The Eastman Philharmonia and superstar soprano (and Eastman alum) Renee Fleming will perform the world premiere of a new work by Pulitzer Prize winning composer Kevin Puts (also an Eastman alum) on November 12th at Kodak Hall in Eastman Theatre in Rochester, under the direction of Neil Varon.
Then, they will all travel downstate, and two days later, perform this new work, “Letters from Georgia” at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City. (read more)
It's all very exciting, and some of the impact is just starting to sink in: when I get press releases from publicists outside of Rochester, they usually tell me about all sorts of great concerts somewhere else – NYC, LA, Chicago, Paris, Vienna. This time around, we're part of the mix: their listings including this performance here in Rochester.
Then my friend Boon Hua Lien (a conductor, whose busy portfolio includes doctoral studies at Eastman) posted a picture sidewalk outside of Lincoln Center – and there we are. Eastman. Rochester. Back in the big time.
There are plenty of connections between the Eastman School of Music and New York City, going back to Leonard Bernstein and David Diamond taking the train back and forth, and more recently, an artist like Brad Lubman sharing his musical life between new music ensembles at Eastman and in NYC…but still, this feels like the start of something big.
And then as a bonus, I see that "Eastman in New York" is now bringing more Eastman artists to NYC, including pianist Lo-An Lin to Carnegie Hall and pianist Jenny Chen to the Morgan Library and Museum.
