Rochester Review • University of Rochester

Joseph Mariano, a nationally known flutist who taught at the Eastman School for nearly 40 years, died February 15. He was 95.

Mariano, who also was principal flutist for the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra for more than three decades, was invited in 1935 by legendary director Howard Hanson to join the Eastman faculty, where he remained as a professor of flute until his retirement in 1974.

Praised as a teacher and performer, Mariano was credited by The Flutist Quarterly for developing “a truly American style of flute playing” of “great strength, vitality, and sensuality.” He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Flute Association in 2001.

In 2003, he was recognized by the Eastman School for his commitment as a teacher and mentor with a special day-long program dedicated to his legacy. The ceremonies included the unveiling of Mariano’s portrait in the school’s portrait gallery on Cominsky Promenade in Eastman Theatre.

Tribute

Eugene Kurtz ’47, ’49E (MA)
1923–2006

Eugene Kurtz ’47, ’49E (MA) was a friend to my husband, the late Ed Kindig ’44, and me since our days at Rochester.

Gene and Ed were Alpha Delta Phi fraternity brothers. Looking back, Gene’s involvement in the fraternity intrachoral competition foretold his career as a composer.

Together, Gene and Art Frackenpohl ’47, ’49E (MA) wrote wonderful songs for the Quilting Club, the men’s annual musical—witty and funny songs like “Make Up Your Mind” and “I Miss My Man and His Kind of Sin.”

Gene was a native of Atlanta, with an accent that said so. And he was always proud to tell people about his uncle, a prominent Southern historian who served as a consultant for the movie Gone with the Wind.

It was 1941 when Gene first came to Rochester. He left his studies temporarily to serve in World War II, arriving in France in 1944 as part of a heavy artillery division. After the war, Gene returned to the University.

While working on his master’s degree at the Eastman School, Gene caught the attention of Eastman director and renowned composer Howard Hanson. In 1949 his ballet, “The Shooting of Dan McGrew,” was performed at that year’s Festival of American Music at Eastman. That was quite an honor for Gene. He was very proud to have studied under his teachers there.

In 1949, Gene boarded the Queen Mary to sail back to France—this time, happily, to study with composer Arthur Honegger. While he returned to the United States for occasional teaching work, especially at the University of Michigan, Gene lived in France for the rest of his life.

His early years in Paris were lean ones, but eventually Gene found great success, teaching and writing for orchestras and chamber ensembles and composing pieces for film, theater, television, and radio. Radio France declared October 27, 1979, Eugene Kurtz Day. The French Ministry of Cultural Affairs commissioned his major work “Ca . . . Diagramme, pour Orchestre,” and in the late 1990s the Acadmie des Beaux-Art gave Gene its Nicolo award in musical composition.

Friends like Bob Billet ’45 and Denise Hirshfield Munchmeyer ’48 also stayed in touch with Gene. We enjoyed his dry humor and droll smile. Letters kept us close, and we saw each other now and then.

I still have the “Lullaby for Dean” that Gene wrote for my son when he was born in 1948.

Gene passed away in Paris in July 2006.

—Margaret Greene Kindig ’47, as told to Kathleen McGarvey

Class Notes

Editor’s Note

In Memoriam

Tribute

Eugene Kurtz ’47, ’49E (MA)
1923–2006

Class Notes

Editor’s Note

In Memoriam

Tribute

Eugene Kurtz ’47, ’49E (MA) 1923–2006

Eugene Kurtz ’47, ’49E (MA)
1923–2006