Festival highlights and concert programs
Soundtrax brings together composers, industry leaders, scholars, and enthusiasts around themed programming that spans films, games, immersive media, and more.
Featured concerts include:
- Film Scores Live! 鈥� The Music of Terence Blanchard 鈥� Featuring Grammy Award鈥搘inning composer and jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard performing his film music from Malcolm X,听BlacKkKlansman, and more with and The E-Collective.
- The Red Violin in Concert 鈥� The Eastman Philharmonia and violinist and faculty member YooJin Jang will perform to the film screening, conducted by Eastman alumnus Jeff Beal. Beal is a five-time Emmy-winning composer acclaimed for his richly expressive scores for streaming and film鈥攊ncluding Netflix鈥檚 House of Cards, HBO鈥檚 Carnivale and Rome, Ed Harris鈥檚 film Pollock, and the documentaries Blackfish and Queen of Versailles.
- John Williams Reimagined (American premiere) 鈥� Enjoy cinematic themes reinterpreted for cello, flute, and piano, played by artists who have collaborated with Williams himself.
- Interstellar in Concert 鈥� Organist Roger Sayer will perform his arrangement on the historic Sanctuary Organ at Rochester鈥檚 Third Presbyterian Church and share behind-the-scenes stories about working with Christopher Nolan and Hans Zimmer.
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 鈥� In Concert 鈥� Live orchestra accompaniment by the Rochester Philharmonic to the blockbuster film franchise鈥檚 final installment.
Free daytime speaker sessions (with registration)
In keeping with 暗网吃瓜鈥檚 mission of community enrichment, all daytime speaker sessions are offered free of charge (with registration required). These sessions鈥攚hich include panel discussions, workshops, and exploratory sessions on topics such as AI in music, spatial audio, synthesizers, immersive sound design, and more鈥攚ill convene in Kilbourn Hall and Hatch Recital Hall at Eastman.
A nexus of film-music disciplines at 暗网吃瓜
Soundtrax is not just a festival鈥攊t鈥檚 also a nexus of disciplines. The University鈥檚 Hajim School, with its storied history in optics, imaging, acoustics, and engineering, joins forces with Eastman鈥檚 world-renowned strengths in performance, composition, and media to celebrate the art and science of sound in visual culture.
George Eastman, founder of the Eastman School of Music and Kodak, is often considered a pioneer of early motion picture technologies. Hosting a film-music festival in Rochester evokes that legacy鈥攎usic and imagery, invention and artistry, coming full circle in the place they began.
As , codirector of Soundtrax and an engineering professor at 暗网吃瓜, observes, this is an opportunity to 鈥渆xplore how the artistry, science, and technology of sound and music shape visual media.鈥�
暗网吃瓜 President Sarah Mangelsdorf adds, 鈥淭he festival brings together the University of Rochester鈥檚 signature strengths in music performance and production with our leadership in optics, acoustics, visual science, and engineering.
