The Eastman Evolution Festival Held In Rochester 12/6-12

From December 6 - 12, The Eastman School of Music (ESM) will hold a six day festival of concerts and events in celebration of the upcoming 90th Anniversary Season (2011-2012) and to unveil the completion of the Eastman Theatre Renovation and Construction Project (the Eastman Evolution). The December festival features a diverse roster of master classes, talks and performances by Oliver Knussen, Garrick Ohlsson, Jeremy Denk and Brad Lubman, among others.

Composer Oliver Knussen will be in residence from December 6 - 10 and will conduct a masterclass on December 8th with Eastman composition students. A selection of Knussen's works will be performed on December 9th by conductor Brad Lubman and the ensemble Musica Nova. Pianist Jeremy Denk and cellist Steven Isserlis will perform a joint recital on December 7th featuRing Thomas Adès', Lieux retrouvés for piano and cello. Celebrated pianist Garrick Ohlsson will open Eastman's Hatch RecitAl Hall with an all-Chopin performance on December 9th.

To showcase the advanced technical capabilities of the new Hatch RecitAl Hall, an Internet 2 demonstration will be given by opera students and faculty of ESM in conjunction with the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo. This exciting transatlantic event will be led by Benton Hess, Distinguished Professor of Voice at Eastman, Eirik Birkeland, director of the Norwegian Academy of Music, and Håkan Hagegård, Professor of Vocal Studies at the Academy. The festival will close with a Chamber Music Marathon in which Eastman students, faculty and musicians from the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra will perform throughout the day.