In addition to the many guest artists who perform in our Eastman Presents series concerts, top performing artists and scholars visit the Eastman School of Music throughout the year to give master classes, recitals, and lectures, with many open to the public. This spring, an abundance of talented artists graced our classrooms, halls, and stages. See who visited below:
Brass
Christian Lindberg, trombone*
Trombone Masterclass: Tuesday, January 23
Nathaniel Silberschlag, horn
ECMS Guest Lessons: Tuesday, February 13
Bill Williams, trumpet
Brass Chamber Music Coaching: Monday, March 4
Optimal Performance Class I: Tuesday, March 5
Optimal Performance Class II: Friday, March 8
Jon Sass, tuba
From the Bottom Up Workshop: Tuesday, March 26
Brass Chamber Music Coaching: Wednesday, March 27
Creative Impulse Workshop: Thursday, March 28
Eastman Tuba Mirum with Jon Sass: Thursday, March 28
Top left: Guest tuba player Jon Sass at a George Walker Center lunch in March 2024. Photo by Lauren Sageer.
Bottom left: Horn player Nathanial Silberschlag, a spring 2024 guest artist, gave lessons to ECMS students on Tuesday, February 13. Photo by Kerry Lubman.
Right: Guest trumpet player Bill Williams gave a class on managing performance anxiety during the spring 2024 semester on Tuesday and Friday, March 5 and 8. Photo by Kerry Lubman.
Clark Chamber Music Residency
Two distinguished chamber groups visited Eastman this spring as part of the James E. Clark Chamber Music Residency: the JACK Quartet, in March, and WindSync, in April. Both ensembles held performances and master classes while in residency. Both featured Eastman alumni: Christopher Otto ’06E, violin, and Jonathan Pickford Richards ’02E, ’04E (MM), viola from the JACK Quartet; and Kara LaMoure ’10E, bassoon, and Emily Tsai ’11, ’11E, oboe from WindSync. Established in 2014, the Clark Residency was inspired by James E. Clark’s daughter Jamie Clark ’12E and aims to provide Eastman students with intense, up-close exposure to the playing and teaching of renowned ensembles.
JACK Quartet
Tuesday, March 19
WindSync
Wednesday, April 9
Composition
Kyong Mee Choi, composer
EMuSE Concert: Thursday, March 7
Jeff Beal ’85E, composer and Distinguished Visiting Artist
Distinguished Visiting Artist and Emmy Award-winning composer Jeff Beal ’85E visited Eastman for two events over the spring semester. He presented a 90-minute lecture demonstration in Hatch Recital Hall in March. In May, he returned to perform a new collection of solo piano works, New York Études, a work about working and living with multiple sclerosis and which was written during the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lecture/demonstration: Thursday, March 28
New York Études: Monday, May 6
Aristea Mellos ’12E (MM), ’17E (DMA), composer
Guest Recital: Thursday, April 18
Jeff Tyzik ’73E, ’77E (MM), composer
Eastman Wind Ensemble featuring Tyzik’s Symphonies for Wind Orchestra: Wednesday, May 1
Equity and Inclusion
Constance (Connie) McKoy, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
EDII Grant Guest Lecture: Monday, March 18
Note: Many spring visiting artists were brought through EDII Grants and participated in coordinated events with Eastman’s George Walker Center.
Institute for Music Leadership
Tiffany Valvo ’12E (MM), ’16E (DMA), San Francisco Conservatory of Music
IML Workshop: Monday, March 25
Note: Many spring visiting artists gave artist advising sessions to students through the IML!
Jazz
Byron Stripling, trumpet
Eastman Youth Jazz Orchestra (EYJO) Coaching with Stripling: Saturday, March 16
Alexa Tarantino, alto saxophone
Eastman Wind Ensemble with Alexa Tarantino: Wednesday, May 1
Eastman Chamber Jazz Ensemble with Alexa Tarantino: Thursday, May 2
Top left: The JACK Quartet performed in March 2024 as part of the Clark Chamber Music Residency.
