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SEVEN CONCERTO COMPETITION WINNERS
ANNOUNCED
IN THE FIFTH WEEK of every fall semester,
Conservatory seniors and artist diploma students
compete for a few hotly contested spots on the
Oberlin Orchestra's concert roster. Seven students
were selected on October 10 from a pool of 23
finalists. This year's winners are soprano Angela
Baade, oboist Zheng Huang, cellist Christophor
Miroshnikov, violinists Esther Noh, Simon Papanas,
Claude Sim and pianist Matthew Quayle. The winners
will perform with the Oberlin Orchestra during the
1998-99 year.
The first performance involving a concerto
competition winner was November 13, when Matthew
Quayle played a concerto for piano and orchestra
with the Oberlin Chamber Orchestra. Other scheduled
performances include:
February 28 - Angela Baade, Alban
Berg's Seven Early Songs with the Oberlin
Orchestra
April 2 - Esther Noh, Brahms Violin
Concerto with the Oberlin Orchestra
April 9 - Christophor Miroshnikov,
Shostakovich's Cello Concerto with the Oberlin
Chamber Orchestra
April 25 - Claude Sim, Neilsen's
Violin Concerto with the Oberlin Orchestra
May 7 - Zheng Huang, Pasculli's
Oboe Concerto, and Simon Papanas, Paganini's Violin
Concerto with the Oberlin Chamber
Orchestra.
"There was a tremendous level of performance
from all of the finalists," said Jeffrey Irvine,
director of the strings division and one of the
concerto competition judges. "It was exciting and
impressive to hear how well the students played
this year. Choosing the seven finalists was a
difficult task"
According to the rules of the competition, final
decisions are made solely on the quality of the
performance and whether it reflects the highest
performance standards of the Conservatory.
"After many years of judging competitions I have
found that the winners somehow stand out from the
rest," said Gerald Crawford, director of the voice
division and a member of the jury. "It is a
combination of outstanding technical ability,
musicianship and interpretation that all come
together in the moment of their performance. I'm
sure there were other finalists who could have
performed equally well under different
circumstances, but the seven winners definitely had
it all in that moment. All of the judges were in
consensus about all seven winners."
The competition jury is composed of one faculty
member from each performance division, the
orchestra conductor, one faculty member from a
non-performance major, and an invited adjudicator.
Teachers of finalists are not eligible to serve on
the judging committee. The number of possible
winners is determined by Paul Polivnick, conductor
of the orchestra, according to his choice of
repertoire for the season.
PIANIST THOMAS ROSENKRANZ WINS FIRST
PRIZE, MTNA EASTERN CENTRAL DIVISION
THOMAS ROSENKRANZ, senior piano major from San
Diego, Calif., won first prize in the Music
Teachers National Association (MTNA) Eastern
Central Division, collegiate competition, held in
January at Capital University, Columbus, Ohio. He
will compete in the national competition in Los
Angles in late March.
For the competition, Rosenkranz performed
Scriabin's 5th piano sonata, Liszt's Fantasie and
Fugue on the theme B-A-C-H, Haydn's sonata #55, and
a Corigliano piano concerto.
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Thomas Rosenkranz
goes on tour in April. Photo: Ramon
Owens
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In April, Rosenkranz will go on tour with four
concerts in the Fairfield public schools in
Connecticut, and he'll present a concert with Con
senior, violinist Esther Noh, in Houston, Texas.
They'll perform pieces by Bolcom, Schumann,
Messiaen and John Adams.
At the Conservatory, Rosenkranz studies with
Robert Shannon, professor of pianoforte, who says
of his work, "Thomas is an ambitious young pianist
with an exciting temperament and a special affinity
for contemporary music. He's growing fast and it's
a pleasure to watch."
