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