Rochester

Eastman School of Music has a long history with Wind Ensemble music, with directors such as Frederick Fennell and Donald Hunsberger. The Band’s relationship with Eastman is a solid one; some of our standard repertoire was edited or arranged by past wind ensemble directors, and many of Eastman’s graduates find a musical home in the Band.

Ten Eastman graduates were announced at the concert at Eastman Theater on Monday night. The clarinet section alone had five members introduced to the audience, the percussion section on their heels with three members; trumpet and saxophone each had one member of their respective sections hail from Eastman School of Music. The nearly full hall responded with energy to see so many of their own on the stage.

Escapades, in my opinion, is one of John Williams’ finest work. The trio of Steve and the two Glenns plays as one unit; the band thoroughly enjoys the piece, and it shows. West Side Story received its share of “Bravo!” at completion. Vientos y Tangos has my feet dancing under my long skirt; during the rests my imagination runs away, picturing “The Marine Band Dancers” tangoing across the stage.

After the concert, the flute section met with Ellen’s friend, Rebecca Gilbert, principal flutist of the Rochester Philharmonic back at the hotel. Rebecca’s gift of homemade carrot walnut raisin bread to Ellen was shared among the group as we compared notes and flutist friends in common. I felt as though I’d known her a long time; perhaps we’d met at past auditions. In spite of the large number of flutists out there, it really is small world among the professionals.

It was a fairly late night for me, but I was still up and walking with Lisa and Karen at our usual time. Walks in Rochester on previous tours had ended up in some less than desirable sections of the town, but this time we followed the advice of recent grads and went east on East, along the Museum Trail. Walking along what was obviously a main thoroughfare, we found ourselves in an amazing neighborhood of mansions and massive homes built in a variety of styles on park-like grounds. Usually when we find a neighborhood like this, it tends to fade into a neighborhood of smaller but equally elegant homes. This time, however, we turned back long before the mansions disappeared. After previous disappointing walks in Rochester, we were pleasantly surprised to find what had always been here. That little bit of tour knowledge will be tucked away until Tour 2012.