The third volume of Vincent Lenti's history of the Eastman School of
Music
Nurturing the Love of Music is the third volume of Vincent Lenti's
history of the Eastman School of Music, being preceded by For the
Enrichment of Community Life: George Eastman and the Founding of the
Eastman School of Music (2004) and Serving a Great and Noble Art: Howard
Hanson and the Eastman School of Music (2009). This most recent addition
to the written history of the school is mainly concerned with the period
of time when Robert Freeman served as the school's fourth director (that
is, dean). Freeman was recruited to lead the Eastman School in the fall
of 1972 and officially assumed responsibilities as director on July 1,
1973. He served as director until his resignation in 1996. His was the
second longest tenure in the school's history, only being surpassed by
that of Howard Hanson. That tenure allowed him to exercise great
influence over faculty recruitment, program development, and
fundraising, as well as presiding over the most significant expansion of
the school's physical presence in downtown Rochester since the original
construction of 1921 and 1922.
The publication of Nurturing the Love of Music coincides with the
celebration of the Eastman School's one-hundredth anniversary. Because
of that anniversary celebration, the book includes as its final chapter
a brief summary of the post-Freeman years, a story that will no doubt be
told in greater detail sometime in the future.
