Faculty Notes The House of Night, released this year by Nimbus Records, features Philip Cashian’s Cello Concerto played by cello professor Darrett Adkins ’91. Recorded at Oberlin, the concerto features members of the Contemporary Music Ensemble, conducted by Tim Weiss.
MARGOLIS: YEVHEN GULENKO
Music theory professor Brian Alegant contributed an analytical essay titled “On Robert Morris’ Refrains (1995)” to the Perspectives of New Music Festschrift for Robert Morris. In addition, Alegant performed and recorded Robert Morris’ Refrains with cellist Paul Dwyer ’07. Alegant also authored and published several articles including “On Scuba Diving, or the Advantages of a Less-is-More Approach,” which appeared in Engaging Students: Essays in Music Pedagogy, and “A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: Road Maps as Analytical Tools,” published in Current Musicology. In December 2014, music education professor Joanne Erwin presented a lecture titled “The Use of the Fifth in Developing Intonation in String Ensembles” at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago. She also presented a lecture with Amanda Ellerbe ’12 titled “Developing a String Program in an Elementary School for all Students” at the New Jersey State Music Educators Convention in February. The Panama Project, coordinated by Erwin, had stunning success in January 2015 under the baton of Raphael Jiménez, assisted by students Elizabeth Castro-Abram ’15, Clara Engen ’15, Brea Warner ’15, Rachel Mills ’16, Oliver Villanueva ’16, and Leo Harrington ’16. Erwin is also creating an online video series of student performers demonstrating various techniques for playing stringed instruments. Students in her courses will use the videos to improve their techniques for teaching young children. The project is supported by a grant she received under the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. OBERLIN CONSERVATORY MAGAZINE 2015
Pianist Sanford Margolis played Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the Oberlin Orchestra in September 2014. The concert marked the final faculty performance for the longtime professor, whose tenure at Oberlin began in 1972. Through the years, Margolis’ mentorship has launched the careers of a multitude of accomplished musicians and distinguished faculty members at institutions around the country. “I feel pretty good about retiring,” he said in a spring conversation about his career. “I’ve been teaching for over 50 years, and I’ve loved my time here. But isn’t that long enough?” The Reckless Heart, the new CD by vocal professor Kendra Colton ’83, was released on the Oberlin Music label in April. It was recorded with collaborative pianist Kayo Iwama ’83, a longtime friend of Colton’s.
Bassoonist Dana Jessen, the conservatory’s director of professional development, performed Michael Gordon’s Rushes at Vancouver New Music in November 2014. Her chamber ensemble, Splinter Reeds, performed at the Mondavi Performing Arts Center, San Francisco Center for New Music,
and the Presidio Officers’ Club. The group received the 2015 New Music USA Commissioning Grant, the 2014 Zellerbach Foundation Grant, and the 2014 San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music’s Musical Grant. In addition to collaborative performances, Jessen gave solo performances and master classes at the Avant Music Festival (New York City), American Academy (Rome), Splendor (Amsterdam), and the Netherlands Amsterdam Conservatory of Music. At the annual meeting of the Music Library Association, held in Denver in late February, Conservatory Librarian Deborah Campana was appointed to a five-year term as the new editor of the association’s journal, Notes. Campana also presented the paper “From the Virtual to the Sublime: Special Collections Come to the Oberlin Conservatory Library” at the International Association
of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres, whose meeting was held at the Royal Conservatoire in Antwerp, Belgium. In March, collaborative pianist Thomas Bandy and conservatory students presented a multimedia lecture-recital celebrating the 100th birthday of Vítězslava Kaprálová (1915-40). “The concert is part of an ongoing interest I have in Slavic vocal literature,” says Bandy. “It’s becoming more commonly sung around the conservatory and music schools around the country, as more people discover the vast body of literature behind the language barrier, which I enjoy breaking down and making accessible to students.” Kaprálová died at 25, but had already made a name for herself through her accessible style and instinctive writing for the voice.
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