Oberlin Musical Union to present Carmina Burana

The Oberlin Musical Union, under the direction of Miguel Felipe, will perform Carl Orff's landmark piece, Carmina Burana, on Sunday, December 5^th at Finney Chapel in Oberlin at 8 pm.

The concert also includes the Oberlin Choristers, conducted by Kathleen Plank. It will feature nearly 200 singers, including student soloists and two guest soloists: distinguished alumni Peter Tantsits ’01 (tenor) and Hugh Russell ‘00 (baritone). The choir will be accompanied by the Orff-sanctioned chamber instrumentation of two pianos and percussion, featuring students from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. The concert is dedicated to the 12-year tenure of Oberlin's last Director of Choral Ensembles, Dr. Hugh F. Floyd. Admission is free.

Finney Chapel

90 North Professor Street

Oberlin, OH 44074

New York Gypsy All-Stars Band at The Cat in the Cream

The New York Gypsy All-Stars band will bring their unique blend of jazz-inflected Gypsy music to Oberlin College’s Cat in The Cream coffeehouse on Thursday, December 2 at 8 pm. Admission is free.

Time Out New York calls clarinetist and bandleader Ismail Lumanovski “an adventurous, modern-minded frontman, who leads his band through a varied terrain of Balkan, Turkish and Romani selections, spiked with jazz and Western styles.”

Their music is rooted in the rich cultural background of its members, including the use of traditional instruments like the kanun (a 79-string plucked zither) and doumbek (an hourglass-shaped hand drum). Packed with playful improvisation and infectious dance rhythms, their music draws in equal measure from the group’s Eastern European heritage as well as Western jazz, rock, and funk music.

The Cat in The Cream

180 West Lorain Street

Oberlin, OH 44074

Comedian Aaron Mucciolo '02

Aaron Mucciolo '02 is now a member of the house improv comedy teams at Big Dog Theater in Coventry. The short-form team (a la 'Whose Line is it Anyway?') will have a preview performance at the Powerhouse Pub on December 11th with two sets of improv starting at 8pm. Tickets (just $5) are available at bigdogtheater.com.

Powerhouse Pub
2000 Sycamore Street
Cleveland, OH 44113
(216) 861-4982

The Oberlin Conservatory Collaborates With The Cleveland Museum of Art

Oberlin's Collegium Musicum celebrates new museum exhibit and gallery renovations with a free concert in The Cleveland Museum of Art's rotunda on Wednesday, December 8, at 7:30 pm.

In celebration of the "Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics, and Devotion in Medieval Europe" exhibition and newly reopened medieval galleries, Oberlin Conservatory's 40-voice student ensemble Collegium Musicum sings in the rotunda on December 8.

Founded in the early 1960's, Collegium Musicum specializes in the performance of medieval, renaissance, and early baroque music, and is celebrating its 12th year under the direction of Steven Plank.

The ensemble has performed Mass and motet settings by Byrd, Tallis, Fayrfax, Monteverdi, Victoria, Lasso, Schuetz, and Palestrina, and recently presented concerts in Washington, D.C., and at Kenyon College in addition to performing frequently at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

The event is free and open to the public, and tickets are not required. Click here for further information.

The Cleveland Museum of Art
11150 East Boulevard
Cleveland, OH 44106

Pictures from the Annual Fall Potluck

Thank you to everyone who came to the potluck on November 20th! A big thank you especially to our host, Maureen Mullin '80. There was great food, great company and great conversation!

Cleveland Orchestra Fridays@7

Join the Cleveland Orchestra for part of their popular Fridays@7 concert series on Friday, December 3rd! The Fridays@7 series continues with a program featuring Mahler's explosive and cathartic First Symphony, nicknamed "Titan." After the concert, there’s more . . . food, drink, and different sounds, with a unique Fridays@7 world music presentation. In addition to the "Titan", the Cleveland Orchestra will also be performing Otto Nicolai's Overture to The Merry Wives of Windsor. The entire concert should last no more than an hour.

The Oberlin Club of Cleveland is being offered a special deal of $30 tickets (orchestra-level seating) plus a FREE drink. The drink coupon can be used at Severance Hall during the pre or post-concert portion of the night. Drink tickets will be distributed with each ticket purchased (either by mail or at will call).

DATE:
Friday, December 3rd

TIME:
5:00PM

LOCATION:
Severance Hall
11001 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, OH
Directions: www.clevelandorchestra.com

The Cleveland Orchestra includes over seven Obies (Scott Dixon ’02, bassist; Mary Katherine Fink ’83, flute/piccolo; Paul Kushious ’83, cellist; Michael Mayhew ’92, associate principal horn player; Donald Miller ’72, percussionist; Trina Struble ’91, principal harpist), including James Feddeck '05, Assistant Conductor and recent winner of the Outstanding Young Alumni Award.

The program for the evening is as follows:

@5:00 PM: Severance Hall doors open for libations, creative cuisine, and Indian classical music with Steve Gorn and Hom Nath Upadhyaya.

@7:00 PM: The orchestra performs. There's no intermission. It's straight-through like a movie. Exciting and to the point.

@8:15 PM (or so): Stay for an after-party in Severance Hall's gorgeous Grand Foyer complete with food, drinks, and the jazz-inflected Turkish sounds of the New York Gypsy All-Stars!

@10 PM: Head to Happy Dog (located at 5801 Detroit Ave in the Gordon Square district) for a show with Bill Fox and the Tadpoles. Happy Dog is waiving the cover charge for anyone coming from the Orchestra concert!

