“Serving a Great and Noble Art” Eastman Historian Vincent Lenti surveys the years E-Musicians Unite! Entrepreneurship, ESM style Tony Arnold Hitting high notes in new music

Summer 2009 FOR ALUMNI, PARENTS, AND FRIENDS OF THE FROM THE DEAN

The Teaching Artist

I suppose that in the broadest sense, art may be one of our greatest teachers. Be it a Bach Goldberg Variation, the brilliant economy of Britten’s or- chestration in Turn of the Screw, the music in the mad ruminations of King Lear, or the visual music of Miro, it is the stirring nature of such intense, insightful observation that moves us. Interestingly, these artistic epiphanies bear a remarkable resemblance to what happens during great teaching. And I believe that some of the many achieve- ments of Eastman alumni, faculty and students can be traced to great Eastman “teaching moments.” Like great art, great teaching is not merely the efficient transmission of knowl- NOTES edge or information, but rather a process by which music Volume 27, Number 2 or information gets illuminated by an especially insight- Summer 2009 ful light, thus firing our curiosity and imagination. Great teachers, like great artists, possess that “special light.” Editor It’s hard to define what constitutes good teaching. In David Raymond the academic world, we try to quantify it, for purposes Contributing writers of measurement, so we design teaching evaluations that Lisa Jennings Douglas Lowry hopefully measure the quality of the experience. Yet Helene Snihur when each of us is asked to describe our great teachers, Contributing photographers we end up being confounded, indeed fascinated, by the Richard Baker dominant intangibles; like music or other art, the price- Steve Boerner less stirring aspects we just can’t “explain.” Kurt Brownell Great music inspires us differently, depending on tem- Gary Geer Douglas Lowry Gelfand-Piper Photography perament, musical and intellectual inclinations, moods, Kate Melton backgrounds, circumstances and upbringings. This might explain why when we Nic Minetor hear a great piece of music, some are inspired to compose, some to analyze, oth- Andy Olenick ers to perform, still others to compare, authenticate or comment. In the highest Gerry Szymanski forms of musical experience, we feel a sudden rush to transmit our excitement Photography coordinator and impressions. In music schools, this excitable transmission occurs between Karen Ver Steeg artist teacher and student. Design I think it wise from time to time to pay homage to those whose work really Steve Boerner Typography & Design fires the core of what we do at the Eastman School of Music, tipping our hats to Published twice a year by the Office of the teaching artists who continue to move us, cajole us, and inform our passion Communications (Bobbi Julien Lonobile, for great music and thought. This issue of Notes highlights the products of some director), Eastman School of Music, of those teaching moments. 26 Gibbs Street, Rochester, NY, 14604, (585) 274-1050. Teaching is one of civilization’s highest arts. Teaching music takes it to an even higher elevation. We are rewarded here at Eastman by having so many passionate [email protected] artist teachers in our midst. One pundit noted that the great among us have their idles set a little higher than the rest, thus generating more energy and fuelling higher expectations. This quality is in abundance at Eastman.

Kurt Brownell Photography (Doug Lowry); 10% Total Recovered Fiber nic minetor (Eastman Opera Theatre) 100% Post-Consumer Fiber INSIDE

FEATURES 5 Entrepreneurship, ESM style Eastman alums on facing “the new reality” of the music business 8 Nature’s nobleman Contemporary muse Tony Arnold (shown here with Brad Lubman and In this spring’s production of Le Nozze di 18 Bajinder Sekhon) brought new-music chops and musical curiosity to Figaro, two ESM students explored one of Eastman this spring. opera’s great roles 12 “Serving a great and noble art” Eastman historian Vincent Lenti surveys the Howard Hanson years 18 Making meaningful noise Soprano Tony Arnold brings a performer’s perspective to brand-new music

2 BRIEF NOTES 4 COMING EVENTS 21 SCHOOL NEWS phenom Stefon Harris 24 helps launch Eastman’s 26 IN TRIBUTE new diversity initiatives 27 IN MEMORIAM 28 ALUMNI NOTES 31 EASTMAN ALUMNI ON CD/DVD 35 FACULTY NOTES 36 STUDENT NOTES

Resourceful “E-Musicians” 5 earn As for Entrepreneurial Effort

Complex, clever, and 8 challenging: two Eastman students tackle Mozart’s Figaro.

ON THE COVER: A familiar sight to several generations of Eastman students, this bold portrait of Howard ON THE WEB: More news about the Eastman School of Music, Hanson by Rochester artist Stanley J. Gordon has hung in the Main Hall since 1958, when it was presented by including an Adobe PDF file ofNotes , can be found online at the Polish Arts League of Rochester. www.esm.rochester.edu.

Kurt Brownell Photography (Tony Arnold, Stefon Harris) and Gelfand-Piper Photography (John Buffett as Figaro) BRIEF NOTES

■■The Ying Quartet is embarking on a journey with a new member. Frank Huang joined the Grammy-winning string quartet as first violinist this summer. Huang’s first appearance with the Yings occurred on June 27, during the Bowdoin International Music Festival. He will also be appointed associate professor of violin and associate professor of chamber music at Eastman, where the Yings are quartet-in- residence. They make their Kilbourn Hall debut in October with the first concert in a two-year series of the complete Beethoven quartets. Timothy Ying, the original first violinist of the ■ all-sibling quartet (founded with his brothers ■ In February, the Eastman Youth Jazz Orchestra won the Big Phillip and David, and his sister Janet), is mov- Band Category in the first Charles Mingus High School ing with his family to Canada, where he intends Competition. Led by Howard Potter, director of the Eastman to start a business venture. “We are really proud Community Music School, the 23-member orchestra performed Mingus’s Moanin’, of everything that the Ying Quartet has ac- Sue’s Changes, and Gunslinging Bird, and received the Best Big Band title from complished with Tim as first violinist,” says Phil Mingus’ widow Sue. They repeated the program at the 2009 Xerox Rochester Ying. “At the same time, we have complete con- International Jazz Festival, in a concert celebrating this year’s XRIJF scholarships, fidence in Frank as we forge a fresh and dynamic which were dedicated this year to late alumnus Gerry Niewood. 2009 winners ensemble together.” included Jeff Krol (percussion), Matt Krol (bass), and Gabe Condon (guitar).

First string: violinist Frank Huang (far left) joined Janet, David, and Phillip Ying this summer.

2 Eastman Notes | Summer 2009 BRIEF NOTES

■■ Graduate composition students Michaela Eremiásová and Jairo Duarte-López co-composed Car Crash Opera as the score for an eight-minute animated film and as an independent composition. The film is still in preparation, but the stage version was premiered early in May at New York University, as part of the New York City Opera’s “VOX: Showcasing American Opera” series. Car Crash Opera was one of only eight works in the series, ■■This May, eight members of the chosen from more than 80 submissions. Eastman community made a China Connection, meeting with their composing and performing counterparts to foster the promotion of new music written on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.The China Connection is the brainchild of doctoral student Liu Liu. The 12-day tour of four leading Chinese conservatories included concerts of new music written by Eastman and Chinese composers; lectures and master classes given by Eastman faculty; and informal meetings between Eastman and Chinese students. “The purpose of China Connection is for musicians, especially young musicians, to ex- perience the first-hand musical impact of cross- cultural dialogue, and at the same time, to spread or strengthen their international influ- ence,” says Liu Liu. ■ ■This spring, the National Endowment for the Joining Liu Liu and Dean Douglas Lowry in Humanities awarded the Sibley Music Library a the collaborative project were Anne Stevens, $273,820 grant to digitize 10,000 to 12,000 musical doctoral student in percussion; Adrian Sandi, scores in the public domain (published before 1923), which are held doctoral student in clarinet; and YiXuan Song, by not more than two other libraries in the world. Sibley has been master’s student in violin. Faculty members in- digitizing public domain scores—more than 4,000 items so far— cluded Professor of Flute Bonita Boyd; Douglas for the past four years on demand from Eastman School faculty Humpherys, chair of the Department; and and students, as well as professional and amateur musicians Associate Professor of Theory Steven Laitz. around the world, accounting for more than 2 million downloads. Read more about The China Connection in Check them out at http://urresearch.rochester.edu. the Winter 2010 issue of Eastman Notes.

Kurt Brownell Photography (Ying Quartet); Brian Hatton (ECMS Jazz Orchestra); Gerry Szymanski (Eremiásová and Duarte-López); Courtesy of Sibley Music Library (score); Liu Liu (China Connection) Summer 2009 | Eastman Notes 3 LETTERS

Casting “an who later worked with the US Army Band; Bob Becker, founding member of Nexus ominous shadow” percussion quintet; Vivien Goh, Singapore I was dismayed to find that theEastman Symphony Orchestra; Joel Moerschel, Notes article on Stephen Hough (“Anything Boston Symphony Orchestra; William predictable … is the worst crime,” Winter Blossom, ; Bonita 2009, pp. 14–17) included a lengthy diatribe Boyd, ESM; Robert Goodberg, University extolling his sexual orientation. Is this what of Wisconsin; Donald Bick, Mostly Mozart makes a great institution great? Is this what Festival; Gerry Niewood, Chuck Mangione furthers the goals and aspirations Gerry Niewood (BM ’70) “ of its students and Anything predictable alumni? And is this … is the Coming Events what cultivates the pursuit of musician- worst” October 9–11, 2009 crıme ship at its best, and Pianist, teacher, composer, writer: • Eastman Family Weekend 2009: Stephen Hough’s career in one of the world’s is about crossing boundaries Registration and information: By David Raymond “The fun thing about playing is alerting magnificent music a person to something special, to est known as a prominent concert pianist and stimulating the brains of your audience.” www.esm.rochester.edu/ recording artist, Stephen Hough is also in the se- lect group of MacArthur Foundation “Geniuses.” With good reason: in addition to a flourishing schools? performing and recording career, Stephen re- cently resumed his interest in composing, and Is this your first visit to Rochester and to Eastman? Have you always been active as a composer? poignancy. In a piece like his Second Quartet, the notes on the page familyweekend/ has a growing list of chamber and choral works to My second, actually. The first was many years ago, when the I was always very interested in it, but when I went to Juilliard I don’t tell the full story: it is a matter of timing, of spacing chords, of his credit; his catalogue ranges from elaborate piano transcriptions Cleveland Quartet was resident at Eastman. We needed to rehearse couldn’t take a double major, and after winning the Naumberg encountering a melody when you least expect it. Composers used to Bof selections from Carousel and The King and I, to masses written the Brahms Piano Quintet; the quartet was in Rochester and I was Award [1983] I got very busy playing concerts, so I just stopped. Then shock with a loud discord, but that doesn’t surprise people anymore; If anything, it for Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral. He also writes in Toronto, so I traveled down, we rehearsed in a practice room, and about eight years ago I played my arrangement of Richard Rodgers’ what is more shocking now, I think, is a direct romantic gesture. many of the booklet notes for his recordings, as well as other essays I went back, all in one day. A very pleasant trip, too. “Carousel Waltz” on a recital, and John Corigliano said to me after- You also hear this in many other composers: Debussy, Fauré, on music, and his fame is growing as a writer on religious subjects. In wards, “You know, that was good, you should compose more!” Britten, Poulenc. And in so much contemporary American music, 2007 he published The Bible as Prayer (Paulist Press), and he is now You are not a full-time teacher, but do you enjoy teaching? which is not afraid to be honest about this—Del Tredici, Corigliano, at work on a book about the Bible and homosexuality. I don’t teach at a university, and I don’t give private lessons. There What is your musical style? (In 20 words or less!) Glass, Reich. October 9, 2009 does just the op- Stephen Hough made his first “real” visit to Eastman (see below) is an element of musical parenting to teaching, and it is time- Well … it’s tonal, there are definitely tonal roots in everything I early in December, for a Kilbourn Hall recital (Bach-Cortot, Fauré, consuming. I do love master classes, though, and the format suits write. So in that sense it is conventional, but what I hope makes it Judging from your compositions and recordings, you also appreci- Franck, Copland, Chopin) and a master class. And, we’re happy to me: listening to a student, then offering lots of general ideas and a unconventional is the sense of irresolution and surprise, the sort of ate the intersection between classical and popular styles. • Eastman Celebrates Kodak Hall: posite. I’m proud say, for a wide-ranging interview with Notes. few pointers. thing that a composer like Janácˇek can do to create an unspeakable Only in a limited way—I like to use popular styles in my own music 14 Eastman Notes | Winter 2009 PHOTOGRAPH BY STeve BOeRneR Winter 2009 | Eastman Notes 15 first concert in the renovated of Eastman, and Kodak Hall at , Eastman can easily with Eastman Philharmonia have its reputation destroyed by including Combo, Radio City Music Hall; Donald under Neil Varon. See the one’s private life as an issue. The only issue and Sarah Pistolesi, Milwaukee Symphony transformation at www.rochester. having anything to do with Eastman is the Orchestra. edu/giving/EastmanTheatre issue of great talent and music. Your forced These are just a few of the very good stu- injection of “gay” issues into a tradition- dents with whom I shared musical experi- October 14, 2009 ally fine periodical is a serious mistake and ences in Rochester, and the quality of the • Eastman Celebrates the Musical casts an ominous shadow over everything interactions has given me benefit through- Legacy of Gerry Niewood: Eastman accomplishes. Who the heck cares out my career. Eastman Jazz Ensemble, New Jazz if Mr. Hough is a proud homosexual? No —Geary Larrick (dma ’70) Ensemble, guest artists including one. You either have no idea of the rami- Stevens Point, WI Chuck Mangione fications of your article or are totally irre- October 29–November 1, 2009 sponsible and more interested in furthering • EROI Festival 2009: what may be your own orientation relative Corrections Mendelssohn and the to the article. Nevertheless, the focal point Deborah Ronnen and Sherman F. Levey Contrapuntal Tradition of your article should not have included ab- were inadvertently omitted from the www.esm.rochester.edu/eroi/ solute nonsense about sexual orientation Eastman School’s 2008 Report on Giving, festival-2009.php and should have concentrated on great mu- which appeared in the last issue of Eastman sical issues. Notes. They should have been recognized November 5–8, 2009 —Anthony Crain (mm ’60) for their gifts to the Friends of Eastman • Eastman Opera Theatre: Oswego, NY Opera, and for their designated gifts for the Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon: Eastman Young Artists Piano Competition. The Secret Garden We regret the error, and thank them for their December 19, 2009 Peer Review generous support. • Mark Davis Scatterday and In my graduate education at Eastman, an Donald Hunsberger lead Eastman important part of my experience was the In our last Faculty Notes, Chris Azzara Wind Ensemble at Midwest Clinic, highly talented peers with whom I per- was mistakenly described as an assistant pro- Chicago, including premieres by formed. People with whom I shared classes in fessor of music education; he is an associate Michael Burritt and Jeff Tyzik ensemble included William Messerschmidt, professor of music education.

