Vincent Lenti, retired from Eastman School of Music will present “Why the Eastman School of Music and Eastman Theatre ended up at Main and Gibbs in downtown Rochester…and the Consequences of That Decision”

George Eastman’s vision of providing the University of Rochester with a major music school and a magnificent theater was a topic of widespread interest throughout the country when the school first opened its doors in 1921. That institution and its adjoining theater, however, were not constructed to be a part of existing university buildings on what was known as the Prince Street Campus. Instead, they were placed about a half-mile away on Main Street at the intersection of Gibbs Street. Fifty years later, the central administration of the university made serious efforts to abandon the downtown Rochester buildings and build a new home for the Eastman School at its River Campus. Such efforts prompted widespread opposition and ultimately failed, and the school and theater remained where George Eastman intended them to be. Yet, there is reason to speculate that the original decision concerning the location of the school and theater may have been ill-advised to the detriment of the school as well as the City of Rochester. My presentation will present a basic outline concerning this question of location, as well as suggesting a completely different scenario had priorities been more clearly understood more than one hundred years ago.

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