Order your tickets NOW! Redeem this offer by using promo code 8801. You have a variety of options for ordering tickets - Visit clevelandorchestra.com and print the tickets at home! Or call 216-231-1111 or visit the Severance Hall Ticket Office in person, at 11001 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH. Ticket Office Hours are Weekdays 9am-6pm and Saturday 10am to 6pm.

Please register online at www.alumni.oberlin.edu/eventregistration to let us know you’ll be joining us!

Author Sid Comings '69

Sid Comings '69 will discuss his new book, Oddments: Tales of a Legacy Student, on Thursday, December 2 at 8pm at Slow Train Cafe, in Oberlin.

Sid will talk about his experiences growing up in Oberlin, attending the College, and continuing to live in Oberlin. His family has been a part of Oberlin since nearly the beginning, so Sid will also discuss some of the town's history and his family's involvement in the town (including the establishment of the Comings Bookstore, now the Oberlin Bookstore).

Slow Train Cafe
55 East College Street
Oberlin, OH 44074

Opera Cleveland presents Pagliacci & La voix humaine

Opera Cleveland’s final production of the 2010 season, a double bill of Ruggero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci and Francis Poulenc’s La voix humaine, opens on Thursday, November 11 at 7:30 pm at Playhouse Square. A number of Obies are involved in the production, including Kira McGirr '06 (me!), women's chorus; Patrick Wickliffe '05, Assistant Chorus Master; and Charles Griffith '60, cello.

A visceral meeting of two Italian and French extremes. Pagliacci presents a “bleeding slice of life,” a verismo tour-de-force fraught with lurid, emotional turmoil. In La voix humaine, the torment and despair of a jilted lover emerges in an enthralling monologue.

Performances continue on Saturday, November 13, 2010 at 8:00 pm and Sunday, November 14, 2010 at 2:00 pm. Visit http://www.operacleveland.org/ for more information about the opera, dates, and to purchase tickets. Opera Cleveland is now offering 50% off Section A & B tickets - use code PAG when you purchase. $15 Student Rush tickets are also available, with a valid Student ID. Use code RUSH. Must show ID at pick-up.

Opera Cleveland

State Theatre

Playhouse Square

1501 Euclid Avenue

Cleveland, OH 44115

The Oberlin Conservatory of Music Collaborates with the Cleveland Museum of Art

Music of David Lang directed by Timothy Weiss with the Contemporary Music Ensemble on Saturday, November 13, at 2:00 p.m., in Gartner Auditorium at The Cleveland Museum of Art.

One of the finest American chamber ensembles dedicated to concert music of the 20th and 21st century is right here in Northeast Ohio. Under the direction of Tim Weiss, the Oberlin CME presents highest-level performances of the classical music of our time in programs that are consistently thrilling, thought-provoking, and engaging.

Weiss turns his spotlight on Pulitzer prize winner David Lang in a composer portrait featuring "Cheating, Lying, Stealing" and "The Little Match Girl Passion," among other works. Lang will be in attendance to discuss his work throughout the concert.

Click here for further information and to reserve your free ticket.

The Cleveland Museum of Art

11150 East Boulevard

Cleveland, OH 44106

FLY: Five First Ladies of Dance

The Oberlin Theater and Dance Department presents a rare opportunity to see five, forever-young first ladies of dance when Germaine Acogny, Carmen de Lavallade, Dianne McIntyre, Bebe Miller, and Jawole Willa Jo Zollar each take the stage to perform a solo work. These groundbreaking dancer/choreographers have shaped the history of contemporary dance as they have continued to raise the artistic bar and inspire the dance world. Their span of work can be measured in decades, but their influence can be measured one dancer at a time. This production is co-produced with DANCECleveland.

Performances are Friday, December 3 and Saturday, December 4 at 8 p.m. in Hall Auditorium. Tickets may be purchased by contacting Central Ticket Service at 440.775.8169.

Hall Auditorium

67 North Main Street

Oberlin, OH 44074

Oberlin Opera Theater presents The Bartered Bride

A comic opera in three acts by Bedřich Smetana, with a libretto by Karel Sabina, directed by Jonathon Field, Associate Professor of Opera Theater and guest conducted by Christopher Larkin.

Are ambitious parents and manipulative marriage brokers any match for young, determined love? This comic tale by Czech composer Bedřich Smetana puts traditional folk dances in this story of his people. Marzenka, the daughter of rich peasants, is in love with Jenik, but her parents have arranged a marriage for her and the foppish Vasek. Employing all manner of clever tricks and hilarious miscommunications, Jenik strives against all odds to gain Marzenka’s hand in marriage. Set in a small Czech town with authentic costumes, with its enduring and classic message of true love's resilience, The Bartered Bride will charm the hearts of opera and music fans.

Performances are Wednesday, November 17; Friday, November 19; and Saturday, November 20 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, November 21 at 2 p.m. Tickets may be purchased by contacting Central Ticket Service at 440.775.8169.

Hall Auditorium

67 North Main Street

Oberlin, OH 44074

Faculty Author Lynn Powell to Read at the Oberlin Bookstore

Join faculty author Lynn Powell, author of Framing Innocence: A Mother's Photographs, a Prosecutor's Zeal, and a Small Town's Response for a reading, book signing and refreshments at the Oberlin Bookstore on Saturday, November 13 from 3:30-5pm.

