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Musical Union requires audition

By Laren Rusin

 

Musical Union has changed its structure this semester in order to accomodate a special benefit concert, and there are mixed feelings about the change. The concert, directed by guest conductor Robert Shaw, is being held in November as a memorial to Robert Fountain, a former director of Musical Union (MU) and other campus choirs.

auditions

The concert is being held to benefit a scholarship, in Fountain's name, started by the Conservatory. Fountain was a past director of choirs at Oberlin, and was "famous, well-known and well-loved," said Ed MacLary, current director of MU.

In the past anyone was allowed to sign up for Musical Union as a class and receive credit. It was an opportunity for College and Conservatory students and residents of Oberlin to sing together. This semester, MU is open only by audition, but will return to its original structure next semester.

"At first I was opposed to the idea of [MU] being open only by audition," said Karen Thatcher, Conservatory senior and one of the section leaders. "It made sense, though, that we wanted a really good choir to work with this caliber conductor."

"Traditionally," MacLary said, "everyone's invited to sing." While the size of MU fluctuates between 125 and 200 people, this semester's ensemble will number about 170, as MU has joined with the College Choir, an ensemble consistenetly open only by audition, to form a well-balanced and well-distributed group of voices for the concert.

There's still a variety of people in the group &emdash;college and Conservatory students and town residents all take part this semester. But there are predominantly Conservatory students, about 75 percent, which some college students find unfair.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime event here," said MacLary of the concert, who said Shaw is 80 years old and doubts he will return to Oberlin after this.

"Shaw is known as the greatest choral director ever, and he agreed to do this benefit concert," MacLary said. He said the purpose of MU's structural change this year was not to be exclusive but to "put together the best possible ensemble for the event."

The College Choir and the now-defunct Tappan Singers had the opportunity to work with Shaw in 1995 when they joined three of his choirs and performed at Carnegie Hall with the Cleveland Orchestra. "Shaw sets really high standards and doesn't take any less," said Thatcher, who went to New York last spring with the choirs.

The change in structure has affected the mood of MU. "It's got a different feel," Kristofer Johnson, a conservatory junior, said. "Everyone feels how talented the choir is, how good the performance is going to be. It's more work-oriented." He thinks the fuss about the auditions is"silly".

Beth O'Brien, a College sophomore, disagrees with the change. She said she was rejected from every glee club and choir in high school. When she joined MU last semester, she was "really excited. It was [her] chance to be a star." But when she found out that MU was auditioning this semester, she figured she didn't have a chance at getting in. She doubts she will be in MU again, regardless of whether the group is open to everyone or not.


Photo:

Ch-ch-ch-Chnages: Musical Union required auditions and merged with College Choir in anticipation of Robert Shaw's guest conducting. The group returns to normal formal spring semester (photo by photo by Chrisitna Rudden)

 


 

Oberlin

Copyright ©1996, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 125, Number 3 September 20, 1996
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