4 Eastman Notes | Summer 2009 Steve Boerner (Gerry Niewood) As the challenge of creating a career in music grows, E-Musicians Eastman alumni become ever more entrepreneurial Savvy-vous la musique? According to David Cutler (MM ’96), many tal- ented young musicians start out their lives with a simple road map: Unite! 1. Attend music school 2. Become a “pro” Well, as most anyone reading this magazine has learned by now, there are usually a few more stops on the road map to a satisfying musical career than this. David sets them out clearly in his book The Savvy Musician, a guide for aspiring professional musicians of all kinds (the “two- point plan” quoted above is from the book’s introduction). David, who studied jazz composition, recalls that while he did take Ray Ricker’s “Business of Music” course at Eastman and learned a lot from it, he didn’t hear the word “entrepreneurship” during his music studies at all. “You graduate from music school as a highly, highly trained professional; you should know how to make money—and how you can use your art to make a differ- ence in the world around you.” Ricker, of course now directs Eastman’s famed Institute for Music Leadership, dedicated to musical en- trepreneurship; and David now hears the word quite a lot: he’s Coordinator of Music Entrepreneurship Studies at Duquesne University. And he has a thriving career as a jazz and classical composer, performer, conductor, and author—and (as of September 1) mastermind of www. savvymusician.com. David hopes the new site will be- come professionals’ first stop for music career-related is- sues and guidance through the thickets of a career. And if you’re interested in The Savvy Musician, you’ll be able to read excerpts from the book online as well as pre-order it. “This argument of music for music’s sake versus learn- ing the business of music was fought and won long ago,” says David. “I am so proud that Eastman took the first step—not just offering one class, but setting a model for other schools with the IML.”

“Creativity should be at the core of higher education,” says Savvy Musician David Cutler.

Summer 2009 | Eastman Notes 5 Last January, Eastman’s Institute for Music Leadership sponsored a very successful conference on Preparing the Generation E Musician: The Place of Entrepreneurship in the Higher Education Music School Curriculum. Guests included Heidi Neck of Babson College, who led two workshops designed to stimulate entrepreneurial creativity; and award-winning jazz composer Maria Schneider (MM ’83), shown here with IML director Ray Ricker, who exemplified it by renouncing conventional outlets and taking the creation and sale of her music directly to her fans via the ArtistShare website. IML will host its second conference, The Entrepreneurial Music School in a Changing Economy, this fall in San Diego, with keynote speaker Bob Johansen of the Institute of the Future.

The world includes many, many musicians who can play well, but Facing “the new reality” far fewer people who can really, in a compelling way, explain what they’re doing. More than ever before, the ability to communicate is In managing four major American orchestras, going to be critical to your success. Some of you may assert that you Mark Volpe (BM ’79) has had a remarkable communicate through your music. This and other nonverbal forms and possibly unique career, which started with of communication are important, but in an age where an entire gen- a degree in clarinet performance from Eastman. eration has gone without music education in school, you have to be His ties to the Eastman School continue as a able to talk about music in a way that can be understood. member of Eastman’s National Council. For his Think about the major sports events on television. They’re pre- distinguished leadership in the many areas of ceded by several hours of talk and demonstrations, and followed by modern orchestra marketing and management, several more hours of talk. The Commissioners all understand that Mark Volpe Eastman presented Mark Volpe with its Alumni the more you understand the nuances, strategies, and tactics of the Achievement Award at the 2009 commencement ceremony. Excerpts from game, not to mention the personalities of the athletes, the more in- his address to the graduates are printed here. terest you’ll have in the sport. And this can very much be true in the Many of your predecessors focused on the craft of perform- world of music. ing an instrument [and studying] Western art music. While those I’m going to share an experience from my days in Baltimore. We remain essential ingredients in becoming a musician, they are no had committed with Yo-Yo Ma to record the Britten Cello Symphony, longer enough. The need for advocacy, the need for long-term stra- a pretty dense work, for Sony Classical. To prepare for that recording tegic positioning, the need to understand demographic trends as well we did a series of performances: Thursday and Friday in conventional as evolving technology—all necessitate musicians assuming much subscription concerts, and Saturday as a more casual concert— more responsibility for the future of classical music. Britten in the first half, and Dvorˇák in the second half. On Thursday

6 Eastman Notes | Summer 2009 Richard Baker (Schneider and Ricker); Courtesy of David Cutler (Previous page) and Friday, the audience was very polite during the Britten but they were all waiting for the Dvorˇák. On Saturday, we took a very different approach. Before presenting the piece, [BSO music director] and Yo-Yo got into a discussion—infused with some fun, but really about an interpre- tive dispute between them. We had a telephone on stage, and David Zinman ended up calling Benjamin Britten. Of course it was a long- distance call, because Britten had been dead for 14 years, but never- theless, Britten did answer, the [interpretive] issue was resolved, we played the piece, and the audience went crazy. Well, you might think, this is just shtick, and what does this have to do with music? But I want you to focus on how the audience reacted. We broke down some of those barriers that admittedly exist when Violinist, singer, composer: the multi-talented Caleb Burhans you’re playing a thorny piece, just with 15 minutes of talk. While it’s increasingly important for you to be able to talk about music in performances and master classes, it’s also important that Getting it out there you develop skills that will allow you to become leaders and advo- Caleb Burhans (BM ’03) was recently described by the New York Times cates in your respective communities. Conservatories other than as “A man of many talents” for his work as a composer and a performing Eastman have too frequently graduated musicians who are not pre- musician, and the Leonore Annenberg Scholarship and School Funds Pro- pared for the real world, with the consequence of bitter disappoint- gram agrees; this spring Caleb was awarded a Leonore Annenberg arts ment as expectations are not met. I believe more than any other fellowship, based on his artistic achievements and his potential to become school of music, Eastman understands that musicians are frankly a cultural and community leader. Caleb’s musical loves are contemporary going to have to re-orient themselves after years in the practice room, music, early music, and indie rock. Caleb composes and performs with and adjust their perspective. (among others) Trinity Church Choir, Alarm Will Sound, and his own While introspection is of course important, we must become rel- band, itsnotyouitsme. evant to more and more groups within our communities if we are to remain viable. My sense is that Eastman, through its leadership Was this award a big surprise? programs, has done a better job than any of its peers in preparing its I did know that Eastman had nominated me, but the Annenberg graduates for the new reality. Now, most orchestras [including the grant is usually given to artists who are very focused on one thing. Boston Symphony] are asking their musicians to become much more I thrive on the variety of aspects of composing, singing and playing. involved in orchestra governance, in standing on board committees, What will you use the grant money for? and in raising money. That’s certainly a little daunting, as power be- I want to make a recording of larger works with chamber orches- gets responsibility. But it can be very, very exciting. tra. I have previously recorded in my studio at home—now I can A case in point is the Detroit Symphony, where I was for seven use decent equipment! I’m also considering hiring a PR firm or years. Twenty years ago, the orchestra was widely criticized for being management. racially insensitive, a pretty serious deal in a city in which people of Are you keeping busy as a composer? color represent maybe 85 percent of the population. To address these I have a commission for a string quartet for the Library of Con- concerns, the musicians, the management, and the board [partnered] gress, and another for a work for female choir, chamber orchestra, with the Detroit Public Schools to create a Performing Arts School and electronic forces. I’m also working on a second with that is now connected with Detroit’s Symphony Hall. itsnotyouitsme, and writing music for a documentary by Artemisia I will never forget a conversation I had when I was back there, Dentellesky. I am producing a catalogue of compositions, little talking with a cab driver who said, my great, great hope, my grandest by little. aspiration, will be when my granddaughter goes to that high school Did you learn a lot about entrepreneurship at Eastman? … I assumed his granddaughter was 14 or 15, but no—his grand- I didn’t take IML courses at all, and I regret that. In fact, I think daughter was three. So the Detroit Symphony is providing hope, and they should be required for composition students, so you learn not even more importantly, something to aspire to. only how to write music but also how to get it out there. My feeling is now, more than ever, that places like the Eastman Any advice for current Eastman undergrads? School of Music will play a crucial role in a musical world where the Do as much as you can when you’re in music school; it’s your only rate of change continues to accelerate. The ability to adapt to chang- chance to try everything. I remember doing things like getting ing external factors, the ability to influence, and the ability to create together with friends and singing through Bach’s B Minor Mass. strategic partnerships are all integral to achieving our collective mis- I thought I was just having a good time, but it was as important as sion: to further the cause of music. any class I took.

Courtesy of Caleb Burhans Summer 2009 | Eastman Notes 7 Nature’s nobleman In this spring’s production of Le Nozze di Figaro, two ESM students explored one of opera’s great roles, with help from two experienced faculty members – and from Mozart.

By David Raymond “The cast had a great chemistry; it was a privilege to share a stage with such very gifted artists,” says Mario Martinez. Shown here in Act III of Le Nozze di Figaro are Rebecca Farley as Countess Almaviva (far left), Martinez as Figaro with Brent Arnold as Count Almaviva (center), and Julia Bullock as Susanna (far right). ince its 1786 premiere in Vienna, Mozart’s “Figaro is our access point,” says Pape. “He’s the everyman in the Le Nozze di Figaro has become a mainstay piece, its heart and soul and anchor. The opera is about his struggles of the opera repertoire. It’s also a mainstay for the life he feels he should have, and the singer playing him has to of Eastman Opera Theatre, which has per- be able to create a character we can root for.” For the role Pape chose formed Figaro many times, most recently in two graduate students disparate in age, and with varying degrees of a traditional and very successful production stage experience: John Buffett (MA ’09) and DMA student Mario in early April 2009. Martinez. Neither had played the role before, although both had sung Figaro’s continuing popularity was not a Figaro’s arias and Mario played Figaro’s boss, Count Almaviva, in a foregone conclusion, since Mozart and his previous Eastman production of the opera. librettist Lorenzo da Ponte based their opera Besides their guidance from Johnathon Pape, John and Mario were on a popular but politically incendiary play by Beaumarchais which coached by a veteran. Baritone Jan Opalach, a visiting professor in had been performed only two years earlier. 2008–2009 who will join the Eastman faculty full-time this fall, has The playwright, the librettist, and the composer all took their cue appeared as Figaro in four different productions over a 20-year span: Sfor the character of Figaro from the concept of “nature”—the natural New York City Opera, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Canadian National order of things, as opposed to divine right—which would argue that Opera. In Eastman’s production, Opalach played Don Bartolo, the a man’s superiority is not a matter of his social standing, but of his inherent intel- John Buffett lectual and moral intelligence, which can be equal to any nobleman’s. In the character of Figaro, Beau- marchais showed a servant who was not only clever but also morally superior to his master—a dangerous thing to do even in an age of revolution and the rise of a middle class. It’s no accident that the opera is usu- ally referred to simply as Figaro. While it is an ensemble piece with many juicy, complex roles, Figaro is certainly the most appealing male character in it. It’s also one of the great baritone roles in all of opera: with his quick wits and talent for intrigue, Figaro draws a stageful of disparate characters together. A long line of great basses and baritones have played Figaro, and last semester two Eastman students got to join the line. busybody who turns out to be Figaro’s father; but he still has a lot As assistant stage director for Eastman Opera Theatre, Johnathon to say about Figaro, a role he describes as “so involving, on so many Pape has directed several studio productions in the last two years, in- different levels.” cluding This is the Rill Speaking, The Medium, and Pelléas et Mélisande. And, he adds, “Figaro is much smarter than the Count! He is a For his first Eastman Theatre production, he knew that Figaro had man of intelligence who can think quickly on his feet, but he’s also to be the center of Figaro. very sensitive, with lots of life experience.” That experience includes

“The play is certainly a pivotal piece of theatrical history, but it is the operatic version that will prove immortal . . . it is through Mozart’s music