Framing Innocence is a beautifully told true story that plumbs the perfect storm of events and people that threatened a loving family here in Oberlin. Featuring a determined prosecutor, a fundamentalist Christian anti-porn crusader, the family that finds itself under siege, the local attorneys for whom the case would become a crucible, and the many neighbors - friends and strangers, Republican and Democrat - who come together to fight for sanity and for justice, Framing Innocence is as riveting as it is memorable.

Ten years ago, amateur photographer and school bus driver Cynthia Stewart dropped off eleven rolls of film at a drugstore near her home in Oberlin, OH. The rolls contained photographs of her eight-year-old daughter Nora, including two of the child in the shower—photos that would cause the county prosecutor to arrest Cynthia, take her away in handcuffs, threaten to remove her daughter from her home, and charge her with crimes that carried the possibility of sixteen years in prison.

The disturbing case would ultimately attract national attention—including stories in USA Today and on NPR—and supporters including the famed photographer Sally Mann, Katha Pollitt, and the ACLU.

Lynn Powell is a visiting professor in the Creative Writing Program, teaching the Nonfiction Workshop. She is the author of two books of poetry, Old & New Testaments and The Zones of Paradise, and has been awarded fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ohio Arts Council.

Oberlin Bookstore

37 West College Street

Oberlin, OH 44074

440.774.7722

Fall Forward with the Oberlin Dance Department

The Oberlin Theater and Dance Department present their Annual Dance Performance “Fall Forward” on Thursday, November 11; Friday, November 12 and Saturday, November 13, all at 8pm, in Warner Main Space.

Fall Forward features select works created by Oberlin Faculty and Students. The program includes a new duet by Elesa Rosasco with music by Tom Lopez, Associate Professor of Computer Music and Digital Arts, and a dance/theater piece created by poet Esther Dischereit, guest of the German department and Holly Handman, Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance. This piece was inspired by an installation Esther Dischereit created in Western Germany honoring the former Jewish inhabitants.

Tickets are $3 in advance and $5 at the door. They may be purchased by contacting Central Ticket Service at 440.775.8169

Warner Main Space

Warner Center

30 North Professor Street

Oberlin, OH 44074-1097

Artist Recital Series and Convocation Series

Artist Recital Series – Organist Olivier Latry

Hailed for his “consummate artistry” and “elegant virtuosity,” Notre Dame's titular organist Olivier Latry plays it all. A self-proclaimed ambassador of 17th- to 21st-century music, Latry is not only recognized as one of the world's leading performers of traditional organ music—particularly Messaien—he also dazzles audiences worldwide with the music of his contemporaries. A devoted improviser, Latry has garnered a reputation as one of the world's top “improvisateurs” in the French tradition. He will lend his signature prowess to Finney Chapel's Kay Africa Memorial Organ, built by C.B. Fisk, Inc.

The concert takes place on Tuesday, November 9 at 8pm in Finney Chapel. Tickets may be purchased by contacting Central Ticket Service at 440.775.8169

Finney Chapel
90 North Professor Street
Oberlin, OH 44074

Convocation Series – Christine Todd Whitman

Former New Jersey governor and EPA administrator Christine Todd Whitman is president of the Whitman Strategy Group, a consulting firm that specializes in energy and environmental issues. With U.S. Senator John Danforth, she cofounded the Republican Leadership Council to support fiscally conservative, socially tolerant candidates and to reclaim the word “republican.” Author of the New York Times bestseller It’s My Party Too, Whitman earned bipartisan praise as governor for her commitment to preserve a record amount of New Jersey land as green space. In her tenure at the EPA, the agency established the first federal program to promote redevelopment and reuse of previously contaminated industrial sites known as brownfields. Today, she serves on the board of directors of several nonprofits and corporations.

The convocation takes place on Thursday, November 11 at 7:30 pm in Finney Chapel. No tickets are required.

Finney Chapel
90 North Professor Street
Oberlin, OH 44074

Oberlin Conservatory Alumna to Present Percussion Performance

On Sunday, November 7 at 8pm, Bonnie Whiting Smith ‘03 will present a guest percussion performance in Conservatory Central Room 25. Admission is free.

Bonnie Whiting Smith explores the flexible boundaries between music and other disciplines, focusing specifically on music for vocalizing percussionist. Current projects include a solo simultaneous realization of all of John Cage’s 45’ for a Speaker and 27’10.554” for a percussionist and work with red fish blue fish, the Seattle Percussion Collective, and percussionist Allen Otte. Bonnie spent three years with Tales & Scales, a quartet combining new music, dance, and theater for family audiences, giving over 400 performances in 25 states and appearing with the Dallas, Oregon, Indianapolis, Buffalo, and Louisville orchestras. She has played at the Kravis Center, the Oberlin Percussion Institute, with the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra in Switzerland under the direction of Pierre Boulez, and traveled to perform in New Zealand, Italy, Canada, and Panama. Bonnie has premiered music by Jerome Kitzke, Randall Woolf, John Luther Adams, and Michael Pisaro, worked with Frederic Rzewski and Steve Reich, and she champions the music of her peers. Bonnie attended Oberlin Conservatory, Interlochen Arts Academy, and University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music.

She is a doctoral student in Contemporary Music Performance at the University of California, San Diego and principal percussionist of the La Jolla Symphony Orchestra. www.bonniewhitingsmith.com

Oberlin Conservatory of Music

Central Unit, Room 25

77 West College Street

Oberlin, OH 44074

Oberlin Club of Cleveland Annual Fall Potluck hosted by Maureen Mullin '80!

The Oberlin Club of Cleveland invites you to join fellow Cleveland area Obies for our annual fall potluck!

