Class Notes
Eastman School of Music
1957
Sydney Hodkinson ’58 (MM) has released two recordings this year. Shifting Treks (Navona Records) includes three of his orchestral works: Potpourri: 11 Very Short Pieces, Epitaphion, and Piano Concerto No. 1: A Shifting Trek. Eastman professor and pianist Barry Snyder ’66, ’67 (MM) performs with the St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra on the recording. Woodwind Odyssey (Clear Note) marks the premiere recording of Sydney’s wind works. Veritate Winds, the resident faculty woodwind ensemble at Stetson University, where Sydney is the Almand Chair of Composition, performed on the recording.
1966
Barry Snyder ’68 (MM) (see ’57).
1968
Trumpeters Charles Decker and Chris McCormick ’88 (MM) and hornist Greg Danner ’81 (MA) have released Suites and Treats (Mark Records) as part of the Brass Arts Quintet, an all-faculty ensemble at Tennessee Tech. The recording commemorates the quintet’s 50th birthday.
1970
Geary Larrick (MM) has written a drum set method book review in the summer 2013 issue of the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors Journal. Geary lives in Stevens Point, Wis., and performs regularly on percussion and piano.
1980
David Scott Allen ’81 (MM) writes: “Greetings from Tucson to the land of the Dandelions and Yellowjackets! I’m happy to announce my marriage to Mark Sammons, my partner of 18 years. The wedding took place in the garden of Rochester classmate David Higgins ’80RC, ’87 (PhD) and his husband, David Miles, in San Diego, Calif., in July.” David adds that he’s director of development for the University of Arizona Honors College.
1981
Greg Danner (MA) (see ’68). . . . Dan Locklair (DMA) was featured on American Public Media’s Pipedreams radio program in September.
1982
Carl Atkins (DMA) (see ’84).
1983
David Brickman writes that he’s the co-owner of Bodymind Float Center, a floatation therapy sensory deprivation tank in Rochester. David and his wife, Pattie Sunwoo, started the floatation center after David returned from his first experience with floatation therapy in Portland, Ore., in 2012. The light- and sound-proof tank consists of pharmaceutical-grade Epsom salt dissolved in warm water to produce a dense solution that enables the body to float.
1984
Jonathan Kruger (DMA) and Carl Atkins ’82 (DMA) perform with the New Energy Jazz Orchestra, a group they founded in 2006 to create a Rochester-based ensemble to perform new compositions as well as classics. “The band performs all original compositions and arrangements and features numerous Eastman graduates including David Gibson ’96 (MM),” Jonathan writes. The group has self-published two CDs: Sands of Time (2008) and Celestial Boogie (2011). Jonathan and Carl both teach at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Jonathan is director of performing arts in the performing arts and visual culture department, and Carl is director of the music program in the department of fine arts.
1985
Jazz composer Maria Schneider (MM) has released a classical crossover recording, Winter Morning Walks (Maria Schneider), with soprano Dawn Upshaw and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.
1988
Chris McCormick (MM) (see ’68).
1990
Linda Neuberger Chatterton writes that she performed solo recitals at London’s St. Martin-in-the-Fields and Dublin’s National Concert Hall. She also completed a nine-state tour with Trio Matisse, an ensemble for flute, cello, and harp, and performed a Mozart concerto in Moscow with the State Hermitage Chamber Orchestra.
1991
Peggy Dettwiler (DMA), professor of music and director of choral activities at Mansfield University, won second place in the choral division of the American Prize conducting competition.
1992
Daniel Ihasz (MM), a professor of music at SUNY Fredonia, has won a Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. The award recognizes outstanding teaching and service in the State University of New York system. Daniel is a nationally recognized expert in voice science who has seen almost 170 voice majors graduate during the years he has served as chair or cochair of Fredonia’s voice area. He’s organized events to raise money for voice scholarships and served in a leadership role in the National Association of Teachers of Singing.
1996
David Gibson (MM) (see ’84).
1997
Shane Endsley (see ’99).
1999
Ben Wendel has released a recording, Small Constructions (Sunnyside Records), with pianist Dan Tepfer. In addition, the quintet Kneebody, which includes Wendel, Adam Benjamin, Shane Endsley ’97, and Kaveh Rastegar ’01, has released its fourth CD, The Line (Concord Records).
2001
Kaveh Rastegar (see ’99).
2003
Composer and trumpeter Andre Canniere (MM) has released his second solo CD, Coalescence (Whirlwind Recordings). He’s based in London.
2008
Shauli Einav (MM) released two recordings in 2013: Generations (Posi-Tone Records) and The Truth About Me (Cristal Records). After seven years in New York City, Shauli has moved to Paris. . . . Ailbhe McDonagh (MM) has released a CD, It’s a Cello Thing (McDonagh), with her sister, pianist Orla McDonagh. Both sisters teach at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin.
2009
Caleb Harris (DMA) has been named chorus master for the Utah Opera.
