Music: March, American March!

Since 1952, when the Boston Symphony toured Europe in triumph, visiting U.S. orchestras have repeatedly demonstrated that they are now the world's best. But few orchestras have attracted quite the attention accorded the 87-member Eastman Philharmonia, which returned home last week after a 13-week, 34-city tour. Though Europeans expect excellence from the U.S., they were unprepared for such quality from a student orchestra, most of whose members are in or barely out of their teens.

Organized four years ago, at the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music, the orchestra's function is to round out the students' musical education by giving them...