Maureen Mullin '80, has been kind enough to open her house to us again this year.

DATE:
Saturday, November 20th

TIME:
7:00PM

LOCATION:
Home of Maureen Mullin '80
3007 Berkshire Road
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118

As usual, spouses, partners, family and friends are all welcome.

Please bring a beverage (alcoholic or non) to share, and based on the letter of your last name, please bring:

A-L: main dish (meat or vegetarian)
M-R: dessert
S-Z: side dish/appetizer

Paper products and some beverages will be provided. We look forward to seeing you there! If you have any questions, please contact me at kmcgirr@gmail.com.

RSVP by Wednesday, November 17 by contacting the Alumni Office at 440.775.8692

Erik Inglis '89 to lecture at The Cleveland Art Museum

Please note that the time for Erik's lecture has now changed to 6:30 pm.

Erik Inglis '89, Associate Professor of Art History at Oberlin College, will present the annual Julius Fund Lecture in Medieval Art on Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 6:30 pm in the Recital Hall in The Cleveland Museum of Art with the topic, "Objects of Memory: The Later Medieval Reception of Earlier Medieval Art."

The Cleveland Museum of Art
11150 East Boulevard
Cleveland, OH 44106

Artist Recital Series - The Jasper String Quartet

Oops - I made a slight mistake in the newsletter. The Jasper String Quartet will be performing on Tuesday, October 19 at 8pm in Finney Chapel. My apologies for the error!

Formed at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 2003 and rapidly gaining a worldwide reputation as one of the top young quartets, the Jasper String Quartet features J Freivogel '06, Sam Qunital '06, Rachel Henderson Freivogel '06, and violinist Sae Niwa. Since their time at Oberlin, these rising stars have garnered some of the most illustrious prizes in the chamber music world - including a silver medal at the 2009 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. Most recently a graduate quartet-in-residence at the Yale School of Music, the group beings a residency at Oberlin this fall, teaching and coaching chamber ensembles throughout the year.

Their concert in Oberlin is on Tuesday, October 19 at 8pm in Finney Chapel, featuring works by Schubert, Kernis, and Beethoven. Tickets are required and may be purchased by contacting Central Ticket Service at 440.775.8169.

Finney Chapel
90 North Professor Street
Oberlin, OH 44074

Oberlin Shansi Fellowships

From Merrybelle Guo, Campus Coordinator at Oberlin Shansi:

If you are unfamiliar with Shansi, our mission is to encourage understanding and communication between Asians and Americans through educational and community initiatives. We offer our Fellowships to graduating seniors and alumni who have graduated from Oberlin within the last three years of their application.

Selected Fellows spend two years teaching or working with one of our partner institutions in China, India, Indonesia and Japan. Along with stipends, paid airfare, insurance and several other benefits, Fellows are also given time and money to travel during their breaks.

These Fellowships are truly wonderful and exciting opportunities for Oberlin graduates interested in genuine exchange in Asia. If you are interested, please free to contact me at mguo@oberlin.edu, or our Associate Director Deborah Cocco (deborah.cocco@oberlin.edu) or our Returned Fellow Anne Lowe, who has just finished two years in China, (anne.lowe@oberlin.edu). Please note that the deadline for fellowship applications is November 1 at 4:30pm.

More information about Oberlin Shansi can be found here.

Lisa Tracy '67 book reading and signing

Join Lisa Tracy '67, author of Objects of Our Affection: Uncovering My Family's Past, One Chair, Pistol, and Pickle Fork at a Time, at the Oberlin Bookstore for a book reading, signing and refreshments, on Saturday, September 25, from 1:30-3pm.

After their mother’s death, Lisa Tracy and her sister Jeanne were left with several households’ worth of belongings. After 10 years of paying storage fees, the sisters reluctantly decided to take them to auction. The result is a captivating personal memoir that captures why Americans are so obsessed with our things—and why we find it so difficult to let go.

In Objects of Our Affection: Uncovering My Family’s Past, One Chair, Pistol, and Pickle Fork at a Time (A Bantam Hardcover; March 23, 2010), Lisa Tracy invites us into the rich history of a military family characterized by duty, hardship, honor, and devotion—qualities embodied in the very items she chronicles. Here she shares with us a collection unlike any other: silver gewgaws, mismatched cake plates, silk tapestries, dueling pistols that once belonged to Aaron Burr (no, not those pistols), a stately storage chest from Boxer Rebellion–era China, even a chair in which George Washington may or may not have sat. Dating back to the American Revolution, the furniture and other artifacts Tracy lovingly describes were collected over the course of centuries by ancestors posted all over the globe, cherished and passed down to her generation as an emblem of who her forebears were, what they had done, and where they had been.

A paean to the pack rat in us all, Objects of Our Affection offers an offbeat and intriguing mix of cultural anthropology, Antiques Roadshow Americana, and military history. In this engaging and deeply moving book, Tracy chronicles the wondrous interior life of those possessions and discovers that the roots of Americans’ passion for acquisition often lie not in shallow materialism but in our innermost desire to possess the most treasured commodity of all: a connection to our past.

Oberlin Bookstore
37 West College Street
Oberlin, OH 44074
440.774.7722

OBIEAdventures Colorado Canoeing Trip August 2010

Charles (my dear husband) '91/'92 and I were fortunate enough to participate in the recent OBIEAdventure trip to Colorado to go canoeing on the Colorado River with other Obies. We had an absolutely amazing time, and hope to go again on a future trip.

To encourage you to think about going sometime, a few photos!