10 Eastman Notes | Summer 2009 Gelfand-Piper Photography (Buffett, Martinez, and preceding pages) a stint as a barber; this was alluded to in the Canadian production Pacing is very important throughout for such an important char- with Opalach, in which Figaro cut Cherubino’s hair before he went acter. “He is all over the stage in the first two acts,” says John. “By off to the Army at the end of Act I. the last act he gives in to Susanna, but still needs to pump it up for Both students found the coaching experiences extremely help- his big aria” (in which Figaro vents his jealous frustration when he ful. Mario says of his studio teacher: “Jan is a great actor and a very thinks his new wife is trysting with his employer). For Mario, this detailed musician, who always addresses very specific musical ele- aria is also demanding and dark —“The character hits rock bottom.” ments in a phrase.” For Opalach, this is the end of an arc that begins from the first line of Act I Scene 1: “This is the only time the audience gets to see them never felt that he [Opalach] was telling me how to as a loving couple. I used to play this scene very physically, showing play it, his advice was more ‘If I were Figaro, what would the loving relationship Figaro and Susanna have.” (And they were I do?’ ” says John. “He didn’t feel that he had to shape me; definitely directed that way by Pape.) “When you establish that, then he found a good balance between teaching me the role and during his outburst in Act IV, the singer can explore all the irony, giving me the freedom to try it my way.” pain, and humor in the situation.” “In a double cast, it’s important to be sure that each per- For Mario, Figaro is like Mozart himself—“a regular guy, who lives son in the cast gets their own take on the character,” says Pape. “I among people and can express his humanity with passion.” Mozart’s ‘Iwanted John’s Figaro to be his Figaro, and Mario’s to be his Figaro.” That was natu- Mario Martinez ral, at least as far as physical appearance went. “John is very tall and has a gangly physicality,” says Pape; “Since he’s so tall, I purposely paired him with a Susanna who is short (soprano Julie Norman). I liked what that brought to their charac- ter interaction. Mario is nearly as tall, but his body has an earthier, more grounded quality—he is a more imposing figure.” Opalach agrees: “Mario had a greater physicality; he was more Latin, more gestural and demonstrative.” Their dif- ference in age played into their perfor- mances, too: “John is more youthful, Mario has a solidness.” John Buffett calls the role of Figaro “fun to sing, because he really runs the show. The character is complex and smart, coping with the things that keep piling up. But he’s also angry at his treatment as the Count’s servant. operas “go beyond the text and drama and any cultural character- The acting challenge is in trying not to be ahead of the game—act- istics to the heart of the character. He offers a perspective on the ing surprised at the developments in the story and showing Figaro’s human condition.” quick process of figuring them out. Both singers admit they learned a great deal in their months of “It’s musically demanding too—you sing so much and it has to be preparation—but it all boiled down to the realization that, to bor- paced well.” (Pape explains, “Musically, the part lies rather low for a row Jan Opalach’s words, “the singing actor is always supported baritone—it calls for a bass-baritone, with a nice lower extension.”) by Mozart.” that the human condition is deliciously probed, lovingly questioned, and ultimately elevated to a place of true nobility.” —From Johnathon Pape’s director’s note for Le Nozze di Figaro

Summer 2009 | Eastman Notes 11 ‘Servinga great and noble ’

Eastman Historian artVincent Lenti surveys the Howard Hanson years

12 Eastman Notes | Summer 2009 courtesy eastman school of Music archives “. . . born to serve through your art a world which greatly needs your gifts”: Howard Hanson remained in Rochester, and remained a prolific composer, for almost two decades after retiring from Eastman in 1964. n June 2003, Professor of Piano Vincent Lenti (BM ’60, MA ’63) was appointed Eastman School Historian, with excellent rea- son—Vince has been part of the School for more than 50 years, as student, director of the Community Music School, and member of the piano fac- ulty. In 2004, the Press published For the Enrichment of Community Life: George Eastman and the Founding of the Eastman School of Music, the first volume of Vince’s proposed three-volume history of the Eastman School, which covered the period from the establishment of the School in 1921 to the death of George Eastman in 1932. In September, IUniversity of Rochester Press will publish volume two of the history, “Serving a Great By Vincent Lenti and Noble Art.” The vol- ume covers the remainder of hen Howard Hanson retired at the end of the 1963–1964 school year, he had been director of the Howard Hanson’s tenure at Eastman School of Music for forty years, a tenure the School (until 1964), and that encompassed all but the first three years of the the troubled reign of Walter school’s history. After forty years under Hanson’s guid- Hendl (1964–1972). Eastman ance, the Eastman School of music was a near-perfect reflection of the values and ideals of its long-term di- Notes reprints Vince’s intro- rector. A composer, educator, and conductor, Howard duction to the book, whose Hanson was a man of many talents. As an educator he title is taken from a speech by had a consistent and well-defined philosophy which guided him throughout his many years Howard Hanson himself. at the school. Hanson was thoroughly committed to the comprehensive education of the total musician, a philosophy that continues to characterize the education which the school W provides to its students. Under Hanson’s leadership the Eastman School of Music became widely known for being an institution which welcomed the performer and the scholar, the composer and the educator. It was a school that was committed to the development of mu- In his four decades at Eastman, sical leadership, and above all it was an institution which was thoroughly American in its Howard Hanson (shown here outlook, methods, and goals. in 1925 and in about 1960) When Hanson arrived in 1924, the Eastman School’s bachelor of music curriculum was expanded the School’s outreach already in place, During the school’s earliest years, however, the majority of students were to radio and television.

14 Eastman Notes | Summer 2009 courtesy Eastman School of Music Archives enrolled in a certificate program rather than pursuing an academic the works of American composers, an activity which began in 1927 degree. Hanson had little sympathy for the certificate program, and continued for the next forty-five years, including seven years and from the beginning of his tenure he was committed to making following his retirement in 1964. He encouraged the publication of the academic degree the normative education for undergraduate works by American composers, and also recorded American music music students. when there were few if any other such efforts on behalf of American Under Howard Hanson’s direction the Eastman School exerted composers. In addition, he conducted pieces from the American much influence throughout the country. This arose not only as a repertoire when he was asked to be a guest conductor for orches- result of the school’s leadership in the development of undergradu- tras such as the Boston Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, ate and graduate programs and curricula, but also through Hanson’s the Orchestra, and the Berlin Philharmonic. No other long-term association with the National Association of Schools of American musical leader of his generation worked as tirelessly on Music (NASM), an organization that became the professional ac- behalf of the American composer. crediting agency for music schools and music departments through- out the United States. Hanson had been in attendance at the first y the time Howard Hanson retired, the school was meeting of NASM in October 1924, shortly after he had assumed very much shaped into an institution that represented the director’s position at Eastman. He held the all-important posi- his philosophy of education, his commitment to tion of chairman for NASM’s commission on curriculum from 1924 American music, and his vision for the future. The until 1933 and later served a number of consecutive terms as presi- institution’s degree programs and curricula were a re- dent of the association. His leadership in the professional training Bflection of his leadership. Only two members of the active faculty of musicians at the undergraduate and graduate levels was strongly could trace their appointment to his predecessor; everyone else had felt throughout the country. been appointed by Hanson. The indelible stamp Hanson left on the No cause aroused Hanson’s interest more than that of the Eastman School of Music created a terrible burden for his successor. American composer. His passionate advocacy for American music led In truth, one might speak of the “Hanson Years” and then the “Post- him to provide an annual forum at the Eastman School of Music for Hanson Years” to describe the period of time between his arrival in , Hanson’s successor, was a highly regarded conductor with excellent connections in the musical world, but usual level of passion and eloquence. The convocation was taking proved to be less suited for a career as a dean and administrator. place shortly after the surrender of Japan which brought an end to the Second World War. Therefore, he may have faced a particularly 1924 as the second director of the Eastman School and the arrival of receptive audience as he spoke to the students in these words: Robert Freeman as the fourth director in 1972. His immediate suc- We are serving a great and noble art. We as men and women should cessor, Walter Hendl, was burdened not only with the legacy of his be worthy of the art we serve. My hope for each of you is that you will predecessor but also with dealing with an institutional inertia which be worthy apostles of an art whose beauty passes understanding, whose was an inevitable outcome of a leadership tenure that had lasted for blessings pour forth on a wave of sound to a weary, heartsick, beauty- four decades. starved world. My hope is that you will be strong yet compassionate, magnificently gifted yet filled with a spirit of humility, technically skilled n providing leadership for the school as well as for but emotionally warm and understanding, men and women born to serve the music profession in general, Howard Hanson was al- through your art a world which greatly needs your gifts; men and women ways ably assisted by a great talent for public speaking. He filled with the spirit of revelation which teaches you that all that you have, was a master of the art of persuasive speaking and was fre- your talents, your vitality, your youth, your enthusiasm, are gifts from the quently an inspiring orator. His style perhaps reflected his Almighty for which you are the steward, the custodian. generation more than the present day, and it certainly had These words provide a vivid picture of Howard Hanson and his something in common with the great public speakers in the religious leadership of the Eastman School of Music. Hanson was a complex Iand political sphere at the time. The effectiveness of his ability to person. Like many strong leaders he was a man of strong opinions communicate with his listeners came not only from rhetorical skills and deeply-held convictions. He was not a person to seek out the but also from his fervent belief that the art of music was a sublime opinions and advice of others—especially the Eastman faculty—and expression of the human spirit. He undoubtedly thought of music there were times when one might discern a self-serving aspect in his as being the greatest of all the arts, and it was in these terms that he decisions and priorities. As the years passed, he became more set in frequently spoke to the faculty and students. his ways and more resistant to change. Yet throughout his forty-year Hanson’s address at the opening convocation in September 1945 tenure as director of the school—even when he was promoting his was typical of the message which he so often preached from the stage own music and agenda—he always remained in the service of the of Kilbourn Hall, but it was perhaps delivered with more than his great and noble art of music to which he was so thoroughly devoted.

16 Eastman Notes | Summer 2009 courtesy Eastman School of Music Archives course, had to sell Hanson on the idea, but he did adopt and support it. What is your assessment of Hanson as a musician? He eventually became obsessed with his own vision, and his own “Putting definition of American music—which, as it happened, did not in- clude a lot of what was actually going on in American music in the 20th century. Much of the music he championed and recorded hasn’t really lived; when was the last time you heard an orchestra play a symphony by Alan Hovhaness—or by Hanson himself? But a human his work with the recordings and the American Music Festivals was valuable in keeping the fires of creativity burning, in showing to America that there were indeed American composers. As for Hanson’s conducting technique—well, he was certainly face on it” not highly thought of as a conductor among the student body. I made fun of him, we all did. But he got results, and he had to know A conversation with what he was doing—he conducted in Boston, New York, Berlin. Vincent Lenti on writing Volume II You were also at Eastman for Walter Hendl’s tenure [1964–1972], which you write about in the last chapters of the book. What was In the second volume of your Eastman history, you’re writing that like? about a time you experienced (in part) and about people you It was a crisis period for Eastman, and a time that I found was still knew. Did that make the job easier or more difficult? painful for many people to discuss. Hendl was enthusiastically It really did make it easier. I didn’t get to Eastman until 1956, but supported by Allen Wallis [UR President at the time], and other for many of the years that I was here there were people, legends people who thought that a highly regarded musician (which Hendl really, who had been at Eastman since the 1940s and ’30s—Emory certainly was) was what the School needed. But Hendl was a con- Remington, Joe Mariano, Eileen Malone, and many more. Often I ductor, not an educator—certainly not someone who had devel- knew the person I was writing about, and had a sense of what he or she was like as a person, so I was able to put a human face on the events I was writing about. Is there much documentation of the Hanson era at Eastman? There certainly is much more documentary evidence available than there was for the first volume. But even though there were ac- ademic committees, how many decisions were made is still a mys- tery. Hanson’s decisions often came out of personal, one-on-one meetings—cloakroom conversation. What kind of person was Howard Hanson? Did you have a close relationship with him? I did not know him intimately by any means; I knew him more as a presence at Eastman—and he was definitely a presence! I first met him as a student when I was president of the dorm council, but he remembered me from then on—he had an incredible memory, he Vincent Lenti arrived at Eastman as a student in 1956, and has been remembered everyone’s name and would always greet a student by here ever since. In 2003 he was named Eastman School Historian. name if he met you in the Main Hall. Hanson was the Eastman School, and the Eastman School was oped a vision of musical education, as Howard Hanson did. And he definitely Hanson. It was kind of a benevolent dictatorship; Han- had his own demons to contend with, which created an enormous son really didn’t empower the faculty to do anything except teach. crisis in leadership and led to a student-led uprising People might have taught 25 hours or more per week, but Hanson I don’t think it was a wise choice; but it it should be remem- discouraged his faculty members from playing outside concerts, bered that this was a time when many good things did happen at writing books, or doing any of the other things expected of modern Eastman: jazz was added to the curriculum; Musica Nova and the faculty members. Eastman Chorale were formed; Stravinsky and other important Change always trickled from the top, but there was change, the composers and scholars visited the School. Hendl was not directly menu did not remain the same. Look at the creation of the East- responsible for all of these, but it was an atmosphere where new man Wind Ensemble, which happened during Hanson’s tenure. Of things could occur.

Steve Boerner Summer 2009 | Eastman Notes 17 Making meaningful

18 Eastman Notes | Summer 2009 Making meaningful

noıseSoprano Tony Arnold brings a performer’s perspective to brand-new music

By David Raymond ony Arnold, the soprano widely ad- mired for her interpretation of contem- porary repertoire, was in residence at Eastman from February through April as the third Howard Hanson Visiting Professor of Composition, a position funded through the Hanson Institute for American Music. The previous Hanson Visiting Pro- fessors, Mario Davidovsky and Yehudi Wyner, are award-winning, widely known composers. Arnold is considered one of the top singers of contemporary repertoire today, but she is not a composer. The composers at Eastman didn’t mind at all. T“We wanted a fresh approach to the professorship,” says as- sociate professor of composition Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez. “So we decided to try a performer—a performer who not only is committed to contemporary music, but who also Tony Arnold, shown here in is known for working closely with composers, and who is rehearsal with Brad Lubman helping to develop a repertory.” and Musica Nova, found her voice through contemporary “None of the experience I’ve had has been wasted,” says music, and is now a powerful Tony Arnold firmly. Now an assistant professor at the voice for contemporary music. University of Buffalo, she never planned to be a singer; her early musical training included piano, woodwind, and com- position studies at the Peabody Preparatory Institute and the Maryland Center for the Arts.

