The grandest natural venues
Imagine hearing exceptional, live classical music while enjoying the stunning natural scenery of Great Smoky Mountain National Park. While out on a hike, Emlyn Johnson ’08E, ’15E (DMA), and her husband, Dan Ketter ’10E, ’10 saw the opportunity to create a concert experience like no other.
In the summer of 2016, Johnson, and Ketter, who is a doctoral candidate in music theory and cello performance at the Eastman School of Music, launched “Music in the American Wild,” a national tour of new music commissioned to celebrate the National Park Service centennial. Eleven composers and seven performers, all affiliated with Eastman, joined forces on the tour, playing in park amphitheaters, by glacial mountain lakes, deep in a rainforest, and in caves 30 stories underground, in seven parks across the country.
Push the frontiers of music
Eastman alumni are innovators in a broad, and rapidly changing, creative industry. Learn more about the pioneering effort that was Music in the American Wild, and explore how Eastman’s Institute for Music Leadership prepares the musicians of today to become the arts leaders of tomorrow. Contact Cathy Hain, executive director of Advancement, for information about supporting these and other innovative programs at Eastman.
—Margaret Bogumil, May 2017