Sorry for the poor formatting!

Obies Night Out at the Market Avenue Wine Bar

A very late picture, but better late than never! We had a fantastic time at the Wine Bar. Good food, great wine and even better conversation! We had a fantastic mix of alumni years - it was wonderful to meet everyone!

Winter Term 2011

OFFER AN OBERLIN STUDENT A WINTER TERM INTERNSHIP OR TEMPORARY HOUSING
Sponsored by the Office of Career Services

Please consider offering a Winter Term internship to a current Oberlin student. A Winter Term internship (during the month of January) presents an opportunity for you to share information about your profession, provide mentoring, and offer exposure to an career field of interest. In return you will have a motivated assistant to help out with substantive projects for a month!

Since many students complete Winter Term internships away from home, there is also a great need for temporary housing for students during the month of January. Housing opportunities with alumni have made it possible for many students to have access to internships that would not otherwise have been financially feasible. If you are interested in providing housing for an Oberlin student during Winter Term, please indicate this in your OBIEweb profile.

Liz Lierman, Associate Director in the Office of Career Services, and Jonas Wisser, Departmental Technician, will support you through the internship or housing process and will be available to answer any questions that you may have about drafting an internship description, developing intern roles and responsibilities, and selecting an intern. Liz and Jonas can be reached at: internships@oberlin.edu or (440) 775-8060.

For more information about Oberlin's Winter Term internship program visit:
http://www.oberlin.edu/career/alumni/alum_wt_intern_about.html

For more information about temporary housing for students visit:
http://www.oberlin.edu/career/alumni/housing.html

To update your OBIEweb profile:
http://www.oberlin.edu/alumni/Default.html

Alumna Author Megan Snyder-Camp '99

Megan Snyder-Camp '99 will be reading from her first book of poetry, The Forest of Sure Things, at Visible Voice Books on Thursday, September 23 at 7:00pm. The Forest of Sure Things, a finalist for the Yale Younger Poets Prize, tells the story of a family whose daughter is the first child born in a hundred years in a remote Northwest village, and then traces the family's unraveling after the loss of their second child.

For more information, check out her website: www.snydercamp.com.

Come join us for a glass of wine on the patio following the reading!

Visible Voice Books
1023 Kenilworth
Cleveland, OH 44113
216.615.7571

Art Lectures featuring Oberlin Faculty

Please note that the time for Erik's lecture has now changed to 6:30pm.

Looking a bit ahead into the future, two Oberlin faculty members will be presenting art lectures at The Cleveland Museum of Art.

Erik Inglis, Associate Professor of Art History at Oberlin College, and 1989 graduate, will present the annual Julius Fund Lecture in Medieval Art on Wednesday, 20 October 2010, at 6:30 P.M. in the Recital Hall of The Cleveland Museum of Art with the topic, “Objects of Memory: The Later Medieval Reception of Earlier Medieval Art.”

Christina Neilson, Assistant Professor, Oberlin College, will give the annual Julius Fund Lecture in Renaissance Art at 6:00 P.M. on Wednesday, 17 March 2011 in the Recital Hall of The Cleveland Museum of Art, on the topic of, “A Harpy in the Workshop: Hybred Techniques for Awakening Statues in Renaissance Florentine Art.”

Welcome to the new Obies!

It's that time again...Classes start in Oberlin next Tuesday, and you can see signs of it everywhere! Freshman Orientation began yesterday and town has become full again, with so many Obies and their families on campus.

And with this comes a full Oberlin events calendar over the next few months! A few highlights follow! For complete information, you can always visit the Events Calendar.

The Artist Recital Series has a great line up again this year, as always. Click here for more information on performers and how to buy tickets.

The Convocation Series starts off with Dan Chaon and Ishmael Beah '04 on Tuesday, September 14 at 7:30 pm in Finney Chapel. No tickets are required. For more information on this particular convocation and the rest of the series, click here.

Lisa Tracy '67 Book reading and signing

Join Lisa Tracy '67, author of Objects of Our Affection: Uncovering My Family's Past, One Chair, Pistol, and Pickle Fork at a Time, at the Oberlin Bookstore for a book reading, signing and refreshments, on Saturday, September 25, from 1:30-3pm.

After their mother’s death, Lisa Tracy and her sister Jeanne were left with several households’ worth of belongings. After 10 years of paying storage fees, the sisters reluctantly decided to take them to auction. The result is a captivating personal memoir that captures why Americans are so obsessed with our things—and why we find it so difficult to let go.

In Objects of Our Affection: Uncovering My Family’s Past, One Chair, Pistol, and Pickle Fork at a Time (A Bantam Hardcover; March 23, 2010), Lisa Tracy invites us into the rich history of a military family characterized by duty, hardship, honor, and devotion—qualities embodied in the very items she chronicles. Here she shares with us a collection unlike any other: silver gewgaws, mismatched cake plates, silk tapestries, dueling pistols that once belonged to Aaron Burr (no, not those pistols), a stately storage chest from Boxer Rebellion–era China, even a chair in which George Washington may or may not have sat. Dating back to the American Revolution, the furniture and other artifacts Tracy lovingly describes were collected over the course of centuries by ancestors posted all over the globe, cherished and passed down to her generation as an emblem of who her forebears were, what they had done, and where they had been.

A paean to the pack rat in us all, Objects of Our Affection offers an offbeat and intriguing mix of cultural anthropology, Antiques Roadshow Americana, and military history. In this engaging and deeply moving book, Tracy chronicles the wondrous interior life of those possessions and discovers that the roots of Americans’ passion for acquisition often lie not in shallow materialism but in our innermost desire to possess the most treasured commodity of all: a connection to our past.