Kurt Brownell Photography Summer 2009 | Eastman Notes 19 “Composers benefit from direct contact with performers. It is good for them to know if what they put on the page is practical to a per- former, if there are practical limitations . . . If the music is difficult to perform, it is often because the concept is flawed.”

“I should have been singing all along,” she says, and indeed she re- The Benson Forum and the Hanson Visiting Professorship came ceived a bachelor’s degree in voice from Oberlin College in 1990 (she together in late March, when Tony Arnold coached a total of 13 admits that when she auditioned for Eastman, she was turned down), Eastman composition students, nine singers, and 15 instrumentalists and a master’s degree in orchestral conducting from Northwestern in the writing and performance of brand-new songs written to poems University in 1993. by Lia Purpura, writer-in-residence at Baltimore’s Loyola College. Studying conducting, she says, made it seem natural to her to As might be expected from a singer who at one point described interpret music for herself, and to be sensitive to instrumental and herself as “a professional voice user,” Arnold took a no-nonsense ap- vocal balances. However she found that in singing traditional song proach in assessing both music and performances, from such prac- repertoire, “I just didn’t excel. Intellectually, I knew how Bach or tical matters as posture (“Don’t fold over,” she told a singer bending Schubert should sound, but I felt bound by performance traditions. over her music) and the need for additional music stands, to mat- I needed to create a sound world that was mine.” ters of text setting (summed up in the phrase “Honor the English She found it in contemporary music, whose appeal began when language”), to interpretation for singers (“the exaggeration level in she was 16 years old and heard the famous recording of George singing in huge”) and to instrumentalists performing with singers Crumb’s Ancient Voices of Children by Jan DeGaetani. Arnold found it (“Be in their breathing world”). “incredibly evocative—she was making meaningful noise.” She found equally meaningful noise years later, when she stud- During the period of her professorship, Arnold also premiered ied Luciano Berio’s classic Sequenza III for solo voice. “To perform David Liptak’s Folgore Songs with Mark Davis Scatterday and the it you need to find a balance in your body, and you have to be pre- Eastman Wind Ensemble, and joined Brad Lubman and Musica pared to make a very deep exploration of the music and its dynamic Nova for first performances of two student works:Post by Baljinder with the text.” She found this required a completely different set of Sekhon and Into Winter’s Grey by Paul Coleman. She had given mas- tools from music in the lieder tradition—difficult for some singers, ter classes at other institutions, but never was a guest on a sustained congenial to her. basis. “To return to Eastman two or three times a week for several “I found that my tension level was way lower when singing con- weeks [was] a luxury, ” she says—and it was a great situation for the temporary repertoire,” she says. “I found freedom from performance composers and performers. traditions. I could flourish and relax—it had a liberating effect.” (On “Composers benefit from direct contact with performers,” says her performing of any music, she adds; just before our interview, Arnold. “It is good for them to know if what they put on the page is she was practicing for an upcoming performance of Bach’s St. John practical to a performer, if there are practical limitations, notational Passion.) “I found my own voice through that music.” issues, musical phrases that should be re-organized. If the music is Tony Arnold won the Gaudeamus International Interpreter’s difficult to perform, it is often because the concept is flawed.” Competition for contemporary music performance in 2001, and The composition department was delighted to host “someone who since then she has made numerous recordings of touchstone contem- can help young composers realize that writing for voice and writ- porary vocal repertoire: not only Berio’s Sequenza, but also Gyorgy ing for an instrument really are two different things,” says Sanchez- Kurtàg’s Kafka Fragments, Elliott Carter’s Of Challenge and of Love, Gutierrez. “Working with Tony forced them to write with a degree of and—the work that started it all for her—Ancient Voices of Children. clarity and to make sure that the listener is going to listen.” Sanchez-Gutierrez also appreciated the “enthusiasm and com- The Warren and Patricia Benson Forum on Creativity, which began mitment” of the voice faculty and all the student participants: “All in 2007–2008, is supported through an endowed fund established in of ESM enjoyed this collaboration.” memory of Warren Benson by his family and friends. Benson, who Tony Arnold’s committed musicianship and forceful teaching re- died in 2005, was professor of composition at Eastman from 1967 to mind Sanchez-Gutierrez of one of the singer’s early inspirations: Jan 1993 and was appointed Professor Emeritus in 1994. He died in 2005. DeGaetani, who taught at Eastman in the 1970s and 1980s while The idea behind the Benson Forum, according to its artistic director maintaining a lively performing career: “Because of her interest in Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, is a simple one: to bring artists from dif- new repertoire, and her excellence as a teacher, I think they are very ferent disciplines together and see what develops. much alike.”

20 Eastman Notes | Summer 2009 SCHOOL NEWS

A brand-new Dr. shares a hearty laugh at Commencement with Trustee Robert Witmer and Graduate Dean Marie Rolf. Commencement 2009: “Music’s future made manifest” Eastman’s 84th Commencement cere- This year’s awards included an honorary ceived Reinhild Steingröver, associate pro- mony, held on May 17, offered something doctorate to Christopher Seaman, the music fessor of German; and Professor of Piano old—plenty of good “old school” traditions director of the Rochester Philharmonic Or- Nelita True added the University’s Lifetime including an opulent Eastman Theatre set- chestra, and an alumni achievement award Achievement Award in Graduate Education ting, music from the Trombone and Harp to Mark Volpe (BM ’79), the managing direc- to her shelf of teaching awards. Choirs, marshals and maces—and also, tor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, who of course, something new in 262 brand- gave the Commencement Address (see p. 6 ON THE WEB For a gallery of photos new Eastman graduates: “music’s future for excerpts). from Eastman’s 2009 Commencement, visit made manifest,” in the words of Dean Eastman’s Eisenhart Award for Excellence www.rochester.edu/commencement/2009/ Douglas Lowry. in Teaching went to an enthusiastically-re- photos.html

No strings attached Eastman’s Guitarfest, conceived by Professor Nicholas Goluses, had a successful debut in the fall of 2007, and the February 2009 edi- tion was even more successful, offering master classes and recitals from a wide variety of musicians. Highlights included a duo recital by Goluses with Professor of Flute Bonita Boyd, a concert by the ESM students of the Great Lakes Guitar Quartet, and a master class and delightful Kilbourn Hall recital by the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. LAGQ appeared the previous night with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (a Guitarfest co-sponsor) in a new concerto by Sergio Assad. Shown here in the master class are LAGQ’s John Dearman and ESM student Dieter Henning.

Kurt Brownell Photography SCHOOL NEWS

Emmy-winner Jeff Beal didn’t Monk-ey around during his week as soloist and guest composer with the jazz department. Spring 2009 – a semester of special guests Jeff Beal (BM ’85), prolific and Emmy • Teresa Stratas, the soprano who was one Award-winning composer of TV scores of the outstanding interpreters of the music (Monk, Rome, Carnavale), movie soundtracks of Kurt Weill, made a return visit to Eastman (Pollock), and concert music, returned to his on April 18 as a judge in the annual Lotte alma mater as an artist-in-residence from Lenya Competition for young singing actors. March 3–7. Jeff taught classes in film scor- Stratas was joined by two notable New York ing and jazz arranging, and appeared with theater figures: Rob Berman, music direc- the Studio Orchestra and Bill Dobbins as tor of the City Center Encores! series, and guest composer and trumpet soloist. Jeff was Ted Chapin, president of the Rodgers and one of many distinguished musical guests Hammerstein Organization. during the spring 2009 semester at the • In April, Eastman hosted the annual con- Eastman School: ference of the Society for 17th-Century Teresa Stratas brought her unique interpre- • Quartets x 2: The Eastman-Ranlet Series Music, which included a recital by soprano tive insights to the Lotte Lenya Competition. hosted the Miró Quartet (February 1), in Ellen Hargis, the reigning diva of the Boston a program including Credo, a new work by • Erica Azim, a contemporary master of Early Music Festival, with Eastman’s own Kevin Puts (BM ’94, DMA ’99), and the traditional Shona mbira music and of the peerless lutenist Paul O’Dette (April 24). Grammy-winning Takács Quartet (March Zimbabwean mbira dzavadzimu, came for a • Another legendary orchestral and stu- 22) in a program of music by two of its sig- recital and a workshop beginning on April 7. dio musician, bassoonist Loren Glickman nature composers, Beethoven and Bartók. • Oboist Jacqueline Leclair (BM ’88) re- (BM ’45), visited his alma mater in May • The legendary orchestral musician Dale turned to appear as soloist with Musica Nova, for lessons and master classes. Glickman Clevinger, principal horn of the Chicago Brad Lubman conducting, on April 13; the is perhaps best-known as the bassoonist in Symphony Orchestra since 1966, also visited program included Charles Wuorinen’s Iridule, Columbia recordings of Stravinsky’s Octet the School from April 5–7, giving individual written for Jackie in 2006 by the Pulitzer and L’Histoire du Soldat conducted by the lessons and leading master classes. Prize-winning composer. composer in the 1950s.

22 Eastman Notes | Summer 2009 Kate Melton SCHOOL NEWS

“Failure was impossible!”: Women in Music turns 5 In 2005, Eastman welcomed a new festi- val celebrating the talents and achievements of women performers, composers, teachers, scholars, and administrators: the Women in Music Festival, with Sylvie Beaudette, assis- tant professor of chamber music and accom- panying as artistic director. From modest beginnings, the festival has grown over the years to include other arts: poetry, painting, video art, and even (in this year’s festival) silent film. Women in Music has invited several high- level composers as composer-in-residence, including Tania Leon and Nancy Van de Vate; this year the guest was Judith Lang Zaimont, a prolific composer in many genres and also a prolific author and editor in the field of women’s music. Besides several per- formances of chamber and choral works, the festival programs included the premiere of Housewife, the latest installment in Judith Lang Zaimont’s series of choral works about her choral piece Housewife, a performance of the modern female condition, was premiered by the Eastman Women’s Chorus. her Sabbath Service at Temple B’rith Kodesh, and a performance of her Israeli Rhapsody by Hildegard of Bingen to brand-new music by by Eastman students Jennifer Bellor and the Eastman Wind Ensemble. Eastman students. Innovations this year in- Elizabeth Kelly, and Water’s Edge: 200 Years As usual, Women in Music offered cluded the showing of two short films by the of Women Composers, by mixed media artist Eastman students and faculty members German filmmaker Lotte Reiniger with mu- Kathleen Nicastro with pianist Kevin Nitsch in performances of music ranging from sical scores for saxophone and vibraphone (DMA ’92). “I was born a composer”

never have thought of myself as “an ‘adjec- year I played two records every night: Rav- A conversation with tive’ composer.” I’m a composer! el’s String Quartet and Berg’s Piano Sonata. Judith Lang Zaimont Surely others thought of you as a “woman When I was studying in Paris, I wrote a composer”! Theme and Variations that was an exorcism When did you decide Some of my teachers advised against a ca- of those influences—each variation was you wanted to be a reer as a composer! It was out of caring, named after a composer I admired: Mahler, composer? they were trying to save me grief. I asked Ravel, Stravinsky, Bartók, Rachmaninoff, I started composing at one teacher for a letter of recommenda- Hindemith, and Britten. age 11, but I was born a tion, and he said he couldn’t do it—he had And the ingredients of your musical style? composer—I never felt seen too many gifted female students disap- Timbral freshness; additive rhythms. And I had any choice! I took pear into domesticity. I told him he would non-musical inspiration: not one piece in Zaimont piano lessons, but I was hear from me again in two years. I was my catalogue has an absolute-music title. not a born performer—the kind of person lucky enough to win some prizes early on, We all wait for magnificent moments in who needs to perform to flourish. and when I returned after two years, he did music, moments that make us want to visit Did you experience difficulties or pressures write the letter! it again. We move fast nowadays, but music as a woman composer? What are your musical influences? should not give up everything at the first It never dawned on me till I got to col- I’ve always been a tonal composer and my hearing. What I ask from an audience is in- lege that there were “women composers.” I influences reflect that. In my freshman tense listening to music.

Richard Baker (Women’s Chorus); courtesy Judith Lang Zaimont (Zaimont) Summer 2009 | Eastman Notes 23 SCHOOL NEWS

Diversity at ESM: first steps in “an honest discussion” Definitions of the word “di- for and retention of faculty, the staff and students. She also saw a need for versity” are, well, diverse—and results of the study were that a curricular diversity: moving beyond the long simply discussing the word can number of minorities were criti- accepted canon of western classical music be problematic. But Eastman is cally underrepresented at the to include other kinds of music and ways making the attempt. University: women; Latinos; of studying music. The hoped-for result, ac- In 2006, at the invitation of African-Americans; and Pacific cording to Eastman’s own recently issued University President Joel Selig- islanders. Diversity Statement, is “a musical commu- man, Professor of Musicology As Eastman’s Diversity Officer, nity that is rich with cultural, social, and Ellen Koskoff and assistant dean she soon realized that interpret- intellectual diversity.” Ellen Koskoff Jamal Rossi joined representa- ing questions of diversity for the Koskoff points out that Eastman’s student tives from each UR school in a University Eastman School needed to take the School’s population is overwhelmingly European of Rochester task force on diversity. Focus- specific culture into account, and ideally in- Caucasian and East Asian. Our diversity is- ing on questions of diversity in the search cluded broadening the discussion to include sues are shared by other important American music schools, and Koskoff thinks that by trying to ask these questions now, Eastman can be a leader in developing diversity initia- tives specific to music schools. Towards that goal, the Eastman School has received money from the University’s Special Opportunities Fund for the diversity pro- posal, which consists of three components over the next three years: • A year-long series of diversity events. The first guest in the Diversity Speaker Series came to Eastman on March 26: the dynamic young vibraphonist and composer Stefon Harris gave a master class and a lecture on “Listening to Jazz,” sponsored by the departments of winds, brass, and percussion, and jazz. • Hosting a 2010 conference on diversity in music schools, with guest speakers and performers • A long-term plan for each department at Eastman to independently invite under- represented minority performers, speakers, and clinicians Koskoff realizes the wisdom of starting such an ambitious project slowly and care- fully. “Diversity is a volatile and sensitive subject that people have difficulty discuss- ing. Here at Eastman, we want to start out by creating a safe place for an honest discussion of diversity issues of all kinds.”

