Eastman School of Music

Eastman School of Music, music school at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. The University of Rochester is a private, coeducational institution of higher education founded in 1850. The Eastman School of Music opened in 1921. It was named for George Eastman, who started the Eastman Kodak Company and was a major financial contributor to the University of Rochester. The Eastman School of Music is considered one of the best music schools in the United States.

The Eastman School of Music confers bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in composition, conducting, jazz studies, music education, music theory, voice, and performance on a wide range of instruments. From its inception the school has also placed a strong emphasis on providing a liberal arts education. Students take academic classes at the University of Rochester in addition to their music studies.

The Eastman campus is located in downtown Rochester, 3 km (2 mi) from the main University of Rochester campus. Facilities include the 3000-seat Eastman Theatre, built in 1922, and Kilbourn Hall, a 500-seat theater known for its fine acoustics. Sibley Music Library was established in 1904 and incorporated into Eastman in 1921. It has an extensive collection of music manuscripts and other publications and is one of the leading manuscript conservation laboratories in the United States.

Noted graduates of Eastman include jazz musicians Ron Carter, Steve Gadd, and Chuck Mangione; Charles Strouse, composer of the musical Annie; Alexander Courage, composer for the television series “Star Trek”; and Doriot Anthony Dwyer, a flutist for the Boston Symphony and the first woman to be named a principal musician in a major U.S. orchestra. A Pulitzer Prize has been awarded to five composers who trained at Eastman: Dominick Argento, Gail Kubik, John La Montaine, George Walker, and Robert Ward. A former director of the school, Howard Hanson, and two professors, Christopher Rouse and Joseph Schwantner, have also won Pulitzer Prizes.