Class Notes
Eastman School of Music
1956
Carl Leazer (MM) sends an update. He’s a retired Lutheran pastor living in Manorville, N.Y. A tenor, he sings regularly with the Peconic Bay Masterworks Choir and has performed many benefit recitals over the years. The choir’s Christmas concerts last December included Carl’s 1965 composition Christ Is Born Today (Hodie Christus Natus Est). Also at those concerts, he met Thomas Hemmick ’89RC (PhD), a tenor soloist, and Lucinda Martin Hemmick ’89M (PhD), an alto soloist. “Tom and Lucinda met in the U of R Concert Choir on the River Campus,” Carl writes. “They also sang with the Rochester Oratorio Society for several years. Tom is a professor of physics at SUNY Stony Brook and does research at the Brookhaven National Lab. Lucinda did research for 12 years and is currently teaching A.P. chemistry and science research at Longwood High School in Middle Island on Long Island.”
1959
Katherine Hoover writes that three of her compositions have been released on a CD, String Quartets and Trio (Parnassus Records). The string quartets are performed by the Colorado Quartet, for whom she wrote them, and the trio for piano, violin, and cello is performed by the Rogeri Trio.
1963
William Anderson ’65 (MM), a professor emeritus and founding director of the Center for the Study of World Musics at Kent State University, is the editor of Multicultural Perspectives in Music Education (Rowman and Littlefield; 3rd edition). He’s also the author of chapters in the updated and expanded edition.
1965
William Anderson (MM) (see ’63).
1967
Dixon Van Winkle won a 2011 Grammy Award for producing and engineering the Best New Age Album of the year, MIHO: Journey to the Mountain. The recording, with the Paul Winter Consort, is a celebration of I. M. Pei’s Miho Museum in the Shigaraki Mountains of Japan. The award is Dixon’s fourth Grammy. He also was nominated for a 2011 Juno for producing and engineering the Best Instrumental Record of the Year, Spirit Dance, with David Braid, piano, and Canadian Brass. Dixon lives in the Rochester area.
1980
Bassist David Finck appeared at the Blue Note in New York City with pianist Andre Previn for three evenings of jazz last February.
1981
Akmal Parwez (PhD) sends an update. He writes: “In October, I was invited by the University of Gujrat—a newly established modern international university in Gujrat, Pakistan—to give a lecture-performance on mystic music. I presented 10 of my vocal compositions accompanied on the saarangi, harmonium, taanpura, tabla, and dholak by professional instrumentalists from Pakistan Television’s Islamabad and Lahore stations. In my lecture, I emphasized the need for musicological research on and preservation of the folk music heritage of Pakistan. The program included the playing of CDs and DVDs of my Mystic Prelude, Song of the Reed, The Chenab, Once Upon a Springtime, and Plaint Song. The event received much media coverage and proved a great success with the audience, which consisted of students and faculty, as well as prominent musical and literary figures from all over the country.”
1982
Steve Wogaman has been appointed president of the Chamber Music Society of Detroit. The appointment comes after a nationwide search. Previously Steve was president and CEO of the Canton Symphony Orchestra in Canton, Ohio.
1985
Todd Beaney (MM) sends an update. A collection of his arrangements and compositions for solo piano has been published as “We Have Met to Worship”: Captivating Expressions of Praise for Piano (Lorenz). In addition, he has released a CD, Piano Praise 2 (self-published), of contemporary arrangements of classic hymns.
1995
Peter Fletcher (MM) writes that he’s begun a 2011 national tour. He’s posting videos, photos, recordings and other content from the road on his Facebook page. . . . Greg Yasinitsky (DMA) has received the 2011 Eminent Faculty Award at Washington State University. He writes: “This is the highest faculty award offered at the university and until now has always gone to a scientist.” He adds: “I owe a great deal of this award to my Eastman professors Robert Morris, Robert Wason, and Ramon Ricker, and everything I learned from them.” Greg is Regents Professor of Music, Meyer Distinguished Professor of Music, and coordinator of jazz studies at Washington State. He teaches saxophone and composition.
2001
Payton MacDonald (DMA), a composer and percussionist, writes that he’s been touring the world with the group Alarm Will Sound. He performed with them at the Bremenmusikfest in Bremen, Germany, where he performed his percussion concerto, Cowboy Tabla/Cowboy Raga. Payton has also been touring as a solo marimba player, with appearances at universities throughout the United States and at a showcase concert at the 2010 Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Indianapolis. In addition, he’s completed compositions for the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra, the New York University Steelband, and the Slovenian guitarist Mak Grgic. He adds: “When I’m not creating music, I’m competing in endurance events. I’ve completed 16 triathlons and am training for a 50-mile trail run.”
