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04/22/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/22/2025 09:48
Eastman School of Music to Host Context Conference 2025: “Resonate: The Best Harmony Takes All of Us”
ROCHESTER, NY (April 22, 2025) - The Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester is proud to announce that it will host its second Context Conferenceon November 6-8, 2025, in Rochester, NY. Context Conference asks, "What education or opportunities do we need to facilitate from a young age to usher a musician through their professional life." This year's theme, Resonate: The best harmony takes all of us, frames how we can use music to educate and engage our communities from K-12 through professional-level organizations.
Conference Host Dr. Crystal Sellers Battle, Associate Dean of Equity and Inclusion at Eastman, shares, "Harmony can happen with two people, but it's so much better with 100. We want everyone to see themselves in the world of music, wherever they are on their journey."
Hailed by Herbie Hancock as showing "great promise as a new voice in the further development of jazz in the future," Yamaha Master Educator Omar Thomas will be the conference keynote speaker. Conference Host Sellers Battle will moderate a keynote panel with China Wilson & Antonio Cuyler. The three-day conference will include breakout group sessions, informal discussion opportunities, a collaborative concert with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and more.
Kate Sheeran , Joan and Martin Messinger Dean at Eastman, adds, "This conference creates an all-too-rare opportunity to bring together individuals who impact musicians at every stage of their journey, all in the same room - from educators of the youngest musicians all the way up to leaders at arts organizations, higher education faculty, and performing artists. It takes all of us working together to shape the future of our field and create opportunities for students and professionals at every level."
Context Conference is designed for anyone committed to advancing their approach to musical education and performance, with the goal of fostering meaningful, holistic change within their institution or arts organization. It's for students aiming to expand their repertoire and network, staff members seeking a more comprehensive work environment, and faculty looking for practical tools to integrate this work into their classrooms, studios and mentorships.
Conversations will be framed around the following five areas:
- Curricular Shift & Innovation
- Pathways to the Future
- Repertoire and Performance Practice
- Community Engagement
- Recruitment and Retention
From as close as Rochester City Schools, and as far as Fairbanks, Alaska, 2023 Context Conference attendees included a full spectrum of speakers arriving from 28 states and Canada, totaling an impressive 546 participants and speakers. National and international organizations, including Civic Orchestra of Chicago, El Sistema USA, NPR, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra and the Sphinx Organization, were in attendance, alongside local educators, Eastman alums from far and wide, and award-winning performers.
Currently, the conference is soliciting proposals for sessions. These sessions can be any format such as panel discussions, lecture-recitals and/or presentations framed around the topics listed above. Proposal submissions are due Friday, May 16, 2025. To submit a proposal and learn more about registering for the conference, including associated costs and fees, please visit the full Context Conference Website online .
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About Dr. Crystal Y. Sellers Battle (Host & Keynote):
Dr. Crystal Sellers Battle is the inaugural dean of equity and inclusion and the director of the George Walker Center for Equity and Inclusion in Music at Eastman. At The Ohio State University, where she earned her doctorate in voice performance, she was the first doctoral student to complete the Singing Health Specialist interdisciplinary graduate specialization. In that program, she studied medical tactics for repairing vocal injuries and rehabilitation of professional vocalists. Her DMA document is titled 'I sing because I'm Free:' Developing a Systematic Vocal Pedagogy for the Modern Gospel Singer. Prior to her arrival at Eastman, Sellers Battle served as the chief diversity officer at Juniata College and served on the music faculty at Bluffton University where she also served as department chair.
Sellers Battle earned a postgraduate artist diploma from Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, England, and master's and bachelor's degrees in voice performance from Roosevelt University, Chicago, and Bowling Green State University, respectively.
About Omar Thomas (Keynote):
Hailed by Herbie Hancock as showing "great promise as a new voice in the further development of jazz in the future," educator, arranger, and award-winning composer Omar Thomas (b. 1984) has created music extensively in the contemporary jazz ensemble idiom. Omar previously served as an Associate Professor of Harmony at Berklee College of Music and a Visiting Professor in Music Theory at The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University. He has thrice been awarded the Certificate of Distinction in Teaching from Harvard University, where he served as a Teaching Fellow for four years. He was awarded the Boston Music Award's "Jazz Artist of the Year" in 2012. In 2017, he was selected to participate in the Cité Internationale des Arts residency in Paris, and in 2019 was the chosen recipient of the prestigious National Bandmasters Association/Revelli Award, honoring excellence in wind band composition.
Now a Yamaha Master Educator, Omar's music has been performed in concert halls and on stages across the country and internationally. His work is featured on Dianne Reeves's Grammy Award-winning album, "Beautiful Life." His big band, the 18-piece Omar Thomas Large Ensemble was formed in 2008. The group's first album, "I Am," debuted at #1 on the iTunes Jazz Charts and peaked at #13 on the Billboard Traditional Jazz Albums Chart. Their second release, "We Will Know: An LGBT Civil Rights Piece In Four Movements," has been hailed by Grammy Award-winning drummer, composer, and producer Terri Lyne Carrington as being a "thought provoking, multi-layered masterpiece" which has "put him in the esteemed category of great artists." Says Terri Lyne: "Omar Thomas will prove to be one of the more important composer/arrangers of his time."
About Eastman School of Music:
The Eastman School of Music was founded in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman (1854-1932), founder of Eastman Kodak Company. It was the first professional school of the University of Rochester. Mr. Eastman's dream was that his school would provide a broad education in the liberal arts as well as superb musical training.
More than 900 students are enrolled in the Collegiate Division of the Eastman School of Music-about 500 undergraduates and 400 graduate students. They come from almost every state, and approximately 23 percent are from other countries. They are taught by a faculty comprising more than 170 highly regarded performers, composers, conductors, scholars, and educators. They are Pulitzer Prize winners, Grammy winners, Emmy winners, Guggenheim fellows, ASCAP Award recipients, published authors, recording artists, and acclaimed musicians who have performed in the world's greatest concert halls. Each year, Eastman's students, faculty members, and guest artists present more than 900 concerts to the Rochester community. Additionally, more than 1,700 members of the Rochester community, from young children through senior citizens, are enrolled in the Eastman Community Music School.
About the University of Rochester:
The University of Rochester is one of the nation's leading private research universities, one of only 62-member institutions in the Association of American Universities. Located in Rochester, N.Y., the University gives undergraduates exceptional opportunities for interdisciplinary study and close collaboration with faculty through its unique cluster-based curriculum. Its College, School of Arts and Sciences, and Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences are complemented by the Eastman School of Music, Simon School of Business, Warner School of Education, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, School of Medicine and Dentistry, School of Nursing, Eastman Institute for Oral Health, and the Memorial Art Gallery.
Media Inquiries:
National Media:
Shore Fire Media
718-522-7171
Rochester / Upstate NY Media:
Lauren Sageer | Eastman | Assistant Director of PR & Digital Content
585-451-8492