Joshua Nemith (pianist for the IRIS Orchestra and Dayton Philharmonic) wrote a very interesting post recently on his Cincinnati Pianist Blog:

It was announced earlier this week that CCM’s dean Doug Lowry has resigned from CCM and will move on to take the helm of dean at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Didn’t he just get here? (He started at CCM in 2000.)

Since I have attended both schools (I earned my BM at Eastman in 1995 and my DMA at CCM in 2004) this is a move that is of some interest to me. I don’t know where Eastman now stands in regards to its financial situation, but it seems to be in better shape than CCM. I know from various sources (as well as through my adjunct experiences there) that UC has implemented budget trimmings in the millions of dollars and how this crisis has affected many of the departments at CCM.

Speculation: Could a reason for leaving be that the dean’s hands are tied with all the cutbacks, and he just simply can’t get done what needs to be done? (From my point of view the dean has generally maintained the status quo and seems most interested in furthering a compositional career.) CCM seems to have been “drifting” recently, lacking any real significant forward momentum into the new century with innovative and refreshing approaches to the training and experiences it provides to students.

Read the complete post here.

It will be interesting to see how this move affects the fortunes of both Eastman and CCM. Eastman has really been a leader in progressive change at the university level, and it would really be a tragedy to see this institution lose this forward momentum. Time will tell.

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