2015-11-02

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.)

Amateur Musicians Find Their Harmony With Westchester Winds

(New York Times 10/29/2015)

Christian D. Carbone, who two decades ago gave up a promising career as a professional tubist to become a lawyer, was thrust back into the musical spotlight this year as a soloist on two of Westchester County’s top stages, the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, in Katonah, and the Tarrytown Music Hall.

The performances were no walk in the park. On both occasions, Mr. Carbone, a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, tackled “Fnugg Blue,” a challenging piece by the Norwegian composer Oystein Baadsvik that required him, among other feats, to adapt the hip-hop vocal technique of beatboxing to the tuba mouthpiece.

“He rocked the house,” said Curt Ebersole, the conductor and music director of the Westchester Symphonic Winds, the community ensemble with which Mr. Carbone was playing.

Classical Music This Week: The Met and the Mets, Female Conductors and Schiff’s Pedal
(The New York Times © 10/27/2015)

Happy Birthday, Howard Hanson!

Howard Hanson, born on Oct. 28, 1896, was the longtime director of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester. Last year I traveled there to hear the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra give a rare concert performance (which it then brought to Carnegie Hall) of his opera “Merry Mount.” Based on a Hawthorne story, it had its stage premiere at the Metropolitan Opera in 1934 and then promptly vanished into obscurity.

Cabaret evening at Kleinhans stars Ben Toth

(The Buffalo News 10/28/2015)

On Oct. 30, for one enchanted evening, Kleinhans’ Mary Seaton Room will be transformed into the Blue Room, a cabaret space. And into the spotlight will step Ben Toth, a pianist from Buffalo who has been making a name for himself on Broadway. Toth, who currently lives in the Los Angeles area, is the composer of intriguing songs with a Stephen Sondheim feel.

Toth went on to Brown University and the Eastman School of Music, involving himself in performing, composing and coaching. As a vocal coach, he can claim an impressive client list including Kristin Chenoweth, Idina Menzel, Beau Bridges and Mandy Patinkin (whose singing career was coincidentally launched by another vocal coach from Buffalo, Andy Anselmo). Taye Diggs, whom Toth also worked with, praised him to the Los Angeles Times, saying, “He makes nonsingers sing like singers.” (Also reported by Buffalo Rising )

Madison ‘Chamber Music for Charity’ debuts Nov. 2

(Madison Eagle 10/28/2015)

The newly-established “Chamber Music for Charity” ensemble will perform its inaugural concert at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2, at Grace Episcopal Church at 4 Madison Ave. in Madison. The evening of music for harp and string quartet will benefit America’s Grow-a-Row for hunger relief. The featured artists will be harpist Merynda Adams of Madison, violinists Christopher Collins Lee and Rebecca Harris Lee, violist David Gold, and cellist Amy Butler-Visscher.

Cellist Amy Butler-Visscher received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. Since joining the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, she was able to pursue her love of chamber music by performing solo and chamber recitals throughout the Washington metropolitan area, and in 2006 joined the McLean Orchestra in Virginia as principal cellist.

Grove Music Festival presenting Romantic Violin Favorites

(Midland Daily News 10/29/2015)

There’s romance in the air when the Grove Musical Festival presents Romantic Violin Favorites. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 30 at Chapel Lane Presbyterian Church, 5501 Jefferson Ave., with artists Hal Grossman on violin and Lisa Kristina on piano.

Studying at Interlochen Center for the Arts, Grossman won a four-year scholarship to the University of Michigan before heading to the Eastman School of Music, doing professional studies and picking up his master’s degree. Along the way he came up with the Grossman Method, a healthy kinesthetic approach to teaching all types of musical instruments.

Greatness in silent-film music is right at home
(Rochester Democrat & Chronicle © 10/24/2015)

George Eastman Museum’s resident musician and internationally renowned silent film accompanist Philip C. Carli keeps theatrical experience alive for modern audiences as he pounds the ivories with great emotion most Tuesday evenings for the museum’s “Silent Tuesdays, Silent Film” series.

