The Faculty Artist Series Presents: Charles Pillow, Jazz Saxophone with Gary Versace, Piano/Accordion
ROCHESTER, NY — The Faculty Artist Series, brings two current Eastman School of Music Faculty members: Charles Pillow, jazz saxophone (Assistant Professor of Jazz and Saxophone), with Gary Versace, piano/accordion (Associate Professor of Jazz Studies & Contemporary Media, Piano), on Tuesday, November 28, 8 p.m., at Eastman School of Music’s Hatch Recital Hall.
With 5 CDs to his credit, Charles Pillow has established himself as one of today’s premier woodwind multi-instrumentalists. His orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (2004) and Gustav Holst’s The Planets (2007), both on ArtistShare, and Van Gogh Letters (2010) on ELCM, have earned critical acclaim. AllAboutJazz.com enthused, “Pillow is on the cutting edge of a trend. He ushers in a previously unexploited way to enliven and extend jazz.”
A fluent performer, teacher, and touring musician he has performed on over 100 recordings of jazz and pop artists, including Michael Brecker, Maria Schneider, David Sanborn, Joe Henderson, John Scofield, Bob Mintzer, Bob Belden, Jay Z, David Liebman, Mariah Carey, Chaka Khan, Luther Vandross.
Gary Versace, who received his master’s degree in music performance at the Eastman School of Music, is one of the busiest and most versatile musicians on the international jazz scene. He is often featured in bands led by musicians such as John Scofield, John Abercrombie, Al Foster, Regina Carter, Maria Schneider, Madeleine Peyroux, John Hollenbeck, and many others. He twice was a guest on NPR’s Piano Jazz with Marian McPartland, who described him as “endlessly inventive” and having “an extraordinary talent.”
Named a “Rising Star” on DownBeat Critics Polls in 2009 and 2010 and winner of the Jazz Journalists’ Association’s Best Organist award in 2012, Versace has released several CDs under his own name on the SteepleChase and Criss Cross labels, and has appeared as a guest on almost 50 more. He is the pianist on Ralph Alessi’s CD Quiver, which received 4.5 stars in DownBeat; as accordionist on Maria Schneider’s Grammy-winning The Thompson Fields; as Hammond organist on Ellery Eskelin’s Trip Willisau: Live and Rich Perry’s Organique; and on all three instruments on Kurt Elling’s Passion World.
Their program includes music by Thelonious Monk, Hermet Pascoal, and Charles Pillow.
The Faculty Artist Series is generously supported by Patricia Ward-Baker.
Tickets for Eastman’s Faculty Artist Series are $10 for the general public and free to current Season Subscribers. Tickets can be purchased at the Eastman Theatre Box Office, 433 East Main St.; by phone (585) 274-3000; or online at http://eastmantheatre.org
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About Eastman School of Music:
The Eastman School of Music was founded in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman (1854-1932), founder of Eastman Kodak Company. It was the first professional school of the University of Rochester. Mr. Eastman’s dream was that his school would provide a broad education in the liberal arts as well as superb musical training. The current dean is Jamal Rossi, appointed in 2014.
About 900 students are enrolled in Eastman’s Collegiate Division– about 500 undergraduate and 400 graduate students. Students come from almost every state, and approximately 20 per cent are from other countries. They are guided by more than 95 full-time faculty members. Seven Pulitzer Prize winners have taught at Eastman, as have several Grammy Award winners. Each year, Eastman’s students, faculty members, and guest artists present more than 700 concerts to the Rochester community.
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The Faculty Artist Series Presents: David Ying, cello and Elinor Freer, piano
ROCHESTER, NY — The Faculty Artist Series, presents two Eastman School of Music Faculty members; David Ying, cello (Associate Professor of String Chamber Music and Associate Professor of Violoncello at Eastman), with Elinor Freer, piano, (Assistant Professor of Chamber Music), Sunday, December 3, at 3 p.m., in Hatch Recital Hall at the Eastman School of Music. The program includes: Carter Pann: Differences; Poulenc: Sonata for Cello and Piano, FP 143; Mendelssohn: Sonata No. 2 for Cello and Piano, Op. 58.
Cellist David Ying is well known to concert audiences as the cellist of the Grammy Award-winning Ying Quartet, Quartet-in-Residence at Eastman School of Music. With the Quartet, he has performed worldwide in celebrated music venues from Carnegie Hall to the Sydney Opera House. With the Quartet, David has created a wide range of recordings that have received consistent acclaim, as well as a Grammy Award and four Grammy nominations.
David is also highly regarded as an individual artist, having been awarded prizes in the Naumburg Cello Competition and in the Washington International Competition. As a solo cellist, he often performs with his wife, pianist Elinor Freer. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, David presently serves on the cello and chamber music faculty.
Elinor Freer joined the faculty of the Eastman School of Music in 2003. In addition to performing and teaching, Ms. Freer has founded and produced a number of initiatives designed to bring classical music to new audiences and has presented a variety of educational and outreach performances across the country in settings ranging from inner city schools to psychiatric hospitals. For these projects, she was awarded multiple grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Ying and Freer are married with two children together.
The Faculty Artist Series is generously supported by Patricia Ward-Baker.
Tickets for Eastman’s Faculty Artist Series are $10 for the general public and free to current Season Subscribers. Tickets can be purchased at the Eastman Theatre Box Office, 433 East Main St.; by phone (585) 274-3000; or online at http://eastmantheatre.org
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About Eastman School of Music:
The Eastman School of Music was founded in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman (1854-1932), founder of Eastman Kodak Company. It was the first professional school of the University of Rochester. Mr. Eastman’s dream was that his school would provide a broad education in the liberal arts as well as superb musical training. The current dean is Jamal Rossi, appointed in 2014.
About 900 students are enrolled in Eastman’s Collegiate Division– about 500 undergraduate and 400 graduate students. Students come from almost every state, and approximately 20 per cent are from other countries. They are guided by more than 95 full-time faculty members. Seven Pulitzer Prize winners have taught at Eastman, as have several Grammy Award winners. Each year, Eastman’s students, faculty members, and guest artists present more than 700 concerts to the Rochester community.