RUO HUANG AWARDED GRAND PRIZE AT
EUROPEAN INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION FOR
COMPOSERS
RUO HUANG, a junior working toward a double
major in composition and music theory, was awarded
Grand Prize in Composition, VI Level Award, at the
European International Competition for Composers,
held last summer in Ragusa-Ilba, Italy. Huang's
works judged for the competition included "SI WAY-
- -Four Dimensions" (for three piccolos and
conductor), and "If To Live, To" (for cello
solo).
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Huang, a native of China, is the son of an
acclaimed composer (father) and doctor (mother). By
the age of five, he was studying piano and creating
new compositions. Huang studied composition with
his mentor Deng Erbo at the Middle School, Shanghai
Conservatory of Music. He wrote his first symphonic
work at age 15 - "Expression & Imagination" - a
piece that was performed in 1995 by the Shanghai
Youth Orchestra at The Spring Festival of
Shanghai.
At Oberlin, Huang studies with Randolph Coleman
and Benedict Weisser. Weisser said of his work,
"Ruo is that delightful and rare combination of
great talent, discipline and intensity. I find his
intensity especially remarkable. In my experience
as his teacher he has never failed to absorb and
fully engage himself in the ideas he's presented
with. He does so creatively, with curiosity and
purpose. In addition, he always brings a fresh
approach so that my perceptions are newly colored
as well. He is entirely a pleasure to work with,
and he is most deserving of this honor in all
respects."
In 1995, Huang was honored with The Henry
Mancini Fellowship from the International Film and
Music Festival in Switzerland. A CD recording of
"If To Live, To" performed by Oberlin alumni
Alexander Waterman '98, was featured in the March
1998, issue of Layers Magazine. And "SI WAY
- - - Four Dimensions" received its Canadian
premiere in November 1998, at the "Forum 98
Festival" in Montreal, Canada.
JAZZ SEPTET RECEIVES SUPERIOR RATING AT
1998 FORD MONTREUX DETROIT JAZZ
FESTIVAL
WHEN THE OBERLIN JAZZ Septet took to the stage
at the Ford Montreux Detroit Jazz Festival in
September, it received a superior rating from the
judges, scoring 90 out of a possible 90. Three
members of the ensemble, all seniors, were honored
with musicianship awards: Kevin Louis (New
Orleans), on trumpet; Burny Pelsmajer (Cleveland
Heights) on baritone, tenor and soprano saxophones;
and Micha Patri (San Francisco) on drums. Other
members of the septet are senior Allan Baker
(Cleveland) on keyboards; senior Joseph Freidman
(St. Louis) on guitar; and sophomore Matt Mueller
(Lansing) on double bass.
Codirected by Peter Dominguez, associate
professor of jazz studies, and Neal Creque, teacher
of jazz piano, the septet offered two sets at the
Kowalski Riverfront Deli and Café stage,
performing original compositions and arrangements
created by Creque and group members.
"These guys hail from music centers all over the
U.S.," said Dominguez. "Individually, they spent
the summer playing all over the country, and then
they came together for this festival. The Ford
Montreux festival was a terrific venue, made all
the more special because this festival rarely
considers student groups from outside the state of
Michigan."
HUGH RUSSELL AND CAROLYN BETTY WIN AT
GREAT LAKES REGION MET AUDITIONS
TWO CONSERVATORY STUDENTS took second and third
place honors at the Great Lakes Region Metropolitan
Opera Auditions held in December at Buffalo State
College's Rockwell Hall. Hugh Russell (Manitoba,
Canada), a first-year artist diploma student
studying with Richard Miller, was awarded a second
place honor. Senior Carolyn Betty (Wilmington,
Del.), a student of Daune Mahy, placed third. Both
received cash awards for their performances.
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Nine singers participated in the regional
competition, with three finalists each from the
Montreal, Detroit and Cleveland districts. The
competition required that each singer select one of
five prepared arias to sing, after which the judges
asked for an additional aria. Russell began with
"Bella siccome un angelo" from Donizetti's Don
Pasquale. The judges then asked him to sing "Warm
as the autumn light" from Gerald Moore's American
opera, The Ballad of Baby Doe.