Bottom left: Constance (Connie) McKoy, Director of Undergraduate Studies in Music at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, spoke with students at a George Walker Center lunch with Associate Dean of Equity and Inclusion Crystal Sellers Battle (left). Photo by Lauren Sageer.
Top Right: Guest harpist Catherine Mitchel performed in Hatch Recital Hall in March 2024. Photo by Lauren Sageer.
Bottom Right: Jazz alto saxophonist Alexa Tarantino worked with Eastman students ahead of a Chamber Jazz Ensemble concert in May 2024. Photo by Lauren Sageer.
Musicology
Mike Cheng-Yu Lee, fortepiano
Visiting Faculty Recital: Tuesday, January 23
Schumann Day: Encounters with the Schumanns: Wednesday, April 3
The music of Robert and Clara Schumann was the subject of a multifaceted event that brought together scholarship and performance called “Encounters with the Schumanns: Listening, Thinking, Interpreting” on Wednesday, April 3 in Howard Hanson Hall. The three-part event included a “Listening” roundtable with faculty and guest scholars; a “Thinking” seminar; and an “Interpreting” concert performed by students on modern and historical instruments.
Visiting scholars included Benedict Taylor (University of Edinburgh), Roger Moseley (Cornell University), Michael Gallope (University of Minnesota), and Seth Brodsky ‘07E (PhD) (University of Chicago).
Musicology Symposium:
Kimberly Hannon Teal, University of North Texas (February 29)
Alejandro Madrid, Harvard University (March 28)
Maria Sonevytsky, Bard College (April 18)
Associate Professor of Music Seth Brodsky ’07E (PhD) gave a talk on Schumann Day on April 3, 2024. Photo by Kerry Lubman.
Music Theory
Eastman Music Theory Colloquia:
Alex Rehding, Harvard University (January 19)
Nancy Rao, Rutgers University (January 26)
Kofi Agawu, City University of New York (CUNY) (February 2)
Melissa Hoag, Oakland University (February 16)
Daniel Jenkins, University of South Carolina (February 23)
Philip Stoecker, Hofstra University (March 1)
Robert Hasegewa, McGill University (March 8)
Toru Momii, Harvard University (March 29)
Rachel Lumsden, Florida State University (April 12)
Janet Schmalfeldt, Tufts University (April 19)
Organ
James O’Donnell, Organ
Rochester Celebrity Organ Recital Series: Friday, April 12
Strings
Dieter Hennings ’05E (MM), ’15E (DMA), guitar
Guest Recital: Sunday, January 28
Carol Rodland, viola
Guest Masterclass: Sunday, February 4
Zachary Sweet ’03E, ’06E (MM), cello
ECMS Guest Masterclass: Sunday, March 2
Catherine Michel and Andrew Chan, harp
The Harp Department at Eastman hosted a three-day residency with international harpists Catherine Michel and Andrew Chan from March 28-30, 2024. These distinguished artists came to Rochester from Paris, France and Toronto, Canada respectively. This was the first residency at Eastman to focus solely on the harp.
Andrew Chan Guest IML Class: Thursday, March 28
Catherine Michel Guest Masterclass: Friday, March 29
Catherine Michel Guest Recital “From Versailles to Hollywood”: Saturday, March 30
Itamar Zorman, violin
Guest Recital: Thursday April 4
David Russell, guitar*
Guest Masterclass: Friday, April 5
Anssi Karttunen, cello
Cello Master Class: Wednesday, April 10
Guest Lecture: Thursday, April 11
Musica Nova Concert with Karttunen: Friday, April 12
Voice
Minnita Daniel-Cox, soprano
Guest Lecture: Friday, February 2
Guest Recital: Saturday, February 3
Soprano Dr. Minnita Daniel-Cox gave a guest lecture on Friday, February 2. Photo by Kerry Lubman.
Winds
United States Air Force Heritage Winds
Guest Recital: Tuesday, February 20
Guest Masterclass: Tuesday, February 20
Benjamin Roidl-Ward, bassoon
Guest Recital: Thursday, February 22
Amy Zoloto, clarinet
Guest Masterclass: Tuesday, March 26
*Artist also performed on an Eastman Presents series concert in the spring.