University of Rochester, Eastman School of Music

University of Rochester, Eastman School of Music is the University of Rochester’s conservatory and music school in Rochester, New York. Founded in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman, the school combines professional music training with a research university setting. Its academic structure includes collegiate instruction in performance, composition, conducting, jazz and contemporary media, music teaching and learning, music theory, and musicology, alongside graduate study and advanced professional preparation. Eastman also operates the Eastman Community Music School, which extends music instruction beyond degree candidates to children, teens, and adults in the Rochester region. Its work centers on educating performers, composers, scholars, and teachers while presenting a substantial public performance calendar. Eastman’s major venues include Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre and Kilbourn Hall, linking the school’s educational mission to concert life in downtown Rochester. The school is also home to the Sibley Music Library, a major academic music library with significant collections supporting study and research. Eastman’s ensembles, opera, jazz, and contemporary music activity place students in regular collaborative and public-facing artistic work. Within the University of Rochester, Eastman serves both specialized conservatory students and the wider community through preparatory and continuing music education. Its identity is shaped by the combination of intensive studio instruction, ensemble performance, scholarship, and community engagement in western New York. That mix of conservatory training, university affiliation, and community programming makes Eastman a central institution for music education and performance in Rochester and a prominent American music school.