This book is the third volume recounting the history of the Eastman School of Music. The narrative begins following the resignation of Walter Hendl as the school's third director in 1972, an event leading to the appointment of Robert Freeman as his successor. An introduction briefly traces the history of the school from its founding in 1921 until the events of 1972. Readers who might wish to access a more complete treatment of the school's first half-century are referred to my first book, For the Enrichment of Community Life: George Eastman and the Founding of the Eastman School of Music, published in 2004 by Meliora Press (an imprint of the University of Rochester Press), and to my second book, Serving a Great and Noble Art: Howard Hanson and the Eastman School of Music, published in 2009 by Meliora Press.

The current volume is concerned with the tenure of Robert Freeman, who accepted his appointment as director in the fall of 1972 and who officially assumed his responsibilities on July 1, 1973. The title, “Nurturing the Love of Music,” is a quotation from an article Freeman contributed in honor of Howard Hanson following Hanson's death in 1981. It perhaps deserves to be quoted in context: