Eastman School of Music University of Rochester Rochester, New York, USA The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman, founder of the Eastman Kodak Company. Today, there are more than 900 students enrolled in the collegiate division of the Eastman School (approximately 500 undergraduate and 400 graduate students). Students come from almost every state of the United States, and approximately 25% of students are from foreign countries. Each year about 260 new students enroll (approximately 135 freshmen and 125 graduate students), selected from more than 2,000 applicants. Only about 13 percent of applicants are admitted. About 1,000 students (ranging in age from 18 years to over 80 years of age) are enrolled in the Eastman School’s Community Music School. In the 1997 and 2004 surveys conducted by U.S. News & World Report, the Eastman School was ranked first among graduate school music programs in the United States. In 1994, Eastman tied with The Juilliard School and the Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University among the top graduate programs in music. Alfred Klingenberg, a Norwegian pianist, was the schools first director. He was succeeded by composer Howard Hanson in 1924, who had an enormous impact on the development of the school, holding his post for four decades and continuing his involvement at Eastman after his retirement. Since the founding of the Eastman School of Music in 1921, the school has been directed by six men. Alfred Klingenberg served as the school’s first director from 1921 to 1923. After a one-year interim under Acting Director Raymond Wilson, the young American composer and conductor Howard Hanson was appointed director of the school in 1924. Dr. Hanson is credited for transforming the Eastman School into one of the most prestigious music conservatories in the world. Upon his retirement in 1964, after serving as director of the school for 40 years, Hanson was then succeeded by conductor Walter Hendl. Hendl served as director from 1964 to 1972, and was then succeeded by pianist and musicologist Robert Freeman who served from 1972 to 1996. Associate Director Daniel Patrylak served as the acting director from the time of Mr. Hendl’s resignation (May 1972) until Robert Freeman assumed the position in July 1973. Following the resignation of Robert Freeman in 1996, James Undercofler was then appointed Director and Dean of the Eastman School, and held that position until he resigned in 2006 to accept the position of C.E.O. and President of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Jamal Rossi, an Eastman alumnus, was appointed Interim Dean of the Eastman School in April 2006. On May 21, 2007, composer/conductor Douglas Lowry, formerly the dean of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, was appointed Dean of the Eastman School, to begin serving on August 1, 2007. The Eastman School occupies parts of five buildings in downtown Rochester, New York. The main hall includes the recently renovated 3,094-seat Eastman Theater, the 455-seat Kilbourn Hall, and offices for faculty. The Eastman Theater opened on September 2, 1922 as a center for music, dance, and silent film with orchestral and organ accompaniment. Today, the 3,094-seat theatre is the primary concert hall for the Eastman Schools larger ensembles, including its orchestras, wind ensembles, jazz ensembles, and chorale. Also, the Eastman Opera Theatre presents fully staged operatic productions in the theatre each spring. It also is the principal performance venue for the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. A $5 million renovation of the theatre was completed in October 2004. The Theatre is located at 60 Gibbs Street, on the corner of Main and Gibbs Streets. Due to a $10 million donation by Eastman Kodak Inc. in April 2008, the Eastman Theater was officially renamed Kodak Hall at Eastman Theater upon the renovations completion in 2010. Notable teachers[edit] Samuel Adler, composition Federico Agostini, violin Katherine Ciesinski, voice David Craighead, organ Leonardo De Lorenzo, flute Harold Gleason, organ Arthur Hartmann, violin David Higgs, organ Oleh Krysa, violin Jon Manasse, clarinet Irene Manning, voice John Marcellus, trombone Emory Remington, trombone Mendi Rodan, violin Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, composition Zvi Zeitlin, violin
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 12:17:04 +0000
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