Oberlin Bookstore
37 West College Street
Oberlin, OH 44074
440.774.7722

Say Cheese!

Join Mariann Janosko '63 and her husband Jerry Onken at the Lake Erie Creamery as we tour their creamery and taste their wonderful cheeses, along with some local produce and bread. Mariann will also speak about the path that lead her from an English major to cheese making, and perhaps on her recent trip to Italy to learn how to make Italian cheeses. We will have an opportunity to also purchase the cheeses we taste. A wonderful event for Oberlin friends and family!

Lake Erie Creamery is a small urban creamery in the city of Cleveland, specializing in making artisan goat's milk cheese. Begun in 2006, the creamery occupies a corner of a redeveloped, multi-use building.

DATE:
Sunday, October 10th

TIME:
3:00 – 5:00 p.m.

LOCATION:
Lake Erie Creamery
3167 Fulton Road, Suite 109
Cleveland, Ohio 44109
216-961-9222
www.lakeeriecreamery.com/

Please bring your own glass & beverage to pair with the cheese - it can be anything from a local wine to a microbrew to a particularly tasty non-alcoholic drink!

COST:
The conversation and tour are free, but you’re responsible for your own drinks.

RSVP by contacting the Oberlin Alumni Office at 440-775-8692.

Faculty Author Lynn Powell

Lynn Powell, a visiting professor for the Creative Writing Program, is launching her new book, Framing Innocence, at a variety of events. It is out now in stores - a few weeks early! Many of you may well remember the events that Lynn writes about, as they happened between 1999-2000, right here in Oberlin

Ten years ago, amateur photographer and school bus driver Cynthia Stewart dropped off eleven rolls of film at a drugstore near her home in Oberlin, OH. The rolls contained photographs of her eight-year-old daughter Nora, including two of the child in the shower—photos that would cause the county prosecutor to arrest Cynthia, take her away in handcuffs, threaten to remove her daughter from her home, and charge her with crimes that carried the possibility of sixteen years in prison.

The disturbing case would ultimately attract national attention—including stories in USA Today and on NPR—and supporters including the famed photographer Sally Mann, Katha Pollitt, and the ACLU.

Written by poet Lynn Powell, a neighbor of Cynthia Stewart’s, this riveting and beautifully told story plumbs the perfect storm of events and people that threatened an ordinary family in a small American town - our very own Oberlin. Framing Innocence features a determined prosecutor; a fundamentalist Christian anti-porn crusader who is appointed as Cynthia’s daughter’s guardian; the local attorneys for whom the case would become a crucible; and the many neighbors—friends and strangers, Republican and Democrat— who come together to fight for sanity and for justice for Cynthia and her family.

Lynn Powell is the author of two books of poetry, Old & New Testaments and The Zones of Paradise, and has been awarded fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ohio Arts Council.

The book launch will be Monday, September 13, at 7:30, in the First Church Fellowship Hall in Oberlin. Lynn will read an excerpt from the book, Cynthia Stewart will speak briefly about the book, and Nora, the child at the center of the case, will speak for the first time about her family's experience. (Nora is now a rising sophomore at Yale.) Books will be available for purchase and signing. Afterwards, there will be a reception/celebration at Black River Cafe, open to all.

There are also two Cleveland bookstore readings/signings soon afterward:

Thursday, September 16, 7 p.m. at Mac's Backs, 1820 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights

http://www.booksite.com/texis/scripts/community/eventcal.html?sid=5817

Thursday, September 23, 7 p.m. at Joseph-Beth Booksellers at Legacy Village.

In November, Lynn will also be appearing at the Oberlin Bookstore as part of Parents Weekend on Saturday, November 13. More details to follow.

Les Délices and Debra Nagy '00/'02

From Debra Nagy '00/'02:

Cleveland-based chamber ensemble Les Délices (pronounced Lay DEH-lease) is committed to making a big impact in Cleveland (and beyond) with entertaining, thought-provoking programs presented in unique and intimate settings. Audiences clearly appreciated Les Délices’ informal, up-close-and-personal programs last season, and ClevelandClassical.com singled out Les Délices’ first season of concerts as among the most memorable of 2009. Les Délices’ director and founder Debra Nagy explained, ”Standing-room only audiences packed our salon-style gallery shows.”

For their second season, Les Délices returns to Cleveland’s William Busta and Tregoning & Co. galleries for their Saturday night concerts, and they’ll continue to present Sunday afternoon programs at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights, where they’ve been named Artists in Residence for 2010-11.

On Halloween weekend (October 30 & 31, 2010), Les Délices will welcome back Josh Lee (viola da gamba) and Michael Sponseller (harpsichord) plus Julie Andrijeski (violin) for their weird and wonderful program, “Mirages and Monstrosties.” Special guest lutenist Lucas Harris (whose elegant, stylish performances graced Les Délices’s debut CD) will warm our hearts on February 12 & 13, 2011, with “La Guitarre Royalle,” and rising-star soprano Clara Rottsolk will win over audiences when we feature her in cantatas based on tales from The Odyssey in our program “Myths & Allegories” on May 14 & 15, 2011. In addition, Les Délices will embark on its first Northeast tour in April 2011, with performances in Boston and Providence, leading up to the group’s New York debut at the Frick Collection on May 1, 2011.

