Faculty Retirements
Marcus Belgrave Professor of Jazz Trumpet
Retired jazz faculty member Marcus Belgrave was presented with a 2013 Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Hero Award for his dedication to the city of Detroit. Considered the foremost jazz artist of his adopted hometown, Belgrave notched significant achievements as an educator and self-producing artist, which prompted the award. Since the 1960s, Belgrave’s ventures have included establishing ensembles, residencies, and community jazz-studies programs in Detroit, as well as performing in committed outreach projects across the United States and abroad. Belgrave retired from the Oberlin Conservatory in 2011, but he has not retired from performing: His Homecoming Band played the 33rd Detroit
Jazz Festival in September 2012, he presented guest master classes in Oberlin this year, and his Detroit-themed CD is due out soon on Blue Note, produced by the Grammy-winning president of the label, Don Was.
Kathleen Chastain
Professor of Wind Chamber Music Flutist Kathleen Chastain joined the conservatory faculty in 1993. In addition to her flute studio and chamber music classes, she has taught Professional Development for the Freelance Artist, a course she devised. She has appeared in solo and
recital performances and with orchestras around the world. An enthusiastic performer of contemporary music, she has commissioned works by Tom Lopez and recorded works by Elliott Carter, Noel Lee, and David Felder. Chastain has recorded with Virgin, EMI, La Flûte Traversière, Arion, and Skarbo. Her CD with French pianist Laurent Boukobza includes works by Schumann, Schubert, Beethoven, and Hummel. Before joining Oberlin, she taught at BaldwinWallace College, the University of North Texas, and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where she had earlier studied with Jean-Pierre Rampal.
James DeSano Professor of Trombone
Faculty, students, and administrators honored retiring faculty member Marcus Belgrave (fifth from left) in the Kohl Building’s McGregor Sky Bar in May 2013.
In addition to teaching trombone at the conservatory since 1999, James DeSano played with The Cleveland Orchestra for more than 30 years, serving as assistant
John Knight steps away after 35 years at Oberlin.
principal trombone from 1970 to 1989, then as principal trombone from 1989 to 2003. Prior to that appointment, he served as principal trombone of the Syracuse Symphony from 1964-70. During his teaching career, DeSano served on the faculties of Syracuse University, the University of Akron, Kent State University, and the Cleveland Institute of Music. He has performed under such distinguished conductors as Pierre Boulez, Leopold Stokowsky, and John Cage, among others, and has recorded works by Stravinsky, Mahler, Shostakovich, and Schumann with musicians such as Boulez, Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Christoph von Dohnányi. He earned degrees at Ithaca College and the Eastman School of Music, where he was a student of influential trombone teacher Emory Remington.
John Knight
Professor of Music Education During his 35-year tenure at Oberlin, John Knight taught courses in conducting, music education pedagogy, and performance. He has lectured at major universities, adjudicated competitions, and presented master classes locally and abroad, and he has been invited as a guest conductor for regional, national, and international institutions. Knight led the Commencement Band for 30 years, and he founded and conducted the College Community Winds, which included musicians from the student body and the Oberlin community. An accomplished writer, he is the author of two books, The Golden Age of Conductors and The Interpretive Wind Band Conductor, in addition to many articles written for the Instrumentalist magazine. 63