ON THE WEB www.esm.rochester.edu/ experience/diversity.php contains Eastman’s diversity statement, and links to sites for Diversity in words and music: Stefon Harris spoke, taught, and played in a day-long Gamelan Lila Muni, mbira ensemble, and much presentation by the Departments of Jazz and of Winds, Brass, and Percussion. more. Check it for new links and news updates.

24 Eastman Notes | Summer 2009 Kurt Brownell Photography Eastman hits the heights May 28 marked the first milestone in the construction of the Eastman School’s new addition: the topmost beam was placed on the structure, indicating that the project has reached its maximum height. The great event was celebrated by Pike Construction with a longstanding tradition in high steel ironworking: a “topping off” ceremony, a popular practice in Europe and America in which the ironworkers and other dignitaries are invited to sign the girder In May, Pike Construction workers were on (painted white), which is then hoisted into top of the world—or at least on top of the place with a small evergreen tree (symbol- Eastman School. izing good luck and endurance) attached. The festivities included words from its way up to the top. Everyone present was University President , Eastman invited to sign the beam, beginning with Eastman instrumental students Associate Dean Jamal Rossi, and Rochester longtime supporter of the project Betty brought hands-on chamber music to Philharmonic Orchestra CEO Charles Strasenburgh (BM ’52). kids in Rochester schools. Owens—and this being Eastman, the cel- The addition at the corner of East Main and ebration included music: a percussionists’ Swan Streets, which will include a new recital jam session performed on the beam itself, hall, a recording studio, and classrooms, is and then a brass fanfare as the girder made scheduled to open in the fall of 2010. Eastman gives back to Rochester

Between March 30 and April 17, Eastman student ensembles offered their annual Music for All presen- tations of chamber music to the Rochester community—in class- rooms, libraries, stores, and other public places. Eastman is still the only music school in the country offering such an extensive musical outreach program, for which stu- dents and faculty members spend months preparing. Music for All was only one part of a spring semes- ter marked by much “giving back” from Eastman to Rochester. The School (along with the Rochester Besides its Eastman Theatre production of Mozart’s Nozze di Figaro (see p. 8), Eastman Philharmonic Orchestra) took part Opera Theatre had a busy semester, with four different productions in the Opera Studio. in the Orchestras Feeding America One actually was at the tail end of the fall semester: a December double bill of Jake promotion of donations to local Heggie’s For a Look or a Touch and Poulenc’s Mamelles de Tirésias (shown here), directed food pantries, and Eastman stu- by Master’s student Jacob G. Allen. An adaptation of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande dents and staff also volunteered at followed in January. After Figaro, there was a classic American musical in May: Kander and the nearby St. Martin’s soup kitchen Ebb’s Cabaret, directed by Master’s student Leah Arington. for the homeless.

Andy Olenick (Topping Off); Kurt Brownell Photography (Music for All); Nic Minetor (opera) Summer 2009 | Eastman Notes 25 IN TRIBUTE

John Celentano John Celentano, Professor Emeritus of Chamber Music, died April 13, 2009 in Rochester at the age of 96. Born in Montreal, Quebec, on October 22, 1912, John Celentano was educated in Rochester, including several years at the Eastman School, where he received a Bachelor of Music degree in 1937, a Master’s in 1941, and the Performers’ Certificate. He was part of Eastman’s, and Rochester’s, mu- sical life ever since, and his Eastman career was a long and distinguished one. He taught violin and chamber music at Eastman for 35 years (from 1946 to 1981), also serving as String Department Chair. Performing all over the world as a soloist, orchestral violinist, and chamber musician, he also contributed to community musi- cal life in Rochester, as a member of the Rochester Civic Orchestra (1936–1942), Associate Concertmaster of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (1946–1952), and Concertmaster of the Opera Under the Stars Orchestra (1952–1976). In the 1950s and ’60s, he was radio and TV commen- tator for the Evening at Eastman chamber music broadcast series, and also narrated and performed on Rochester Area Educational Television. He was also a violinist in the Modern Art Quartet (1948–1958) and Eastman String Quartet (1954–1964). With the latter, he toured southern Europe, the Mideast, and North Africa in 1960, sponsored by the U.S. State Department—the first teaching cham- ber ensemble to do so. John Celentano was President of the American String Teachers Association in 1975–1976, and received ASTA’s “One of the great chamber music coaches”: John Celentano was a part of life at Eastman Distinguished Service Award in 1981. School for more than six decades. Musician called him “one of a vanishing breed of truly great chamber music coaches and expert string peda- concluded his article by asking, “As teachers, do we need any higher gogues,” and many generations of Eastman string students would goal to stimulate student interest and devotion to the development agree. of instrumental skill if the reward be intimacy with the immortals?” John Celentano was always a passionate and articulate advocate The passions of John Celentano’s life will forever endure. He and of the importance of chamber music study in instilling technical his wife, Mary, funded a variety of life-income gifts which will ulti- skill and intellectual curiosity in young musicians. In a 1968 ar- mately establish two important endowments at Eastman, supporting ticle for Orchestra News, he wrote: “Admiration + Comprehension chamber music programming and scholarships. Gifts made in John’s + Participation yields a totality in musical experience which is the memory were directed to the Celentano Award for Excellence in distinguishing characteristic of the chamber music experience.” He Chamber Music at the Eastman School.

26 Eastman Notes | Summer 2009 Eastman School of Music Archives IN TRIBUTE

Mendi Rodan In Memoriam The Israeli conductor Mendi Sarah Jane Williamson Rodan, who was professor of conduct- 1930s (BM ’40), April 2009 ing at the Eastman School from 1999 Richard S. Darrohn Nancy Wolff to 2002, died in Jerusalem on May 9, (BM ’38), January 2009 (BM ’45), December 2008 2009, after a brief battle with cancer. Elizabeth Jones He was 80 years old. (BM ’32), April 2009 Rodan was a precocious musician, Clara Packard 1950s playing violin at age five. At the age (x ’39), April 2009 Anne M. Buxton of 16, he became first violinist in the Audrey Phelps (BM ’54), January 2009 Romanian Radio Symphony Orchestra (BM ’37), January 2009 Henry Black Ingram, Jr. and by 1953 he was conducting that or- Emily Barrett Williams (BM ’55), September 2008 chestra. After immigrating to Israel in 1960, Rodan served as chief (BM ’32), January 2009 Kazuko Ishida conductor and musical advisor of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra (BM ’54), January 2009 (1963–1972). In 1965 he founded the Jerusalem Chamber Orchestra. Charlotte Seifert Knaub He was also a permanent guest conductor of the Israel Philharmonic 1940s (BM ’57), April 2009 Orchestra, Laureate Conductor of the Israel Sinfonietta, and recently Alfonso Angelone Anthony E. Ostrowski managed the Rishon Lezion Symphony Orchestra (1993–2005). (BM ’49), January 2009 (BM ’58), January 2009 Mendi Rodan taught conducting at the Jerusalem Rubin Academy Lyman W. Bodman John Walter Pozdro of Music and Dance, which he also headed from 1984 to 1993. From (MM ’47), January 2009 (PhD ’58), January 2009 2004, he was professor of conducting at the Buchman-Mehta School Ruth D. Brooks JoAnn Pritchard of Music, Tel Aviv University. Mendi Rodan received the Israel Prize (BM ’44), January 2009 (MM ’50), January 2009 in 2006, as one “of the front line of Israeli musicians and one of the Charlotte J. Burgess leading artists in the field of musical performance in Israel.” (MA ’44), April 2009 “Mendi was a consummate conductor and a master teacher,” says Mary Gibbs 1960s his former colleague William Weinert, professor of conducting. “He (BM ’43), April 2009 Loren D. Geiger came to us when he was in his early 70s, but the tremendous inten- Joanne Iati (BM ’70, MM ’70), May 2009 sity and energy he brought to his work were an inspiration to all of (BM ’46), March 2009 Joel H. Kuznik us. He set extremely high standards for himself and for our orches- Edward J. Jantschi (MM’63), April 2009 tras, and at the same time was a warm and encouraging colleague.” (BM ’49, MM ’54), April 2009 1970s Joe Sillato Robert E. Klein (BM ’48), May 2009 John C. Campbell Joseph “Foxy” Sillato, who ran the Eastman School’s Jean Luebkeman (DMA ’75), March 2009 Duplicating Center for 25 years, died on April 5, 2009, at the age of (x ’49), January 2009 Darlene M. Flynn 80. During his quarter-century here, most everyone at the school, Ruth McGowan (MA ’78), May 2009 from students to administration to faculty staff, came in contact with (BM ’47), September 2008 Frederick H. Telschow Joe. He was known and loved, and loved Eastman in return, specify- F. Virginia Rohde (DMA ’70), April 2009 ing that memorial donations be given to the School. (MA ’40), March 2009 Mary Lou Semon 1980s Zelma Arterberry (x ’49), April 2009 William C. Stone Theodore Dennis Doubek Zelma Arterberry, who worked in Eastman facilities depart- (BM ’48, MM ’49), (BM ’89), May 2009 ment for 10 years, died June 30, 2009, after a short illness. She was March 2009 Steven Neil Witser survived by two sons, a a daughter, and an adopted son, as well as Martha Christian Will (BM ’81), April 2009 many other relatives. Zelma is interred in Vernon, OK. (BM ’40), April 2009

On the Web For a full obituary for John Celentano, including numerous tributes from Eastman faculty and former students, go to www.esm.rochester.edu/news/?id=539. For more information about the life of Joe Sillato, visit www.aliferemembered.com.

Courtesy of the Israel Sinfonietta Summer 2009 | Eastman Notes 27 ALUMNI NOTES

and the Music Institute of Chicago 1930s & 1940s Academy program since retiring from Send your news! Western Illinois University and the Willis Page’s (BM ’39) 90th birth- Quad City Symphony. She is author day was cause for celebration in Do you have an announcement you’d like to share with your of Cello Playing is Easy—Warmups. In Jacksonville, FL, where he led the fellow alumni? Send your personal and professional news to fall 2008, Gerald V. Carey (BM ’59, symphony orchestra from 1971 to Notes, Office of Communications, Eastman School of Music, MM ’61) retired from the Quad City 1983, and later the St. Johns River Symphony, where he was principal City Band. A Jacksonville newspa- 26 Gibbs Street, Rochester, New York 14604. flute since 1977, and was awarded the per profile stated: “Willis is working Distinguished Service Award from Fax: 585-274-1089 on his memoirs but doubts they’ll the National Flute Association in ever be finished. When you’ve been a E-mail: [email protected] August 2008. He is emeritus faculty translator for General George Patton from Western Illinois University and in World War II, a protégé of Arthur We reserve the right to edit submissions for clarity and length. the Camerata Woodwind Quintet, Fiedler, a conductor of orchestras The deadline for the Winter issue of Notes is November 20, 2009. which he helped found in 1966. from Nashville to Tokyo and the Gerald continues to be an active first American ever to conduct at News of your upcoming events such as concerts and lectures flutist/teacher. Hiroshima, there’s just too much can be posted live on the Eastman alumni website: to cover.” www.esm.rochester.edu/alumni The career articles of duo-pianists Joan Yarbrough and Robert Cowan In August 2008, Governor Linda (DMA ’64) have been placed in Lingle presented Barbara B. Smith Trombone Scholarship Fund. Guests Bill Cahn (BM ’68) was an artist- the International Piano Archive (MM ’43) the State of Hawaii’s high- included Curtis Olsen (DMA ’77), in-residence at the Showa, Japan, Maryland, located at the University est award for lifetime contribution Chris Matten (BM ’76), Daniel Academy of Music from January of Maryland, College Park. They to culture, arts, and humanities—an Patrylak (BM ’54, MM ’60), and for- 5–16, 2009, and at Rowan University are the only duo-piano team repre- honor previously bestowed on only mer Eastman dean Robert Freeman. (Glassboro, NJ) April 24–27. Bill sented among such distinguished thirteen people since the award was and his fellow members of Nexus solo pianists as Josef Lhevinne, Gina established in the 1960s. (including Bob Becker BM ’69) Bachauer, and William Kapell. 1960s premiered two works for percus- sion ensemble in April: Gordon Voice Afire Pocket Opera and Cabaret 1950s William M. Anderson (BM ’63, MM Stout’s Prelude—Winter Song and an staged Raymond Luedeke’s (BM ’64) and Joy E. Lawrence have pub- arrangement of Arvo Pärt’s Spiegel ’66) new pocket opera I Confess, I Legendary jazz bassist Ron Carter lished the 25th anniversary edition im Spiegel by Nexus member Russell Have Lived, based on the life, loves, (BM ’59) is the subject of a new of their internationally recognized Hartenberger. and times of Pablo Neruda, on April biography by Dan Ouellette, Ron music education text Integrating 17, 2009 at the Pumphouse Visual Carter: Finding the Right Notes, pub- Music into the Elementary Classroom Tanya Carey (BM ’60 MM ’61) is art- Arts Centre, Niagara-on-the-Lake, lished by ArtistShare. In June, Ron (Schirmer Books). ist teacher at Roosevelt University Ontario. On May 24, in Toronto’s was honored with the Flamekeeper St. Lawrence Centre, the Hannaford Award from Elders Share the Arts, Street Silver Band and Motus O for “remembering the past to inspire dance company presented a choreo- the future.” graphed version of Ray’s Circus Music. Ray continues as Associate Principal In May 2008, four members of Clarinet of the Toronto Symphony. the Class of 1951—June (Potter) Durkee, Clifford Snyder, Gloria John White (MA ’54, PhD ’60) (Cammarota) Stampalia, and Ed was awarded first prize in choral Willson—“reunited at Willson’s composition at the 2008 Choral beautiful home high in the moun- Festival of Segorbe, Spain, for his tains of northeastern Italy for a won- Credo Trifarium, first performed dur- derful week of music, reminiscences, ing the 2009 Festival. He is donat- and fun!” according to June. ing his extensive music library to the l’Aquila Conservatory of Donald Knaub (BM ’53, MM ’61), Music, l’Aquila , Italy, saying “The Emeritus Professor of Trombone at town ... was devastated by an earth- the Butler School of Music of the quake [in April] and the library of University of at Austin, was the Conservatory was completely honored for a teaching career that destroyed ... I hope my donation will lasted more than 50 years: at the Bill Cahn (BM ’68) joined a squadron of outstanding percussionists for be a substantial start to the rebuild- Eastman School (1951–1977), where performances with Pierre Boulez and the Chicago Symphony of Edgard ing of the Conservatory’s library.” he was co-founder and trombonist of Varèse’s Ionisation and Amériques. Bill sent this photo, taken in Chicago’s the Eastman Brass Quintet; and the Orchestra Hall, with (left to right) She-e Wu, Vadim Karpinos, Dan Davis, A review of Edward Wood’s (BM University of Texas (1977–2002). The Pierre Boulez, current Eastman professor Michael Burritt (BM ’84, MM ’86), ’64) CD of Book II of Bach’s Well- ceremony also announced the estab- Gordon Gottlieb, James Ross, Patricia Dash (BM ’83), Michael Kozakis (BM Tempered Clavier appeared on lishment of the University’s Donald ’98), Greg Zuber, Cynthia Yeh, Shannon Wood, Donald Koss, Keith Aleo, Amazon.com from Amman, Jordan: and Charlotte Knaub Endowed and Bill Cahn. “... a performance intoxicating for