Les Délices’ 2010-11 season begins at the William Busta Gallery (2731 Prospect Ave., Cleveland) on Saturday, October 30, 2010 at 8pm with a Halloween-inspired program of character pieces ranging from the quirky to the bizarre! Their program, “Mirages and Monstrosities,” includes Marin Marais’ “La Labyrinthe,” and the unusual, narrated “Gall-bladder Operation,” plus Jean-Philippe Rameau’s “Les Cyclopes” and chamber arrangements of incidental music from his opera about a hideous water nymph, Platée. Les Délices will repeat this program on Sunday, October 31, 2010 at 4:00pm inside Herr Chapel at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, we’ll highlight the astonishingly beautiful playing of Toronto-based lutenist Lucas Harris, whose poetic approach has been called “a revelation” (Le Devoir). Les Délices regulars Scott Metcalfe (violin) and Emily Walhout (viola da gamba) will return to join Debra Nagy (baroque oboe) and guest Lucas Harris (theorbo & baroque guitar) for “La Guitarre Royalle” featuring works by guitar masters from the court of Louis XIV. Les Délices will perform inside the galleries of Tregoning & Company (1300 W. 78^th St, Cleveland) on Saturday, February 12, 2011 at 8:00pm, and in Herr Chapel at Plymouth Church on Sunday, February 13, 2011 at 4:00pm.

Les Délices closes its season in May with “Myths & Allegories.” Weaving dramatic depictions of tales from Homer’s Odyssey together with instrumental chamber music inspired by Greek mythology, this program features acclaimed soprano and Seattle-native Clara Rottsolk in cantatas by Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre and Thomas-Louis Bourgeois. The fabulous gallery space at Tregoning and Company (1300 W. 78^th St, Cleveland) will host our Saturday concert on May 14, 2011 at 8:00pm. Les Délices will repeat their program at Herr Chapel at Plymouth Church on Sunday, May 15, 2011 at 4:00pm.

Tickets for all concerts in the series are available at www.lesdelices.org by August 15, 2010.

About Les Délices

Les Délices’ (pronounced Lay DEH-lease) performances of French Baroque music have been called “exquisite,” “superb,” and “breathtakingly gorgeous.” In addition to touring performances, Les Délices presents its own annual concert series in modern art galleries, where audiences enjoy intimate, informal performances in venues that celebrate Cleveland’s flourishing arts community. Les Délices are Artists in Residence at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights. Les Délices’ debut CD “The Tastes Reunited” was named one of the Top Ten Early Music Discoveries of 2009 by NPR’s Harmonia, and their live performances have been featured on WCPN and on WKSU’s In Performance. Visit www.lesdelices.org for more information.

About Debra Nagy

One of the few outstanding baroque oboists in the U.S., Cleveland resident Debra Nagy has been hailed for her "dazzling technique and soulful expressiveness" (Rocky Mountain News) and deemed a ”baroque oboist of consummate taste and expressivity” by the Cleveland Plain Dealer. A graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory, and Case Western Reserve University, she was the First Prize winner of the 2002 American Bach Soloists Young Artists Competition. In addition to maintaining a busy national performing schedule, Debra is currently a Lecturer in Early Music Performance Practice at Case Western Reserve University.

Northeast Ohio Fymn Festival

From Mary Louise (Enigson) VanDyke '47:

The fifth Northeast Ohio Hymn Festival will be held the weekend of October 8-10 in Finney Chapel at 4 p.m. Nolan Williams, Jr., O.C. '90 is bringing his choir from D.C. to direct it. He is editor of The African American Heritage Hymnal (G.I.A.2001). The weekend activities include workshop for choir directors but is open to all about performance practices related to African American worship music - accompaniment styles, diction, etc.etc. Co-sponsor of the event is the Oberlin College Office of Religious and Spiritual Life. Activities will be integrated that weekend with the Oberlin College Alumni of African American Ancestry, as they are holding their reunion at the same time.


If anyone would like more information, please contact Mary Louise at dhymns@oberlin.edu or the Director of the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, Greg McGonigle, at Greg.McGonigle@oberlin.edu to receive posters, brochures, and registration forms.

Reclaim Lorain County

From Martha (Hurst) Bruner '61:

Do you want to help to make Lorain County a better place to live? Do you see needs that should be met but feel powerless to correct the problems?

Reclaim Lorain County is a group comprised of people from churches and other institutions in the county. Our purpose is to identify issues which can be corrected, gather information about those issues, and present the issues to candidates and public officials for the purpose of gaining their support in correcting them. We do not endorse candidates; we are non-partisan.

What can you do? You can become informed about the issues and contribute your presence and your ideas, so that Lorain County will become a better place to live and to work.

What has been done so far? We have conducted an extensive listening campaign to identify the needs of Lorain County. We prioritized those needs and formed three task forces: jobs, city maintenance, and violence. The task forces are currently gathering information on these topics. We will use this information to identify issues which can be addressed and corrected.

What is coming up? On Sept. 7, at St. Mary's Catholic Church, 320 Middle Ave., Elyria, at 7:00 P.M. we will meet to plan the Action Assembly for Oct. 26.

On Oct. 26, at 7:00 P.M. at St. Mary's Church we will hold an accountability Action Assembly. State, county and local politicians will be invited to attend. We will present the issues which we feel need to be addressed. Politicians will be invited to respond, giving their plans as to how they would deal with the issues presented by the three task forces. Our goal is to have 400 citizens in attendance.

Following the Action Assembly, we will have a voter-turnout campaign for the November election, encouraging voters to express their informed wishes. By working together and by being informed, we can alert our leaders as to what can and must be accomplished. We can elect leaders who are committed to reclaiming Lorain County.

