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OCEAn 2002 NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL MAKES WAVES AT OBERLIN CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC IN NOVEMBER
OCTOBER 8, 2002--OCEAn, Ohio Community of Electro-Acoustic n (where n is a variable), will make waves once again with its biennial festival of new music at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and at Oberlin’s Cleveland performing arts venue, the Here Here Gallery. Nearly 40 composers from Ohio will converge on Oberlin and Cleveland Friday, November 15, and Saturday, November 16, in a sonic extravaganza of contemporary electronic music that is free and open to the public. The OCEAn events at Oberlin venues will be broadcast live on WOBC, 91.5-FM and simulcast online.
For newcomers to electronic music, as well as for its aficionados, the OCEAn Festival is, says Assistant Professor of Computer Music and Digital Arts Tom Lopez, producer of the festival, "a phenomenal opportunity to see and hear a wide range of new work: video and dance collaborations, music composed in real-time on a laptop computer, and, most especially, interaction between computers and traditional performers on flute, violin, saxophone, percussion, and other instruments.
"OCEAn’s ‘n’ could mean new music, composers, artists, or friends," says Lopez. "The unifying idea of the festival is the use of technology; an important function of the festival is to increase awareness of technology’s impact on music. I am also interested in exploring the edges between ‘academic’ and ‘freelance’ work. This year, more composers from outside academia are involved in the festival, offering us an opportunity to share our expertise and to see our unique talents showcased in performance. We also host a number of student composers; this experience is an important step in their professional development."
Other members of the Oberlin Conservatory faculty participating in the festival are Professor of Electronic and Computer Music Gary Nelson, Associate Professor of Composition Lewis Nielson, Teacher of Wind Chamber Music and Flute Kathleen Chastain, and Visiting Assistant Professor of TIMARA John Morrison.
Other Ohio colleges and universities participating in OCEAn 2002 are Bowling Green State University, Capital University, Cleveland State University, Heidelberg College, Miami University, Ohio State University, Ohio University, and the University of Cincinnati.
OCEAn 2002 is supported by grants from Meet the Composer, Inc., the Bascom Little Fund, the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and Oberlin’s Division of Contemporary Music and Department of TIMARA (Technology In Music And Related Arts).
Funding from Meet the Composer, Inc. is provided with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts, ASCAP, and the Virgil Thomson Foundation.
More information about OCEAn 2002, including a schedule of events, is available online.
About Tom Lopez
Tom
Lopez is Assistant Professor of Computer Music and Digital Arts at the
Oberlin Conservatory of Music at Oberlin College, where he is also a Henry
Luce Educator in the Emerging Arts Program. He is also the director of
the computer music program at The Walden School. Lopez has received awards
from the National Endowment for the Arts, Meet the Composer, Mid-America
Arts Alliance, the Knight Foundation, and ASCAP.
Before completing his doctoral degree at the University of Texas at Austin, Lopez, who also holds a bachelor of arts degree from Oberlin College and a master of fine arts degree from the California Institute of the Arts, was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship as a composer-in-residence at the Centre International de Recherche Musical in Nice, France. He has appeared at festivals and conferences around the world as a guest lecturer and composer, including Monaco’s International Festival for Dance in the Media, the Cleveland Institute of Art, the Mid-American Center for Contemporary Music, and the Kansas City Festival of Electronic Music. He has been a resident artist at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, Villa Montalvo, and Djerassi. Lopez’s music has been performed at The Kennedy Center for the Arts and other venues throughout the United States and around the world.
Technology in Music
and the Oberlin Conservatory
The
Oberlin Conservatory of Music was the first to bring music technology
to a small undergraduate institution, offering courses in electronic and
computer music since 1968, when the National Science Foundation provided
a large startup grant. Oberlin established the Technology In Music And
Related Arts (TIMARA) Department in the early 1970s; its mission was –
and is to this day – to study the connections between music and the
other arts – dance, theater, video, and film.
In 1987 Oberlin established an electronic and computer music curriculum leading to a bachelor of music degree. Students enrolled in this major combine traditional subjects in music with the newest methods for music making. Classes in music history and theory, ethnomusicology, and performance give electronic and computer music students a perspective for viewing their own music.
In 1989 TIMARA inaugurated a state-of-the-art facility that houses equipment for sound synthesis, recording, and computing. This complex provides the setting for teaching, research, and composition and includes four production studios, a room for computer music work stations, faculty and staff offices, a technical workshop, and a 24-track recording studio with a control room adjacent to a large rehearsal space.
Oberlin’s TIMARA Department is most suited to students who wish to pursue a creative career with contemporary music and other arts-related technologies. While the primary focus of the department is in music composition, it also provides support for creative work in new media, video, and other related arts activities. TIMARA places a priority on performance and realtime interactive media environments.
The Oberlin Conservatory of Music, founded in 1865, became part of Oberlin College in 1867. It is the oldest continuously operating conservatory in the United States, and the only major music school in the country linked with a preeminent liberal arts college.
Media Contact: Marci Janas
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