Program Description

University of Rochester

Eastman School of Music


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One of the world’s preeminent music schools, the Eastman School of Music was founded in 1921 by Rochester industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman (founder of Eastman Kodak) as the first professional school within the University of Rochester. Maintaining the highest standards for artistry, intelligent musicianship, and scholarship, the School’s comprehensive programs provide outstanding performance and teaching faculty, broad and continuous playing experience, and innovative approaches to career development. Eastman is recognized nationally and internationally for the quality and intensity of its disciplinary training and for its unique opportunities for musical leadership and community enrichment.

There are 900 students enrolled in the collegiate division: 500 undergraduate and 400 graduate students. Current students hail from forty-three states and twenty other countries; 24 percent of the students are international. Each year, about 280 new students enroll, selected from more than 2,100 applicants. Eastman students regularly win Down Beat awards, BMI grants, ASCAP Foundation grants, Fulbright Scholarships, and other national and international awards and competitions.

Eastman students enjoy a collaborative musical environment not found at other “conservatory” programs. In addition, they belong to the larger University of Rochester community. Some students earn minors or even second degrees at the college.

The Sibley Music Library offers more than 350,000 books and scores, 600 music periodicals, and 90,000 audio and video recordings, including the Ruth T. Watanabe Special Collections Department of manuscripts, rare editions, and an audio repository capturing the performance history of the Eastman School since 1933. The Rare Books section contains 150,000 items, including autographs of works by Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Schubert, Debussy, Weill, and Copland.

Bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees are offered. The B.M. degree is awarded in applied music (performance), composition, jazz studies and contemporary media, music education, theory, and musical arts, and there is an innovative honors curriculum that allows students to craft an individualized, cross-disciplinary program of study that culminates in a major senior project.

Undergraduates have the option of completing double degrees, a B.M. and a B.A. or B.S., or taking a fifth year under the University’s Take Five program or the Eastman School’s Forte program for music education majors.

Graduate degrees (M.M., M.A., D.M.A., or Ph.D.) are offered in composition, conducting, performance, music education, music theory, theory pedagogy, musicology, ethnomusicology, early music, jazz studies and contemporary media, and piano accompanying and chamber music.

Faculty and Alumni

Eastman’s faculty consists of more than 130 performers, composers, conductors, scholars, and educators, including Guggenheim Fellows, ASCAP Award recipients, recording artists, and acclaimed musicians. Eastman’s full-time, resident faculty members know their students personally, becoming mentors and lifelong friends.

Eastman alumni are members of all leading American orchestras, including conducting and principal chair positions, and also perform all around the world as members of the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony, London Symphony, Hong Kong Symphony Orchestra, New Zealand Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, and Chicago Symphony. Voice alumni perform with major opera companies, including the Metropolitan Opera and the Vienna State Opera, and Eastman's Sacred Music graduates hold top positions in churches and synagogues.

Eastman graduates hold key administrative positions with national cultural and performing arts organizations, including the St. Louis Symphony, National Endowment for the Arts, Detroit Symphony, Boston Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Manhattan School of Music, Opera America, Columbia Artists Management, and BMG. Prominent Eastman graduates include soprano Renée Fleming and tenor Anthony Dean Griffey; jazz musicians Ron Carter, Maria Schneider, Steve Gadd, and Chuck Mangione; and composers Dominick Argento, Michael Torke, George Walker, Alexander Courage (Star Trek), Jeff Beal (Monk), and Charles Strouse (Annie).

Special Programs

Eastman’s Institute for Music Leadership (IML) is bridging the gap between the academic and professional music world. Created in 2001, the IML is a vital hub for creating, sharing, and implementing ideas and programs that will ensure the vitality and relevance of music in the twenty-first century. IML teaches tomorrow’s music leaders to become entrepreneurs who understand how to develop and implement a sound business plan without sacrificing their ideals and ideas for their art.

All chamber music groups take part in the innovative Music For All Program, performing at various locations in the community such as schools, hospitals, and businesses. Preparing these programs challenges the students to synthesize their theoretical, historical, and instrumental or vocal training—and to develop the performance and communication skills necessary to relate to the wide range of audiences.

Application Procedures

Deadline--freshmen and transfers: December 1. Notification date--freshmen and transfers: April 15. Required: high school transcript, college transcript(s) for transfer students, minimum 2.0 high school GPA, 3 letters of recommendation, audition, portfolio for composition majors, interview for theory majors, essay, interview, and skills test for music education applicants, minimum TOEFL 79-80 iBT for non-native English speakers, pre-screening recording for some instruments (see application). Recommended: minimum 3.0 high school GPA, interview, SAT or ACT test scores. Auditions held 23 times on campus and off campus in Atlanta, GA; Chicago, IL; Houston, TX; Los Angeles, CA; Portland, OR; Boston, MA; Dallas, TX; Greenville, SC; Idyllwild and San Francisco, CA; Washington, DC; New York, NY; Seoul, Korea; Taipei; Hong Kong; Singapore; Bangkok; recorded music is permissible as a substitute for live auditions if a campus visit is impossible (some exceptions) and videotaped performances are permissible as a substitute for live auditions if a campus visit is impossible (some exceptions). Portfolio reviews held on campus.

Contact

Dr. Adrian Daly, Director of Admissions, Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester, 26 Gibbs Street, Rochester, New York 14604; 585-274-1060, fax: 585-232-8601.