28 Eastman Notes | Summer 2009 courtesy of Bill Cahn ALUMNI NOTES

its daring, intelligence, and beauty. miered in the last year are Portraits, the Chattanooga (TN) Symphony and my Today appearance on my web- With superlative vision from Rangell, for pianist Michael Salmirs, and Opera Orchestras, and Professor of site: www.SidneyFriedman.com. 2) Rubsam, Wood, and a few others, the Aria and Chase, for trombonist Violin at the University of Tennessee. My songs “There’s a Thing Going on musical world at last appears able to Hal Reynolds. Here” and “Let’s Savor It” are being see past the great Glenn Gould.” performed by the jump swing band Rob Kapilow’s (MA ’77) new book, 1980s The Flat Cats. 3) My mini-musical All You Have to Do is Listen: Music Ben and the Bean, with lyrics by 1970s from the Inside Out (Wiley), shows Chris Braymen (BM ’81) writes: Daniel Wessels and book by Chris the interested but uninitiated how “On March 4, 2009, Sony Computer Audain, was performed in June 2009 Diane Abrahamian (BM ’79, MM to listen to music from Handel to Entertainment America released by the Theatre Building Chicago.” ’86) was the guest conductor for the Janàcˇek. Musical examples printed in MLB 09 The Show, its popular base- 2009 Wayne Senior All-County Choir the book correspond to sound sam- ball video game for the PS2, PSP, and Antonio García (MM ’85) taught (Sodus, NY) and the 2009 Onondaga ples on a website, for easy reference. PS3 video game consoles. With com- and performed in Doha, Qatar, in All-County Vocal Jazz Ensemble Gramophone’s Jeremy Nicholas com- bined sales of over a million copies November 2008, rehearsing with the (Syracuse, NY). Diane has been a mented, “I can’t imagine a better pair annually, and an “E” for “Everyone” American High School’s jazz band choral director and voice teacher at of hands than Rob Kapilow’s to guide rating, I’m delighted to have worked and chamber singers, and perform- Penfield High School (Penfield, NY) [music lovers] into ... a mysterious as an audio program- ing in concert as a trom- since 1981. and daunting world.” mer on this and other bonist and vocalist with Sony titles for the them and with his own Deborah Brown (BM ’77, MM ’79) Geary Larrick (MM ’70) performs past 7 years. Plus, the students from Virginia created and chaired a competi- on piano and percussion regularly unlimited peanuts and Commonwealth tion for piano and strings in coop- in central Wisconsin, premiering crackerjack is an added University. Tony eration with the city of Rockville, his Song I for cymbal(s) on March bonus!. ;-)” performed at The MD. 208 students and 46 teachers 10, 2009, in Gesell Institute at the Diplomatic Club for participated this spring. The win- University of Wisconsin–Stevens On March 7, 2009, an audience includ- ners’ recital was held in the F. Scott Point. Geary is featured in the Tim Conner (BM ’85) ing U.S. Congressional Fitzgerald Theatre in Rockville. June 2009 edition of “CU Voices,” premiered Thomas Representatives and Braymen published at the University of Sleeper’s Translucence Arabic heads of state Stanley Friedman (DMA ’76) con- Colorado in Boulder. for Trombone and Orchestra in in celebration of the tenth anni- ducted a series of concerts in Austria Gusman Hall at the University of versary of the VCUarts-Qatar cam- and Switzerland (in March, 2009) This summer, composer/vibraphon- Miami’s Frost School of Music. The pus. In between he sat in on jazz with Blechcircus, a 10-piece brass/per- ist Ted Piltzecker (ESM ’72) will Frost Symphony Orchestra was led sets at the local Ritz hotel. Tony cussion ensemble, performing his La travel to Uruguay to present work- by Zoe Zeniodi, and clips of the per- was also the subject of a five- Pittura (with soloist Bernhard Baer) shops in composition and ensemble formance are available on YouTube. page feature in the debut issue and Delosian Dreams (commissioned performance at the conservatory This was Conner’s second premiere of MusicPro (Fall 2008), available by Blechcircus). Stanley also pre- in Montevideo, then to Patagonia of a major work at UM, following at www.musicpromagazine.com/ sented master classes at the Anton to perform at the 7th Festival the David Maslanka Concerto for download. He is the author of a five- Bruckner Institute in Linz, Austria, Internacional de Percusión, and then Trombone and Wind Ensemble in Fall book play-along set of jazz instruc- and at Musikhochschule in Feldkirch, to Buenos Aires for a series of jazz 2007. The Frost Trombone Choir, tion titled Cutting the Changes: Austria and Bern, Swtizerland. In appearances with well-known drum- under Tim’s direction, recently pre- Jazz Improvisation via Key Centers April 2009, Stanley was Guest mer Fernando Martinez and bassist miered an exciting new work for (Kjos Music, www.kjos.com). Composer at the Mesa State Trumpet Arturo Puertas. More on Ted is at trombones and percussion, Spawn, In February 2009 he served as Fest in Grand Junction, CO, where www.TedVibes.com. by UM faculty member Scott Stinson. Director of the Kansas All-State Jazz trumpeter Ryan Anthony pre- Ensemble. Visit Tony’s web site at miered his Classical Concerto in C John Serry (BM ’75, MM ’91) Wade Culbreath (BM ’87) has been www.garciamusic.com. with the Grand Junction Symphony recently completed a concert tour named principal timpanist with the Orchestra, conducted by Kirk of Italy—18 concerts, from Bologna Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and Thomas Lanners (MM ’89, DMA Gustafson. As Featured Composer to Ravenna, including performances was recently principal percussion- ’91), professor of piano at Oklahoma at the International Trumpet Guild with his jazz quartet (of Italian play- ist for Alexander Desplat’s Oscar- State University, gave master classes Conference (May 2009, Harrisburg, ers) and several concerts on solo nominated score for the filmThe at the Universities of Colorado- PA), Friedman wrote the commis- piano. In London, he recorded a solo Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Boulder and Northern Colorado in sioned work Pitter-Patter (And Other piano album. John’s CD The Shift February, and presented Charms) for brass quintet and piano. came out in June on Green Peacock Sidney Friedman (BM at the MTNA confer- Records and is distributed worldwide ’80) offers an update ence in Atlanta. In Composer Paul Goldstaub (MM ’74, on iTunes; more information is at on his several careers: September 2008, he DMA ’77) is featured in the cover [email protected]. “1) As a mentalist and presented a master story of the January 2009 issue of futurist, I was featured class and two lectures, Binghamton Reseach Magazine, pub- Waddy Thompson (BM ’75) writes, on NBC’s Today show and taught lessons to lished by Binghamton University. “On April 18, 2009, my composition on New Year’s Eve students of Professor The online version of the story, for men’s chorus, three horns, and doing my annual pre- Barry Snyder, during a Lanners which contains links to audio and bassoon received its world premiere dictions, as I’ve done on one-week residency at video clips descibing his recent work by the Windy City Gay Chorus.” ABC’s The View and the CBS Morning Eastman. Thomas also presented a with poet Martin Bidney, may be News. All my Oscar predictions came lecture and coaching session at the found at http://research.bingham- Don Zimmer (BM ’75) is in his to fruition, and my economic fore- Eastman 2008 Summer Institute ton.edu/goldstaub. Other pieces pre- fourth decade as Concertmaster of cast has been on target. You can view Plays Well With Others. Ned Rorem:

MLB box cover courtesy of Chris Braymen Summer 2009 | Eastman Notes 29 ALUMNI NOTES

