© University of Rochester 1996-2012
1952
Patricia Paul Jaeger ’53 (MM) sends an update. She has published three new arrangements for solo harp, including Felix Mendelssohn’s March of the Priests, Gabriel Faure’s In Paradisum from his Requium, and Carlos Gardel’s Por Una Cabeza: Argentine Tango for Violin (Flute) and Harp. She writes: “My arrangements seem to fill gaps in existing harp and small ensemble literature. They are sold worldwide now. My graduate year at Eastman on the Sibley Music Library staff (then on Swan Street) working under Dr. Ruth Watanabe, gave me valuable experience finding what music was already in print. When performing dates become more limited in advancing years, the rich experiences at Eastman during those five years of student life more than half a century ago, seem to generate new areas of worthwhile activity. I still maintain a busy private studio teaching violin, viola, harp, and beginning piano.”
1953
Patricia Paul Jaeger (MM) (see ’52).
1956
George Walker (DMA) has written his memoirs, Reminiscences of an American Composer and Pianist (Scarecrow, 2009) in which he reflects on his experiences as both an acclaimed 20th-century classical composer and pianist and an African American.
1959
Katherine Hoover writes that several of her compositions have had premieres in the past year and been performed by Eastman alumni. The National Flute Convention, held in New York City in August, featured nine of Katherine’s works, including a premiere of Mountain & Mesa, performed by Jeremy Gill ’96. Journey, written for bassoon and piano, was premiered by Peter Kolkay ’00 (MM) and Alexandra Nguyen ’03 (DMA) in Panama City in October. Also in October was the premiere of Katherine’s The Word in Flower, at the Eastman School, performed by faculty member Katherine Ciesinsky, Bonita Boyd ’71, and Nickolas Goluses.
1960
Gaylord French ’66 (MM) has retired as organist and music director at Central Presbyterian Church in Montclair, N.J. His farewell performance in August featured two brass choirs and percussion.
1963
Warwick Lister (MM) has written Amico: The Life of Giovanni Battista Viotti (Oxford), a biography of the renowned violinist.
1966
Gaylord French (MM) (see ’60).
1970
Geary Larrick (MM) sends an update. He is living in Stevens Point, Wis., where he continues to perform solo marimba. He has written several reviews for the regional newspaper, Central Wisconsin Sunday, including a review of a CD by pianist and composer Nancy Van de Vate, and of marimba player Rebecca Kite’s recent book on the Japanese composer and marimba player, Keiko Abe. Geary adds that he is “at home in Stevens Point 40 years after moving from Rochester with my daughter, Sulina, my wife, Lydia, and a Deagan Bandmaster III that Eastman professor John Beck ’55E, ’62E (MM) advised me to purchase in the summer of 1980 when I was studying composition with Samuel Adler.”
1971
Bonita Boyd (see ’59).
1977
Deborah Brown ’79 (MM) completed a series of concerts in Washington, D.C., and Maryland with violinist Jeff Issokson, featuring the music of Beethoven, Brahms, de Falla, Albeniz, and Kreisler.
1979
Deborah Brown (MM) (see ’77). . . . Elizabeth Bankhead Buccheri (DMA), a pianist and lecturer at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern, and assistant conductor of the Chicago Lyric Opera, performs on a new recording, Romantic Music for Piano Four Hands (Cedille Records), with pianist Richard Boldrey.
1980
Moira Danis, a soprano and music educator in Westchester County, N.Y., has released a recording, Beautiful Sounds: The Songs of Petula Clark (Danis, 2009).
1981
Dan Locklair (DMA), a composer-in-residence and professor of music at Wake Forest University, had a new composition, In the Sight of God, premiered in October by the Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys at Saint Thomas Church in New York City.
1982
Joseph Holt, the principal pianist for the United States Army Chorus, has been named the music director of Gloria Musicae, a vocal chamber chorus in Sarasota, Fla.
1986
Mary Ellen Woodside is the first violinist in the Merel Quartet, founded in 2002 and based in Switzerland. The quartet has released its debut recording, The Merel Quartet, which includes works by Robert Schumann, Leos Janacek, and contemporary Swiss Composer David Philip Hefti.
1991
Daniel Florio (MM) writes that he is in his 14th season as a percussionist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and has been appointed interim principal percussionist for the 2009-10 season.
1996
Jeremy Gill (see ’59).
2000
Peter Kolkay (MM) (see ’59).
2003
Corinth DelaCruz Catanus writes: “My husband Godfrey and I have been blessed with the birth of our first daughter, Charissa Faith. She was born in May 2009. At birth, she was 5 lbs., 15 oz. and 19 inches long. She already likes to listen to violin music, read books, and look at flowers! We currently reside in Orange County, Calif.” . . . Alexandra Nguyen (DMA) (see ’59).
© University of Rochester 1996-2012