertoire. As a composer, he has published more than 20 pieces for band. He studied Euphonium at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y.
Trio of oboe, bassoon, flute performs at Ballard Green
(Ridgefield Press 11/15/2014)
A trio including Dorothy Darlington, Mary Elliot Drake and Kathie Sumrow will perform Friday, Nov. 21, at 4 p.m. in the next free concert at Ballard Green, 25 Gilbert Street. s. Darlington is principal oboist with the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra, freelances with a number of other organizations, including the Greenwich Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, and various Broadway productions, and performs frequently as a chamber musician.
Ms. Darlington (oboe D’Amore and English horn), who holds three degrees in music, joined the Peace Corps after her graduation from the Eastman School of Music in order to teach and play in the Orchestra Sinfonica Nacional de Costa Rica for two years. Then, after several years with the Savannah and the Jacksonville symphonies, she won an audition with the U.S. Marine Band, “The President’s Own,” with which she played for six years, including White House teas and state dinners under President Ronald Reagan.
The Buffalo Philharmonic Presents a Masterclass with Violinist Tai Murray
(Broadway World 11/12/2014)
When violinist Tai Murray comes to town during the week of Nov. 10, she will not only entertain, but will educate.
On Wednesday, Nov. 12, she will give a masterclass from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Kleinhans Music Hall, 3 Symphony Circle as part of the Buffalo Philharmonic’s free masterclass series which presents talented guest artists in educational settings. Three performers have been selected from a pool of applicants. Violinists Sarah Rice of Buffalo State College, Mandela Namaste of Williamsville East, and Gigi Monachino from the Eastman School of Music will perform and receive feedback from Murray.
Musical remembrance of Kristallnacht
(Heritage Florida Jewish News 11/07/2014)
Each year the Holocaust Center in Maitland presents a program in remembrance of Kristallnacht, the assault on Jewish communities on Nov. 9 – 10, 1938 that many scholars identify as the beginning of Hitler’s Final Solution. This year’s commemoration, to be held Sunday, Nov. 9 at 4 p.m., will feature a special program of Music of Courage presented by Dr. Rose Grace, on the piano and Dr. Aaron I. Hilbun playing the oboe. Together, they will share the music – much of which is rooted in Jewish culture – that evokes the past, present and future of people of strong resolve.
Dr. Rose Shlyam Grace, a Russian-born pianist, is a soloist and chamber music recitalist who is frequently featured at well-known music conferences. Her recent recorded collaborations include Notes, on North South Recording Label, Icarus: 20th century works for flute and piano, on Albany Records, and Bach to Bop and Back with jazz pianist Bill Dobbins on RIT recording label. She holds a doctorate in piano performance from the Eastman School of Music, an M.A. in musicology from the University of Chicago, and a B.M. in piano performance and musicology from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music
Critics playlist: Pink Floyd, Jagged Edge
(Rochester Democrat & Chronicle © 11/11/2014)
SANDRA DUDLEY AND LORI MECHEM
ALL OF MY LIFE. This is a lovely vocal album, with Dudley singing with pristine clarity and feeling, accompanied only by the tasteful piano of Mechem. Dudley has strong area ties — a native of Buffalo, she studied at Fredonia then at the Eastman School of Music, where she cites her teachers, Jan DeGaetani (for vocal chops) and Bill Dobbins (for jazz history and understanding). All of My Life spotlights the songs of Alan and Marilyn Bergman, including “You Must Believe in Spring,” “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life,” and a dozen others. Dudley’s version of “What Are You Doing …” comes near to being definitive. Singer and pianist have a potent chemistry, bringing these classic pop standards to vivid and highly musical life. JACK GARNER
Review: Guest conductor works well with RPO
(Rochester Democrat & Chronicle © 11/07/2014)
As led by guest conductor Christoph König, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra wasted no time Thursday night serving up the “meat and potatoes” of its programmatic meal, opening with Johannes Brahms’s exquisite yet understated Symphony No. 3.
Following an intermission – the RPO, joined by Eastman School of Music’s Piano Department Chair and soloist Douglas Humpherys – launched into Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 1. This early piece is notable for its urgency, no doubt a product of youthful energy on the part of the composer.
Ogunquit Performing Arts presents world-class pianist
(Seacoastonline.com 11/05/2014)
Ogunquit Performing Arts (OPA) will present the brilliant world-class pianist Janice Weber in a program entitled “Fire and Ice” at 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, at the Dunaway Center, 23 School St. in Ogunquit.
Weber is a member of the piano faculty of Boston Conservatory and Tabor Academy. She has given master classes and recitals at conservatories throughout America and China and is the artistic director of South Coast Chamber Music.
A summa cum laude graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Weber has performed at the White House, Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, National Gallery of Art, and Boston’s Symphony Hall, and has appeared with numerous orchestras throughout North America and twice toured China under the auspices of the American Liszt Society. She has also written and had published eight novels.
Economic Ties between HK and US Staunchly supported in Windy City
(7thSpaceInteractive 11/13/2014)
The Hong Kong Commissioner for Economic and Trade Affairs, USA, Mr Clement Leung highlighted business opportunities between Hong Kong and Illinois at the “Hong Kong Meets Chicago” reception held in Chicago on November 12.
The reception featured a string quartet performance by musicians from Hong Kong and Chicago.
The violinist CheHo Lam, born and raised in Hong Kong, was the first violinist of the Eastman String Quartet performing at the 2013 US Presidential Inauguration Luncheon in Washington, DC. The other musicians were Aimee Biasiello (viola); Chris Ferrer (cello); and Amanda Bailey (violin). They were graduates from Eastman School of Music in New York, Royal College of Music in London,DePaul University Chicago College of Performing Arts.