Carli is considered one of the best musicians specializing in the music of silent films. He is a resident musician at Italy’s Pordenone Silent Film Festival, among the world’s leading festivals dedicated to silent film; he conducts film orchestras at national and international film festivals; and he has written and recorded orchestral scores for Turner Classic Movies and the Mary Pickford Foundation, among others. He also teaches film history at the Eastman School of Music and holds a class at the George Eastman Museum on Tuesdays, followed by a silent film screening in the Dryden.

Elmhurst resident brings more music to the western suburbs

(Suburban Life 10/26/2015)

When Jennie Oh Brown wants to really speak to people, she plays her flute. Brown, 46, of Elmhurst, is the flutist and artistic director of Picosa Music, a chamber ensemble that will perform “Music of Joseph Schwantner” at 7 p.m. Nov. 5 at the Mayslake Peabody Estate in Oak Brook.

For Brown, a faculty member in the Music Department at Elmhurst College and the Conservatory of Music at Wheaton College, the concert also marks the release of her album “Looking Back,” featuring the music of composer Joseph Schwantner.

She received her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and her graduate degree from Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., where she met many other musicians.

Father-son homecoming performance at Mount Allison

(Cumberland News Now 10/30/2015)

Tonight at 7:30 p.m., Joel Miller, saxophones, and his father Michael R. Miller, piano, will perform together in a concert of classical and jazz music in Brunton Auditorium (134 Main St.) on the campus of Mount Allison University. Two of their own compositions, written for each other, will be featured works on this Music Department recital.

Michael R. Miller was born in Lisbon, Portugal. He was educated in the United States and, with a PhD in Composition from the Eastman School of Music, came to Mount Allison University in 1967 to teach theory and composition.

Piano Concert in Fredericksburg

(Mason County News 10/28/2015)

Mark Hierholzer will be presenting a concert of free improvisation on the piano at Hill Country Evangelical Free Church, 107 East Lower Crabapple in Fredericksburg at 3 PM on Sunday, November 8.

Hierholzer is director of the Fredericksburg Chorale and the German Choirs. He performs his compositions and improvisations regularly in Fredericksburg and surrounding areas. He has his Master’s Degree in piano performance from the Eastman School of Music. His compositions have been performed all over the world including twice at Carnegie Hall. His piano compositions and improvisations have been performed live on Texas Public Radio and were featured on TPR’s program, “The Piano.”

Inora Brass at Norwich on Monday, Nov. 2

(The Northfield News 10/29/2015)

Inora Brass, the brass quintet named for the Goddess of Mountain Snow, is returning to Norwich University to perform a concert of Frescobaldi, Ewald, Bernstein, Ritter George, and more. The event will be in White Chapel at 7PM on Monday, November 2. The concert is sponsored by the Norwich University Regimental Band and is free and open to the public. For more information, email acerutti@norwich.edu or call 485-6924.

Lori Salimando-Porter, trombone, returned home with her husband Joe to Chazy, NY on Lake Champlain after retiring from the United States Military in 2005. She served as Principal Trombonist with the US Military Academy Band, West Point, NY, the US Marine Band, El Toro, CA, and the US Naval Academy Band, Annapolis, MD. Lori has also performed with the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, Colorado Springs Symphony, Maryland Symphony, Hudson Valley Symphony and substitute Lead Trombone with the Miss Saigon Orchestra on Broadway. Currently Lori performs with Fanfare, the VSO Brass Trio, InoraBrass and substitutes with the Lake Placid Sinfonietta, Vermont Symphony, VT Chorale Society Orchestra and VT Jazz Festival Orchestra. Lori received her B.M. from the Eastman School of Music and her M.M. from the Catholic University of America. Lori has been blessed to have Marion Salimando influence her life and trombone playing.

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