Piano Music Volume 2 (Centaur), from my students about where to as music director of the Symphony final concerts as music director of was released in April; Thomas has right-click, as they are learning about of Southeast Texas, located in the New York Philharmonic, singing recorded nearly the entire solo piano film music from me!” Beaumont, TX. Chelsea, who in Britten’s War Requiem. output of this renowned composer. started in Toledo in 2003, will have American Record Guide wrote of his Katherine Murdock’s (PhD ’86) his debut concert with the SST on Shizuo “Z” Kuwahara, who recently first Rorem CD: “Anyone who cares Unquiet Night, commissioned by the October 17. won the George Solti International about mainstream 20th-century National Symphony Orchestra, was Conductors’ Competition, was piano music should seek out this premiered at the Kennedy Center for named music director of the Augusta superlative recording.” the Performing Arts in September 1990s (GA) Symphony Orchestra on March 2008. In January 2009, she received 25. “Z” is only the third music direc- Brenda Lynne Leach (MM ’85, the first-ever Kansas Master Artist Armando Bayolo (BM ’95) made tor in the orchestra’s 55-year history. DMA ’89) recently returned from a Fellowship in Music Composition. his conducting debut at the John F. concert tour in Russia, where she Katherine has taught composi- Kennedy Center for the Performing Payton MacDonald (MM ’99, conducted the Mozart Requiem with tion and theory at Wichita State Arts leading Great Noise Ensemble DMA ’01) recently performed his the Moscow Symphony Orchestra University for 24 years. Recently, her and the Congressional Chorus in percussion concerto Cowboy Tabla, and the Moscow Boys Choir. She private student, Matt Aelmore, was performances of his violin con- Cowboy Raga with the Los Angeles also performed a solo recital on the accepted into the Master’s program certo, Musica Concertata, and the Philharmonic, John Adams conduct- St. Petersburg International Organ in composition at the Manhattan premiere of his cantata I Had Never ing. MacDonald also released his Festival. A complete concert sched- School of Music. Katherine’s latest Seen Snow Before. Since its founding second Super Marimba recording ule is at www.BLLmusic.org. work, Concertino for Oboe and Wind by Armando in 2005, Great Noise (Super Marimba II), and has been Ensemble, was premiered in May Ensemble has become the premiere busy touring with Alarm Will Sound More premieres and performances 2009 at Wichita State by Andréa new music ensemble in Washington. and as a solo marimbist. In addition for Dan Locklair (DMA ’81): in Banke (BM ’95). Great Noise is in residence at the to his creative work, he has recently June, his St. John’s Suite for organ Catholic University of America, commissioned solo marimba pieces was performed by Marilyn Keiser at Lee Musiker (MM ’81) is music a position they have held since from Robert Morris, Caleb Burhans, Myers Park Presbyterian Church in director for the legendary Broadway Fall 2008. Charles Wuorinen, and Stuart Charlotte, NC; his choral triptych star and cabaret singer, Barbara Saunders Smith. The Lilacs Bloomed was premiered Cook, who continues to perform As a member of the chamber ensem- by the Wake Forest University (NC) and record in her ninth decade. In ble Alias, violinist Zeneba Bowers In March 2008, Susan Sievert Concert Choir in April. The St. John’s a review of Cook’s show Here’s to (BM ’94, MM ’96) performed the Messersmith (MM ’92) was the Suite and Dan’s Christmas anthem Life, New York Times critic Stephen Franck sonata (with pianist Melissa trumpet soloist in the Torelli From East to West were featured on Holden called Musiker “the strongest Rose) and Margaret Brouwer’s Concerto in D “Etienne Roger,” with NPR’s Pipedreams. musical director of her career. Mr. Crosswinds for String Quartet in con- the South Coast Symphony con- Musiker’s harmonically sophisticated, cert in Nashville in October 2008. ducted by Manny Alvarez (BM ’58). David A. Moore (PhD ’86) writes: jazz-savvy arrangements have a Of the Franck performance, The Manny, former Music Director of “On February 23 my Variations on an rhythmic flexibility that allows songs Tennessean’s Evans Donnell wrote, “I Orchestra and Opera at the Hartt Ancient Chinese Melody (The Entrance to accelerate and slow down in ways felt they created a white-hot fire on School of Music, has led the South Hymn for the Emperor) for wind that feel organic to the material and stage that happily consumed us.” Coast Symphony (the community ensemble and piano solo, was per- to Ms. Cook’s interpretations.” orchestra of Charleston, SC) for six formed by University of Tulsa stu- Rebecca Effler (BM ’99) and years. Messersmith was a member of dent pianist Emily Yates and the TU Organist Adrienne Pavur (BM ’87, husband Lee Rogers welcomed the the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Wind Ensemble directed by Kenneth DMA ’96) recently returned from birth of their daughter, Hannah for 14 years, and is the adjunct pro- Grass. The piece is based on that a concert tour of Italy with the Jane, on January 13, 2009. Becky fessor of trumpet at Charleston 7th century T’ang Dynasty melody Rutgers-Newark University Chorus. continued to freelance in the Southern University. that we all remember from volume 1 Among the tour highlights were per- Washington, DC area throughout of HAM. On March 3, my setting of formances at the Cremona Cathedral, her pregnancy, most notably Noel Painter (MA ’94, MM ’95, I Corinthians 13, Love Never Ends, the Church of San Lorenzo (Rome), performing as an extra hornist for PhD ’00) recently won the McEniry for treble voice, oboe, and Celtic and St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. the Washington National Opera’s Award for Excellence in Teaching at harp, was premiered at Tulsa’s Trinity Additional concerts were given in production of Donizetti’s Lucrezia Stetson University, where he is asso- Episcopal Church. I continue to Florence and Tuscany. Borgia, with alumna Renée Fleming ciate dean of the School of Music and teach Theory and Composition at (MM ’83). This spring, Becky also director of music theory. (Thanks to the University of Tulsa, School of Bruce Craig Roter, (BM ’84) subbed with the WNO’s performance Warren Beauman, BM ’52, MM ’58, Music, along with my wife, Susan writes: “My composition, Those of Britten’s Peter Grimes, and in five for sending this news to Notes.) Goldman-Moore (BA, Music ’71), Who Build... (Cantata for a New Arts performances of Wagner’s Siegfried, who teaches voice and music edu- Center), for Soprano, Chorus, and where she doubled on horn and D. J. Sparr’s (BM ’97) DACCA:DECCA: cation. My most recent teaching Concert Wind Ensemble, was pre- Wagner tuba in the pit. GaFfA, commissioned by New Music assignment, Film Scoring, has given miered on December 13, 2008, to Detroit for their “Strange Beautiful me some interesting challenges; commemorate the opening of the Ian Greenlaw (BM ’95) was recently Music II” marathon, was selected as when I took this course with Ray Massry Center for the Arts in Albany, the baritone soloist in J.S. Bach’s an Honorable Mention in the Harvey Wright in the late 70’s, the technol- New York.” St. John Passion with the Dayton Gaul Composition Competition from ogy (Movieola, pocket calculators, Philharmonic Orchestra; his fel- the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. live recording sessions) was com- Chelsea Tipton II (BM ’86) low singers included soprano Tony D.J.’s The Glam Seduction was per- pletely different from the Logic Pro recently left his position as resi- Arnold, Eastman’s 2009 Hanson formed at Colorado State University software and digital mockups now dent conductor of the Toledo (OH) Visiting Professor (see p. 18). In June, in February 2009, and by the used. I think I’m learning as much Symphony Orchestra to take a job Ian took part in one of Lorin Maazel’s Firebird Ensemble in March 2009

30 Eastman Notes | Summer 2009 ALUMNI NOTES

Eastman alumni on CD/DVD

Why be a mere big Dominick Argento band when you can (PhD ’58) is perhaps be a Group Large? America’s pre-emi- Jentsch Group Large, nent living composer headed by composer- of opera, and his guitarist Chris plotless, haunting Jentsch (MM ‘93), just masterpiece Postcard released Cycles Suite featuring trumpeter from Morocco (1971) is his most-performed Mike Kaupa (Fleur de Son Jazz 57994). Chris’ opera. A production of Argento’s eclectic ambitious work, premiered at The Kitchen in score by Curtis Opera Theatre is preserved New York, is a meditation on one’s own life on a new Albany release (TROY 1098-99). cycle, and the important connections with the cycles of others; the booklet notes The Empire Jazz describe it as “the Finnegans Wake of big Orchestra, conducted band jazz”. Personnel on Cycles Suite include by its music director Songs Kneebody reedmen Ben Kono (BM ’89) and Mike William Meckley McGinnis (MM ’97). (PhD ’85), presents its Taught Me fourth CD, Sympho- As several generations of singers at- (MA ’58, nies in Riffs (EJO test, Charles Ives’ many songs repre- PhD ’60) has been Records 004). The recording includes music sent him at his best and most poetic. composer in residence spanning more than 80 years of jazz compo- The great American composer’s free- for the Seattle Sym- sition, ranging from Fletcher Henderson and wheeling muse gets a 21st-century phony Orchestra since Don Redman to Wyrgly by Maria Schneider makeover in a new CD of imaginative 1997. A recent CD of (MM ’85), newly commissioned works for big “electro-acoustic recompositions” the SSO conducted band, and “Great American Songbook” clas- in modern jazz style of some of his by (Naxos 8.559378) displays sics by Irving Berlin and Bock and Harnick. most popular songs, including At the one of the fruits of the collaboration: Jones’s Trumpeter Peter Bellino (MM ’94) is a mem- River, The Housatonic at Stockbridge, Tuba Concerto, written for and performed ber of the ensemble and a featured soloist in and Songs my mother taught me. here by Christopher Olka. The concerto is several selections. Theo Bleckmann is the singer, and the paired with Jones’ Symphony No. 3 (Palo Duro Kneebody quintet provides accom- Canyon), a one-movement evocation of the When Leonard paniment and “effects.” Four-fifths canyon’s “colorful vastness”, written in 1992 for Bernstein’s Mass pre- of Kneebody consists of ESM alumni the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra. miered in 1971, it was now based in California: sax player considered subver- Ben Wendel (BM ’99), keyboard player Pianist Robert Jordan sive, sacrilegious, and Adam Benjamin (x ’99), trumpeter (BM ’62) recently (to The New York Shane Endsley (BM ’97), and bassist released Live in Times) “the greatest Kaveh Rastegar (BM ’01) — the fifth is Concert, a CD col- mélange of styles since the ladies’ magazine drummer Nate Wood. Twelve Songs lecting performances recipe for steak fried in peanut butter and by Charles Ives is available on Winter given from 1972 to marshmallow sauce.” Almost 40 years later, & Winter 9101472; see p. 32 for an- 1993 in venues from Bernstein’s Age of Aquarius “Theater Piece for other release by Ben. Alice Tully Hall to SUNY-Fredonia (where he Singers, Players, and Dancers” has aged sur- is now Professor Emeritus). The CD program prisingly well; prescient in its virtuoso array of includes Beethoven’s E Major Sonata Op. 109, musical styles, still relevant in the moral and Isolde’s Liebestod arranged by Liszt, two religious questions it raises. Five recordings of Scarlata (BM ’92) in the marathon role of the etudes by Scriabin, and several other works. Mass are now available, the most recent Celebrant, a role he has played to great Live in Concert is available through CDBaby (Chandos 5070-2 discs) led by conductor acclaim—including for this recording, which and www.robertjordanpianist.com. Kristjian Järvi and featuring baritone Randall was a Gramophone “Editor’s Choice.”

Summer 2009 | Eastman Notes 31 ALUMNI NOTES

than 20,000 copies of their first album, The Billboard recommended Simple Song highly, Sound Between. And now they have pro- calling Ben “A capable leader and composer duced a new album, Spectrum of the Sky. of modern contemporary neo-bop jazz on The members of Break of Reality are Patrick his own.” Also heard on the album is Adam Laird (BM ’07), Ivan Trevino (BM ’06), current Benjamin (x ’99) on Piano and Fender student Philip Borter, and University of Rhodes. student Martin Torch-Ishii. www.breakofreality.com More music of George Walker (DMA Soprano Mary ’56) from the com- Nessinger (MM ’80) pany that gave you a and pianist Jeanne disc of his orchestral Golan (MM ’85, DMA music earlier this Manhattan takes ’87) had the idea of year: Albany Records asking contemporary presents George Walker: Great American London, too composers to write Chamber Works (TROY 1082). The CD con- It can take some doing for American original songs inspired by two seminal cycles tains George’s String Quartets Nos. 1 and 2, musicians to be recognized by the from the early 20th century: Debussy’s Piano Sonata No. 4, and four songs. Anglocentric Gramophone, but Mark Chansons de Bilitis and Berg’s Seven Early Davis Scatterday (DMA ’89) and the Songs. The result, an album called Innocence Their total perform- Eastman Wind Ensemble did just that, Lost (Albany TROY 1113) includes, along with ing time is less than winning a feature review and acco- songs by David Del Tredici, Sebastian Currier an hour, but the four lades in the April 2009 issue for their and many others, Voyelles by Eleanor string quartets by recent CD with the Canadian Brass, Sandresky (MM’84). Iannis Xenakis (1922– Manhattan Music (Opening Day OD 2001) are among the 7368, distributed by Arkiv Music). most influential of “Elegant, laid-back performances contemporary cham- and sonorous recordings sum up ber works—also the the spirit of a city,” said reviewer most challenging, for Laurence Vittes, who reserved spe- conventionally trained string players. But the cial praise for New York Cityscape by JACK Quartet is up to the challenge on a Jeff Tyzik (BM ’73, MM ’77), “the most new Mode release, available on CD or beautiful moment on the disc.” Albany Records continues to explore the Surround Sound DVD (Mode 209)—the first Other alums involved in Manhat- very explorable and enjoyable music of complete collection of Xenakis quartets. tan Music were producer Dixon Van Robert Ward (BM ’39), with two recent JACK consists of John Pickford Richards (BM Winkle (BM ’67) and Canadian Brass releases to add to past CDs. Albany TROY ’02, MM ’04), Ari Streisfeld (BM ’05), tuba player Chuck Daellenbach (BM 1063 presents Ward’s First Symphony and Christopher Otto (BM ’06), and Kevin ’66, MM ’67, PhD ’71). several chamber music pieces; TROY 929 McFarland (BM ’04). JACK will bring this offers his Symphonies Nos. 3 & 6, Dialogues Xenakis program to Kilbourn Hall on (triple concerto), and A Western Set from October 16. Ward’s operetta Lady Kate. ➤ Do you have music or performances on Break of Reality, who Saxophonist Ben a recent or forthcoming CD? Notes wants are working valiantly Wendel (BM ‘99) just to know! Send promo copies to Eastman to bridge the gap released a solo Notes, Office of Communications, Eastman between classical album, Simple Song School of Music, 26 Gibbs Street, Rochester, cello playing and (Sunnyside 1216). NY 14604; or just alert us that it is available. heavy metal music, Along with original started as a group of compositions, Ben Check “Alumni Notes” for additional CD freshmen at Eastman in 2003 and are still plays imaginative arrangements of John releases not mentioned here. going strong, touring the country for perfor- Coltrane’s Lonnie’s Lament and Billy mances and workshops, and selling more Strayhorn’s A Flower is a Lovesome Thing.