Betty opened with the "Garden" aria from
Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti. "Then the judges
asked me to sing two more arias: 'Porgi Amor' from
Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, and 'Adieu Fort' from
Tchaikovsky's Joan of Arc." said Betty. "I was the
only one who had to sing three arias. The first
aria I sang is relatively light. I think they
wanted to hear me sing some heavier stuff."
Following the competition, all singers met with
the judges for performance feedback. Betty
described the judges' comments as encouraging and
constructive. "Most often they told us to take our
time &emdash; to not sing the heavier repertoire
too soon."
Betty's teacher, Daune Mahy, professor of
singing, agreed with the judges' assessments.
"Choice of repertoire is always a problem with a
voice like Carolyn's. She has been working on the
lyric mezzo repertoire and is moving into soprano
repertoire, and I want to make sure she is
comfortable singing it. I would encourage her to do
the competition again but I don't want her to win
too soon. A singer has to be ready to take
advantage of winning a competition like that."
Senior Marie Lenormand from Fontenay sur Vegre,
France, was also a winner in the District Met
Competition, held in October at the Cleveland
Institute of Music. She also sang in the regional
competition. She opened with"Cruda Sorte" from
Rossini's 'L'Italiana in Algieri, and Stephano's
aria from Gounod's Roméo et Juliette.
ZHENG HUANG NAMED MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE
WEST CONCERTO WINNER
"IT IS NOT A HUGE stretch to imagine him as the
first oboist to forge a legitimate and
international solo career." That's how Greg
Hettmansberger, reviewer with the Santa Barbara
News-Press, described Con senior Zheng Huang's
August performance at the Music Academy of the West
festival in Santa Barbara.
During the festival, Huang was named one of six
Music Academy Concerto winners. Each winner
received a $500 cash award and a soloist turn with
the Festival Orchestra, conducted by Thomas
Sanderling. The concert and awards were made
possible by a gift from the Myers Family
Foundation. Festival literature describes audiences
as enthusiastic for both the open dress rehearsal
and the sold-out evening performance.
At Oberlin, Huang studies with James Caldwell,
professor of oboe. Caldwell said of Huang, "He
arrived having been so well prepared by his earlier
training and he was so driven to excel that it was
only a matter of finding a sort of wavelength. He
never takes an opportunity for granted. And he's
developed a wonderful sense of humor, which is
terribly important in this world. Oh how I love
having students like that."
VIOLINIST BIN LU HIRED BY NEW YORK CITY
BALLET
FROM A POOL of 160 applicants, violinist Bin Lu,
a first year artist diploma student, has been
selected to become a member of the New York City
Ballet Orchestra. "It was very competitive so there
was a lot of pressure," Lu said. "But my friends
were very supportive. They gave me a lot of hope.
Other than that, I just practiced a lot."
Lu studies with Marilyn McDonald, professor of
violin, who said of his work, "I consider Bin a
true Oberlin success story. He took advantage of
the rich musical atmosphere here and really availed
himself of the opportunities. He wasn't shy about
asking for help."
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Bin Lu takes a
breather by the Conservatory pool before
heading to the New York City Ballet.
Photo: Ramon Owens
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"Thirteen Ways," a piece written
especially for them by Matt's father,
Thomas Albert, based on the Wallace
Stevens poem from which the group takes
its name: "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a
Blackbird." Allan Kozinn wrote in his
November 23, New York Times review,
"The group's principal assets are the
players' highly polished techniques and
evident depth of feeling for a variety of
contemporary styles, as well as a
sartorial casualness and open manner that
recalled the spirit of Tashi's early
performances in the mid-1970s." Kozinn
also wrote a January 4 follow-up feature
in The New York Times entitled
"High-Wire Act Of Playing From
Memory."