by Max Newman
Oberlin College and Conservatory is a school of sonic opportunity. No matter where you wander on its campus, no matter which of its corners you choose to explore, you are bound to find an abundance of music.
One of these many musical corners is the Birenbaum Performance Space, where on Thursday evening, November 20 in front of an intimately seated crowd, steelpan virtuoso Victor Provost strutted his stuff along with the Oberlin Performance and Improv (PI) Ensembles. The performance blended both genre and experience level in a delightful and holistic exploration of world music.
Considering the eclectic mix of instruments that were used, the spatial awareness of each member of the ensemble was impressive. Instruments seldom overlapped or obscured others. Indeed, there was a collective sound that could only be described as unbrokenly full.
To open the academic calendar in recent years, Oberlin Conservatory violin professor Sibbi Bernhardsson has organized interdisciplinary festivals centered around intriguing themes. That continued earlier this month with “Music, Sports, and the Enduring Influence of Ancient Greece,” a topic that was examined through a variety of events, musical and otherwise, over the course of two days. I caught the tail-end of the festival via live stream: the fourth and final faculty recital in Warner Concert Hall on the evening of October 10.
Eight core musicians from three continents gather around the music of Billy Drewes in the latest release on the Oberlin Music label, 