Oberlin Conservatory of Music Faculty Present Works for Cello on February 24

OBERLIN, OHIO (February 13, 2008) – Darrett Adkins, Assistant Professor of Cello at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, believes that cellists tend to create a community of mutual support and admiration. He plans to bring that message to Warner Concert Hall when he hosts a faculty chamber recital set for Sunday, February 24, at 4 p.m. The free concert is part of the Conservatory's Faculty Chamber Series .

The program will feature Beethoven's Sonata No. 1 in C Major, Op. 102, for Cello and Piano, performed by Adkins (OC '91) and Associate Professor of Piano Angela Cheng; Schubert's String Quintet in C Major; and two of Villa-Lobos' Bachianas Brasileiras: No. 1 for an Orchestra of Cellos, and No. 5 for Voice and Eight Cellos. Adkins says he considers the Schubert work "by many accounts, the best piece of music that there is." Assistant Professor of Violin David Bowlin (OC '00), Professor of Violin Marilyn McDonald, Associate Professor of Viola Karen Ritscher, and Assistant Professor of Cello Amir Eldan will join him in forming the quintet.

All of the afternoon's cellists, including Associate Professor of Viola da Gamba and Cello Catharina Meints; Dmitry Kouzov, who is teaching at Oberlin this spring while Adkins is on sabbatical; and several outstanding students from Oberlin's cello studios – Gabrielle Athayde '08, Rachel Desoer '08, Gwendolyn Krosnick '08, and Catherine Smith '08 – will fill the stage for the first Bachianas. Special guest Tony Arnold (OC '90) will add her acclaimed soprano to the mix for the Bachianas No. 5 . She was a classmate of Adkins' at Oberlin, and teaches at SUNY Buffalo.

"I selected these works because I wanted to create a real chamber music concert that was all about the cello," Adkins says. "The Villa-Lobos pieces are very special to cellists and audiences, and I'm honored to be able to invite all of my colleagues, including my sabbatical replacement, the remarkable artist Dmitry Kouzov, to join me in these amazing sounding pieces. Even more important to me is the chance to have the graduating students from my first admitted class joining me on the stage. These are four remarkable young women with such powerful and distinct musical voices, and it will be a privilege to have them play with us." Adkins joined the Oberlin faculty in 2003.

"We all lead busy lives in Oberlin," says Adkins. "It is too rare that we can come together and make music with and for each other. I'm thankful that all of these great artists have agreed to spend so much of their time – which is already spoken for in so many ways – with me and these pieces." Oberlin's Faculty Chamber Series presents two concerts each year highlighting the talents of the Conservatory's artist/educators.

Warner Concert Hall is wheelchair accessible and located inside the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, 77 West College Street, Oberlin, Ohio. Free parking is available throughout the campus. For more information, call the Conservatory's 24-hour Concert Hotline: 440-775-6933, or visit www.oberlin.edu.

The Oberlin Conservatory of Music, founded in 1865 and situated amid the intellectual vitality of Oberlin College since 1867, is the oldest continuously operating conservatory in the United States. The Conservatory is internationally renowned as a professional music school of the highest caliber and has been pronounced a "national treasure" by the Washington Post . Oberlin alumni have gone on to achieve illustrious careers in all aspects of the serious music world. Many of them have attained stature as solo performers, composers, and conductors, among them Jennifer Koh, Steven Isserlis, Denyce Graves, Franco Farina, Christopher Robertson, Lisa Saffer, George Walker, Christopher Rouse, David Zinman, and Robert Spano. All of the members of the contemporary sextet eighth blackbird, which recently won a Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance; most of the members of the International Contemporary Ensemble; and many of the members of Apollo's Fire are Oberlin alumni. The Miró, Pacifica, Juilliard, and Fry Street quartets, among other chamber ensembles, include Oberlin-trained musicians, as do major orchestras and opera companies throughout the world.

CALENDAR LISTING:

Sunday, February 24, 2008, 4 p.m.

Warner Concert Hall
Oberlin Conservatory of Music

OBERLIN FACULTY CHAMBER SERIES SPRING CONCERT
Darrett Adkins, cello
Angela Cheng, piano
David Bowlin, violin
Marilyn McDonald, violin
Karen Ritscher, viola
Amir Eldan, cello
Catharina Meints, cello
Dmitry Kouzov, cello
Gabrielle Athayde, cello
Rachel Desoer, cello
Gwendolyn Krosnick, cello
Catherine Smith, cello
Tony Arnold, soprano

BEETHOVEN
Sonata No. 1 in C Major, Op. 102, for Cello and Piano                  
SCHUBERT
String Quintet in C Major
VILLA LOBOS
Bachianas Brasileiras Nos. 1 and 5

FREE

THE OBERLIN CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC
77 WEST COLLEGE STREET - OBERLIN, OHIO 44074

24-HOUR CONCERT HOTLINE: 440-775-6933
WWW.OBERLIN.EDU/CON