Eastman Presents – Eastman Philharmonia with Peter Serkin

This weekend we were treated to another wonderful performance in the Eastman Presents series. The first in the series, the hysterical Jason Alexander, was of course a sell-out, not just because of who he is, but because of when he was scheduled: U of R's Meliora weekend. Arturo Sandoval's concert in November was exceptional, and my friends and I speculated that because it was on a Sunday afternoon, the sparse audience was attributable to football competition. It was sad that Sandoval could see all of the empty seats, and not only did he remark on it, he practically begged people to return after intermission. We were underwhelmed by the Vienna Choir Boys (although the crowd was certainly bigger, the musical ensemble was smaller than expected, since they split into smaller groups that tour simultaneously), and left at intermission.

The Eastman Philharmonia did not disappoint in their performance of Mozart's Concerto No. 19 in F Major, with the extremely talented Peter Serkin at the piano. He was masterful, as expected, but also elegant, non-showy, and gracious to the students. My husband even commented that he couldn't tell the difference in sound between the Eastman students, under the skillful baton of conductor Neil Varon, and the RPO. And it was fun to see all those fresh young faces on stage (and there were a fair proportion in the audience as well – classmates, perhaps?), and watch them sway, and in the case of the cellists in particular, bob heads forcefully, in time with the music. What was disappointing was the audience – it felt like only a few hundred (although it was difficult to tell, from the orchestra, how full the balcony section was). Perhaps the snow kept some people home? But what we lacked in numbers we made up in enthusiasm, especially when it became clear, from the loud cheering at the end of the concert, that there were lots of students in the balcony!

There was a long awkward pause between the short first piece, played by the entire orchestra of about 90, and the Mozart, as the stage hands picked up some chairs and rearranged others to bring the piano on. It seemed like a lost opportunity for someone speak to the audience about the series in general and the upcoming Kodo One Earth Tour: Mystery performance on March 3, or about the pieces on the program, or about the Eastman students themselves.

There has been a lot of press lately about Rochester trying to brand itself as the “City of the Arts.” Much of this seems aimed at getting additional funding for our very deserving performing arts organizations. But selling tickets and filling seats are also important. Our classical orchestras need to find a way to educate Rochesterians about their “product” to create more excitement and demand, or perhaps adapt the product to what the audience wants (e.g., more John Williams, less Vaughan Williams...).

I hope that Eastman gives the series another year, as they promise in the program, to work out the kinks (maybe use Kilbourn Hall for the less popular performances?), and to entice more residents to become audience. Rochester deserves to have high quality musical entertainment, and the musicians deserve to be heard by more people.