Students Drive Greater Diversity in Music Spaces

Continued from page 12 and comes from an oral tradition, writing classical music with folk influences or just notating folk music itself presents challenges.

“I want to do this thing that only comes up in folk music and I’m like, ‘Oh, how the heck do I notate this?’ because in folk music we mostly learn things by ear,” Rumin.

When asked if the Composition department was well-equipped to instruct students like Rumin who face these notational problems in their compositions, Rumin responded with insightful criticism.

“This school does not really have a real support for folk music, and I really wish this school would do more to get their students to play folk music, because I think in the 21st century, we as musicians could be called to do anything, like playing in a folk band,” Rumin said. “I think it’s just important that we have these skills.”

She reiterated this concern in regard to the lack of educational and professional opportunities in the Conservatory to perform and study folk music, as well as access to mentorship and gigs.

“I just wish the Conservatory would give more support to people who play folk music and offer more connections, because we have to do this all by ourselves right now, you know?” Rumin said.

Second-year Violin Performance major Laoise Matsumoto started playing the koto, a sixfoot-long wooden traditional Japanese stringed instrument, in high school, but spent much of her life surrounded by traditional Japanese music at her Japanese dance school, where she had been taking classes since she was two. Although the Conservatory offers no course of study for the koto, Matsumoto is committed to continuing her practice of this instrument, storing the large instrument in her dorm and taking Zoom lessons from a professional koto player in New York. She mentioned that because of the instrument’s large size — and the limited sizes of practice rooms and lockers — she never transports her koto to the Conservatory building. Even if Matsumoto could bring her koto to the Conservatory, there is virtually no community for traditional Japanese mu- sic within its walls. Aside from Oberlin College Taiko, a student group that performs traditional Japanese drumming, Matsumoto could not name a single space, ensemble, or professor for students who play traditional Japanese instruments in the Conservatory, which makes playing the koto, an instrument most often performed with other kotos, quite isolating.

Echoing the difficulty faced by other Conservatory students who play traditional music in addition to their Conservatory studies, Matsumoto commented that she struggles to prioritize her koto.

“It’s not my primary instrument, ... and I think I’m okay with that, but it’s also hard because my professor here actually doesn’t know I play a different instrument,” Matsumoto said. “I try to do a couple hours a week, but sometimes I can’t and that’s okay.”

While the Conservatory doesn’t have a community for Japanese music, it does offer opportunities for students to attend traditional music performances on campus through its concert series. Matusmoto recounted her experience watching a Japanese music ensemble, the Kenny Endo Contemporary Music Ensemble, which came to perform at Finney Chapel last spring.

“It is definitely nice that the Conservatory does bring artists, at least,” Matsumoto said. “There was one koto player … it wasn’t with other Western instruments, it was with other traditional instruments. I thought it was cool and I wish I could do that sometimes.”

Emma Benardete Editor-in-Chief

Third-year Alyson Jefferson is one of the captains of the women’s basketball team. She is currently the highest scoring player on the team this season and the sixth highest scoring player in the entire North Coast Athletic Conference. In the quarterfinal game against Denison University, Jefferson scored five free throws, the most out of the team. Besides playing basketball, Jefferson is also a co-chair of the Black Student-Athlete Group. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What is the age distribution like on the team? Are there a lot of younger students?

There’s two fourth-years, four in my class, five second-years, and five first-years. The captains are three third-years and one second-year, but we definitely have a lot of leaders on the team whether they’re captains or not. Just talking to the first-years and the second-years has been a challenge for me personally because I didn’t have my first year of playing, so last year was my first year of playing.

I’m one of the captains on the team, so I spend time being more of a leader for the other 15 players on the team instead of just focusing on myself. My focus is being more vocal, more communicative, and more receptive to feedback.

It’s my first year being a captain in college on this team, but in high school I was also a captain.

How has your team contributed to your success?

We all get along well, and we all are willing to put in the work to understand what we like and what we don’t like with our passes and how our pace is. And that is something that helps us on the court. I believe we have great chemistry, especially when there are certain rotations. As a team, I think communication has definitely been a challenge, but we’ve been working on it throughout the season.