Eastman puts organ studies on the map

Dreama Lovitt, graduate student, plays a new baroque organ in Göteborg, Sweden, that was built according to 17th-century North German organ building tradition.

or organ enthusiasts, Sweden was the place to be in early January. From the 6th to the 13th, 31 organ students and four organ faculty members from the Eastman School of Music visited Göteborg where they immersed themselves in the history, craftmanship, and culture of one of music's grandest instruments.

"This sensational opportunity will give our students a broader understanding of the organ's place in today's world and how they are a part of it," says David Higgs, cochair of Eastman's keyboard department and head of its organ program.

While in Sweden, students attended seminars and concerts, exchanged ideas with students from the School of Music at Goteborg University, and performed on several organs at the Göteborg Organ Art Center (GOArt), an international center for research in historical organ building and performance practice, founded and directed by noted Swedish organist and Eastman Associate Professor Hans Davidsson.

The trip to Sweden is part of the organ program's larger vision to enrich the local community with one of the top organ collections in North America and create an international center of study for organ artisans and performers.

Recently launched, the Eastman Rochester Organ Initiative (EROI)--a 10-year plan that emphasizes collaboration between local churches and Eastman's organ department--lays out long-term goals, including building a new organ for Rochester's Christ Church for teaching and for recital use by Eastman students and building a new performance organ specifically designed for the Eastman Theatre.

To learn more about Eastman's organ program and the EROI, visit www.rochester.edu/Eastman/organ.

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