32 Eastman Notes | Summer 2009 ALUMNI NOTES

at Redbones BBQ on a concert for and Gorecki’s Symphony No. 3—but which he was a guest guitarist. His that her guilty pleasure is ’80s music. Carnal Node was performed by the Great Noise Ensemble at the 2008 On March 22, 2009, Andrew Capital Fringe Festival in Washington Hackett (MM ’05) and Angelique DC, and at Catholic University in (Jacob) Hackett (BM ’04, MM March 2009. In April, he was the ’06) celebrated the birth of their electric guitarist for the premiere of baby girl, Cara Danielle. Angelique Michael Daugherty’s Gee’s Bend with and Andrew currently reside in the Alabama Symphony. Minneapolis, MN. Angelique is a member of the VocalEssence Phoenix Rising, which is comprised Ensemble Singers and tours both of Monica Williams (BM ’99), com- domestically and overseas. Andrew poser/pianist Wendy Loomis, and is the principal organist at Hennepin one rotating guest artist (hang drum, Avenue United Methodist Church in cello, guitar, guzheng, Downtown Minneapolis or vocals), released its and is also employed second CD, Ascension, by the University of St. Andrew Hackett (MM ’05) and Angelique (Jacob) Hackett (BM ’04, MM ’06) in January 2009. Thomas in St. Paul. Ascension has created a Broadway debut in the City Center the Tonhalle Zurich, Birmingham buzz in the new age and Carl Johengen (DMA Encores! production of Jerome Kern’s Symphony Hall, Suntory Hall in healing arts communi- ’00) was recently Music in the Air. Tokyo, and other great halls. ties, recently climbed appointed music director to #7 on the New Age of Ithaca’s Cayuga Vocal Sergio Monteiro (DMA ’07) writes, Jeremy Siskind (BM ’08) won Williams Reporter Charts, and Ensemble, and appears “I was appointed chair of the Piano a 2009 Down Beat award for best is also receiving heavy airplay on as tenor soloist with regional oratorio Department at Oklahoma City original song (college performance), Music Choice and on many stations societies; he sang recently with the University. After six years traveling for his Little Love Song, recorded in Europe. A track from Phoenix Hamilton College and Community in Europe, I will finally settle down in Kilbourn Hall shortly before his Rising’s first CD,Whispers , was Oratorio Society, and with the in the US! All my family is of course graduation. Jeremy is now studying nominated by the Hollywood Music Burlington (VT) Choral Society. very happy for my job. And I would English and comparative literature Awards as best New Age track of the like to share this happiness with all at Columbia University, studying year. Jenny Kim (BM ’00) has been friends who always gave me so much piano with Sophia Rosoff and Fred appointed fourth horn of the Los support!” Hersch, and teaching piano and Angeles Opera Orchestra. composition for the Yamaha Music 2000s Irina Mueller (BM ’03, MM ’04) Education System. Dave Lewis (BM ’01) received a received her Soloist’s Diploma Soprano Nicole Cabell (BM ’02) Fulbright grant for 2009–2010. He’ll from the Staatliche Hochschule für Jonas Thoms (BM ’06) is consor- made a few headlines this spring spend ten months doing research in Musik Trossingen (Germany) in tium hornist with the Evansville (IN) when she substituted at short Trinidad and Tobago on the varying January 2008. Performance high- Philharmonic (Principal Horn) and notice for Angela Georghiu in the ways music is being used in response lights in the past year have included adjunct instructor of horn at the Metropolitan Opera production of to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. the Brahms Violin Concerto with University of Evansville. Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore. Earlier the Hochschulorchester Trossingen, this season, she made her Met debut Jonathan Gabriel Michie (BM a recital tour along the United Leah Tomasino (BM ’01) and Peter as Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. ’06) was named one of Classical States East Coast with German Paese were married on January 18, Fans of Playbillarts.com’s “20 (Plus) Singer magazine’s “Certified Singers concert organist Thomas Strauss, 2009. Peter is a New York City Police Questions” feature, in which Nicole ’08–’09.” In an interview, Jonathan and an orchestral concert in the Officer and Leah is the Orchestra took part on April 16, now know revealed that his dream roles are Don Concertgebouw, Amsterdam. Director at Hauppauge High School. that she adores Barber’s Knoxville: Giovanni, Billy Budd, and Sweeney Previous years have taken her as solo- They currently reside on Long Island Summer of 1915, Puccini’s Turandot, Todd. Jonathan recently made his off- ist to Romania and Germany, and to (see photo on p. 34). l

A new array of free online Rochester Alumni Exchange features services to keep alumni • All-Alumni Directory from all of the University of • Class Notes • Facebook Connections Rochester’s schools connected • Rochester Career Advisory Network to their alma mater and to • Alumni Events Calendar k the 100,000 other UR alumni around the globe! l www.alumniconnections.com/olc/pub/UROE/

2009005_ESM_Alumni_Exchange_Ad.indd 1 8/5/09 2:32 PM ALUMNI NOTES EastmanLegacies

Robert Rosevear (BM ’39, MM ’43) says: “My experience at Eastman provided me with a broader view of the role of music in my life than I ever could have imagined. . . . I have found ways to give

back to Eastman what I’ve gotten from the School.” Leah Tomasino and Peter Paese

As a part of the Minnesota Orchestra Composers Institute, Ming-Hsiu Yen’s (BM ’03) YUN was per- formed by the Minnesota Orchestra, Robert’s legacy of support conducted by Osmo Vanska in for more than 50 years includes: November 2008. Chinatown, written • Annual gifts to the Eastman Fund for PRISM Saxophone Quartet and the Chinese ensemble Music From and charter membership in the China, received its premieres in New George Eastman Circle York, Philadelphia, and Washington • Membership in the Kilbourn Society DC in February 2009, programmed through numerous life-income with newly commissioned works of Zhou Long and Chen Yi. As a gifts that will provide unrestricted pianist, she received third place support as well as an endowed in the Grieg Festival Young Artists named scholarship Competition in January 2009. She is • Gifts to the Dean’s Discretionary working on a commission for Asian Trombone Seminar, and performed Fund that supported the purchase her Two Old Postcards from Formosa of a natural horn and the at the SCI (Society of Composers, Horn Choir tour Inc) National Conference in Santa Fe, • Capital gifts that helped fund the NM in April. construction of the New Sibley Chris Ziemba (BM ’08) was a Music Library and the Eastman guest on the NPR series Marian Theatre Renovation and Expansion McPartland’s Piano Jazz. The show was taped in October 2008 and aired in March 2009. Chris played stan- dards by Cole Porter and Jerome Kern, his own “ I hope that my fellow compositions, and joined alumni would feel the the legendary McPartland same as I, and will in some impromptu consider making a duets and free improvisa- contribution that will tion. “You’d Ziemba think it would have special meaning be pretty nervewracking, but as it happened, as soon as she walked in to them personally.” she was very disarming and I just felt completely at ease,” says Chris. For information on creating your legacy at Eastman, contact Suzanne Stover, Director of Development, 585.274.1040

2009012_ESM_Rosevear_EF_Ad.indd 1 8/7/09 4:31 PM

Client: Eastman School of Music Job: Rosevear Eastman Fund Ad Size: 6-1/4 x 11 + 1/8 bleed Page: 1 of 1 Inks: CMYK Modified: August 7, 2009 FACULTY NOTES

Locke Freitas Ricker

Two ESM musicologists recently also edited the other books in the had books published by Cambridge How to Play series and produced University Press. Professor Ralph the CDs that accompany each For Eastman’s Frühling Posaunen, an annual springtime celebration of all Locke’s Musical Exoticism covers the book. Other Eastman faculty mem- things trombone, Professor of Trombone John Marcellus was joined by Pro- presentation of “other” cultures in bers represented in this series are fessor Emeritus John Beck—and Rochester Mayor Robert Duffy. This year’s opera, Broadway musicals, instru- Bill Dobbins, piano; Bob Sneider, celebration coincided with Opening Day of the Rochester Red Wings, so part mental music, film scores, jazz and guitar; Jeff Campbell, bass; Rich of it took place at Frontier Field, on a clear (if nippy) Saturday afternoon. popular song. Ralph’s studies cover Thompson, drums; Mark Kellogg, not just the technical aspects of the trombone. Alumnus Brian Shaw a new CD (Naxos 8559602) does col- Killmer (oboe). They’ll collaborate music, but also ethical and political (MM ’04) wrote the trumpet book. lect several important chamber, vocal, with Mark Bocko of the UR’s Depart- questions raised by specific works and concert works, ment of Electrical and from Mozart’s Rondo alla turca to In May, six Eastman faculty members including Adler’s Piano Computer Engineer- Bernstein’s West Side Story. Associate were honored for their “landmark Concerto No.3, the song ing on Visualizing the Professor Roger Freitas’s Portrait years” of teaching: Richard Grunow, cycle Of Musique, Poetrie, Shape of Sound: A Study of a Castrato: Politics, Patronage, and professor of music education (30 Art, and Love, Soundings of Musical Expression on Music in the Life of Atto Melani is a years); Donna Brink Fox, Eisenhart for alto sax and piano, the Oboe. detailed social, political, and artis- Professor of Music Education (25 Pasiphae for percussion, tic study of one of the 17th century’s years); Steven Laitz, associate pro- a Flute Sonata, and two More on Steve Laitz: few fully documented musicians, fessor of music theory (20 years); sets of piano pieces. he is the new editor-in- Adler and demonstrates that the social, the Douglas Humpherys, associate pro- Emily Freeman Brown chief of the Journal of political, and the artistic always go fessor of piano, Timothy Scheie, (DMA ’89) conducts the Bowling Music Theory Pedagogy, serving from hand in hand. associate professor of French, and Green Philharmonia in the Piano 2010 through 2013. Steve’s recent William Weinert, professor of con- Concerto No. 3. projects include the book Graduate How to Play Lead Alto Saxophone ducting and ensembles (15 years). Review of Tonal Theory: A Recasting of in a Big Band by Ramon Ricker The University’s 2009 Multidisci- Common-Practice Harmony, Form, and is his fifth book to be published The music of Professor Emeritus of plinary Award Recipients include Counterpoint, and Eastman’s new web by Advance Music, Europe’s pre- Composition Samuel Adler is not Eastman professors David Head- course, “Music Theory Fundamentals miere jazz publishing house. Ricker recorded as often as it should be, but lam (music theory) and Richard in Four Weeks.”

Upbeat news Eastman’s jazz department has a long history of winning Down Beat magazine awards, and the tradition continued this year with a 2009 “Best College Big Band” award for the Eastman New Jazz Ensemble and its director, Dave Rivello—a nice way to wind up what Dave calls “a great year, performing some very challenging music.” Dave and the NJE performed at this sum- mer’s Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival to celebrate the release of Facing the Mirror, a CD of his com- positions. (For news of another ESM Down Beat award-winner, see p. 33.)

Gelfand-Piper Photography (Frühling Posaunen); KURT BROWNELL PHOTOGRAPHY (JAZZ ENSEMBLE) Summer 2009 | Eastman Notes 35 STUDENT NOTES

Arabesque Winds Red Line Saxophone Quartet

Sophomore flutistNicholas Fitton the Robert G. Boehmler Community on April 6. The silents were Competition’s Coleman-Saunderson represented Eastman in the YouTube Foundation and performed by the researched and presented by Prize. On May 22, the group traveled Symphony Orchestra’s premiere in Lyons (NY) Senior Concert Band on Associate Professor of German to Washington, DC, for the annual Carnegie Hall on April 15, conducted June 8. For the premiere of Synergy, Reinhild Steingrover, along with Eastman at the Kennedy Center con- by Michael Tilson Thomas. Nick the Lyons Band was joined by five several recent experimental films, cert and reception. played piccolo in Tan Dun’s four-min- more ESM award winners: the mem- with music by Michaela and Jairo. ute Internet Symphony: bers of Arabesque (See also “Brief Notes,” p. 2.) The Red Line Saxophone Quar- Eroica. The YouTube Winds. The Robert G. tet recently won first prize in the Symphony Orchestra is Boehmler Composition In February, the Arabesque Winds Music Teachers National Association the world’s first collab- Award supports the (Diedre Huckabay, flute; Elizabeth (MTNA) Chamber Music Competi- orative online orches- commission of a new Spector, oboe; Isabel Kim, clari- tion. The group includes Eastman tra. Finalists were musical piece written net; Sophia Goluses, horn; Eryn juniors Brandon Kies (alto sax), selected by a panel of by an Eastman com- Bauer, bassoon) won Second Prize Gau Qun (tenor), and Quinn Lewis experts from leading position major for per- and Commissioned Work Perfor- (baritone), and doctoral student orchestras based on formance at a Wayne mance Prize in the 2009 Henri Douglas O’Connor. In May, Red their audition videos, County (NY) school. Tomasi International Woodwind Line went for the gold—Gold Medal and members of the Quintet Competition (Marseilles), in the Fischoff Chamber Music Fitton YouTube community This spring, Zhang and reached the semifinals in the Competition—and won! Red Line is voted for their favorites. Zuo was Eastman’s “Premio Vittorio Gui” (Florence). In spending the summer touring south- first entrant in the Van April, Arabesque won the Coleman east Asia. Sun Min Kim (MM Cliburn International candidate in piano), Piano Competition won First Prize in since the 1960s, mak- the Brevard Piano ing it through the Competition in North preliminary rounds. Carolina. Earlier in the year, “ZZ” was invited to per- Andrew McManus form with the Hong was one of the nine Zhang Kong Philharmonic winners of the 57th Orchestra for an audi- Annual BMI Student Composer ence of 20,000 people. She later per- Awards, presented May 15 in New formed as soloist with the Lübeck York. The jury included Professor Orchestra, and substituted for soloist Emeritus Joseph Schwantner, and Lang Lang in Berlin. alumnus Michael Torke (BM ’84). Student composers Eryn Bauer, Luis Ortiz, a senior piano major, Yuki Katayama, Daniel Bernardo, won the concerto competition and and Erica Seguine—students in performed with orchestra at the a film scoring class taught by PhD Round Top Music Festival in Texas. candidates Michaela Eremiásová and Jairo Duarte-Lopez—wrote Eastman’s 2008 –2009 Teaching Assistant Prize winners are Jonathan Synergy, by doctoral student com- music for several recently preserved Girard (conducting); Katie Hannigan (voice lessons); Michael Pendowski position Baljinder Singh Sekhon short silent films at Rochester’s (River Campus jazz theory and improvisation class); Carmen Lemoine II, was recently commissioned by George Eastman House, performed (flute lessons); and Johnandrew Slominski (aural skills).

36 Eastman Notes | Summer 2009 Courtesy of Zhang Zuo; Gerry Szymanski (All others) Music Inspired. Made possible by you.

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Bluegrassical On January 25, Eastman welcomed Library of ences, most successfully with his Grammy Award- Congress Living Legend Ralph Stanley, his banjo winning recording of O, Death on the soundtrack and high tenor voice, and his Clinch Mountain Boys of O Brother, Where Art Thou? Ralph and the Boys to the Eastman Theater for a Sunday afternoon helped start an Eastman School concert season that of authentic bluegrass music. Ralph and his late also included appearances by jazz trumpeter and brother Carter first toured with the original Clinch composer Jeff Beal, early music diva Ellen Hargis in Mountain Boys more than 50 years ago. Since then recital with lutenist Paul O’Dette, and many more he has introduced bluegrass to international audi- (see p. 22).

Kate Melton