Reserve the dates of Sept. 7 and Oct 26 (both at 7, both on Tues. and both at St. Mary's). Commit to being at both meetings to help plan the Action Assembly on the 7th and to hear the candidates on the 26th. This is your chance to make a difference. Be there and take advantage of this opportunity to help RECLAIM LORAIN COUNTY!

Contact Marty Bruner at 440-322-9749 or Judith Padua

Save The Date - Lake Erie Creamery

Join Mariann Janosko '63 and her husband Jerry Onken at the Lake Erie Creamery on Sunday, October 10 at 3pm. We will tour their creamery and taste their wonderful cheeses, and perhaps some other tasty local items. Mariann will also speak about the path that lead her from an English major to cheese making, and perhaps on her recent trip to Italy to learn how to make Italian cheeses. We will have an opportunity to also purchase the cheeses we taste. A wonderful event from Oberlin friends and family!

Lake Erie Creamery is a small urban creamery in the city of Cleveland, specializing in making artisan goat's milk cheese. Begun in 2006, the creamery occupies a corner of a redeveloped, multi-use building.

Mariann makes all the cheeses by hand. She begins by gently pasteurizing each 50-gallon batch to preserve the milk's quality and character. Then she adds cultures to the milk and starts it on its way to becoming cheese.

While some of the cheese is aging, Jerry sells and delivers the fresh chèvre. Until now, Jerry has sold all the cheese locally: to chefs committed to using fresh and local ingredients, at farmers' markets and at small retail outlets that care for our cheese the way we would.

Lake Erie Creamery also conserves resources by closing the loop in the farm-to-city cycle by sending cheese making byproducts back to the farm. The whey travels to the farm to feed Hampshire hogs and pastured poultry that then appear on menus at some of Cleveland's best restaurants.

Oberlin Homecoming Weekend

The Oberlin College Department of Athletics is pleased to announce homecoming weekend will take place Friday, October 1 through Sunday, October 3, 2010.

Festivities will kick-off Friday night with the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in the Root Room of the Carnegie Building at 5:00 pm. Six all-time great Oberlin athletes will officially be inducted on Friday, October 1, 2010 as part of the athletics department Homecoming Weekend.

Al Wellington '70 was a two-sport athlete earning letters in lacrosse and basketball. He was a key member in Oberlin's 1970 Ohio Athletic Conference championship on the hardwood. Randy Miller '70, who averaged 13.8 ppg as a senior, was a teammate of Wellington on the record-setting basketball team that won four games in six nights to claim the conference crown.

Robert Burham '53 was a three-sport star, earning letters in football, basketball and track. Former NCAA All-American and five-time conference champion in diving Kyron Cook '74 completes the class of male inductees.

Soccer star Alice Hauschka '91, who earned an array of awards on the pitch, and former four-time first-team selection in both doubles and singles tennis Bethany Pribila '97 complete the class.

For the weekend schedule, please visit http://www.goyeo.com/sports/2009/5/26/GEN_0526094840.aspx?id-174

Register for the weekend by visiting the Oberlin College Alumni page at http://oberlin.edu/alumni

An Evening with Tracy Chevalier '84

On Tuesday, August 3 at 7:00pm, author Tracy Chevalier '84, best known for her 1999 international bestseller, "The Girl with the Pearl Earring," will discuss her life and work and answer questions from the audience. Chevalier will also be reading from her most recent novel, "Remarkable Creatures."

"We have all read her books. We are all very excited to have her come," said Ellen Smith, head of reference and archives at the Hudson Library. "She is an internationally known author and has a bit of a background in Northeast Ohio, having gone to Oberlin College. We are glad and grateful she's coming out to do a program for us."

She has followed "The Girl with the Pearl Earring" with bestsellers all based on authentic figures and events. Born and raised in Washington, DC, Chevalier has lived in London for over 20 years.

Free tickets are available at the Reference Desk or the Learned Owl Book Shop.

Hudson Library & Historical Society
96 Library Street
Hudson, OH 44236
(330) 653-6658

Obies Night Out at the Market Avenue Wine Bar

Share a laugh, and a draft, as you connect with fellow Cleveland area Obies!

On Tuesday, August 17, join fellow Obies at the Market Avenue Wine Bar in historic Ohio City for a night out on the town to mix and mingle, and have some fun as the week draws to an end. Obies Night Out is a great way to connect with new friends and expand your professional network as you enjoy food, drinks, and some Oberlin memories. All graduates are welcome. And feel free to bring friends, work colleagues or significant others!

Market Avenue Wine Bar opened its doors in 1994 on a cobblestone street very reminiscent of days gone by. A long oak bar – elegantly bathed in soft lights – welcomes you to an experience for which your senses will forever thank you. The wine list features over 75 wines by the glass and another 600 by the bottle…all strongly reflecting the small boutique producers from around the world. With an ever-changing wine list and an eclectic craft beer selection you are bound to find something pleasing and refreshing. In addition to the liquid libations you will be pleasantly enticed to sample the appetizers, all of which are procured from the finest food purveyors, including the West Side Market.

COST:
The conversation is free, but you’re responsible for your own food/drinks.

Tuesday, August 17, 5:30-7:30
Market Avenue Wine Bar
2521 Market Avenue
Cleveland, OH 44113
216-696-9463
http://www.marketavenuewinebar.com

RSVP to let us know you'll be there by calling the Oberlin Alumni Office at 440-775-8692