Junior and Senior Recitals Culminating a Conservatory Education

Continued from page 10 It’s grown into featuring these larger headlining-type musical acts that come to campus. That was definitely a void for the campus. Some schools have spring flings or fall fests and we hadn’t really had that before. Now, it is all about serving the Oberlin community and offering them a unique space to have fun.”

This year, though, College fourthyear, Solarity Treasurer, and event Cochair Perry Mayo, said that booking for the event has been especially trying, mostly due to rising COVID-19 cases and increased campus-wide safety concerns.

“Preparation for this year was a bit crazy, just because we didn’t know what was going to happen with COVID,” Mayo said. “We weren’t sure what kind of safety materials we might need and what rules we might have to enforce, so that was definitely a little precarious. But, we mostly followed the usual process. We narrowed down artists that we thought the student body might want and reached out to them. Once we decided on a theme, we started working on promotions and figuring out what kind of safety materials we would need for the show.”

They added that it’s been especially difficult to find student performers for the event. While Solarity has showcased student performance groups like AndWhat!? and OCircus several times over the past few years, they haven’t seen a ton of new performers.

“It was kind of a bummer because we always want to find new student performers, like musicians, bands, dancers, or emcees,” Mayo said. “I think the challenge is mostly that the [first- and second-years] never had a Solarity. I’m not sure they really know what it is. We’re hoping that once Saturday comes around, they’ll understand and get more excited about the opportunity to perform at such a large event. Hopefully, in the spring, we can get a whole new crop of people.”

Following Solstice over the summer, the event and those in attendance received backlash over the concert’s relaxed COVID-19 precautions. In the days after the event, a few students voiced concerns that people who had recently attended Chicago’s largest music festival, Lollapalooza, also attended Solstice directly afterward, though the College released a statement saying there was “no evidence that attendees at either event [were] at increased risk, as there was no confirmation of exposure.” As Solarity prepares for Saturday, Steifman reflected on the College’s summer ObieSafe policies and the controversy surrounding the Solstice.

“We were in such limbo with Oberlin COVID regulations [over the summer] because there wasn’t really anything in place,” Steifman said. “Because we’re a student organization, we don’t really have the authority to tell people what to do outside of what the school is enforcing. Early in the summer, there was no mask mandate, so Solarity couldn’t have a mask mandate. With Bloom, it’s totally different, because we’re still following the school’s rules. But obviously now we have a lot more rules to follow.”

In order to mitigate COVID-19 concerns, the concert is instituting a few extra safety measures in addition to the College’s general mask mandate. Misangyi went over some of the new policies.

“We’re setting up a six-foot barricade between the audience and the performer,” Misangyi said. “We’ll have safety kits — bags which will include masks and ear plugs — for people at the door. Instead of having open water stations we’re going to provide water bottles.”

In addition, Solarity will also employ vibe watchers, trained student volunteers who will be stationed in the audience to enforce the mask mandate and watch for disorderly conduct.

“The vibe watchers are trained volunteers who will act as the liaison between a student and Campus Safety,” Steifman said. “We’re trying to mitigate COVID spread by putting out a lot of safety information; a lot of stuff about consent, a lot of stuff about COVID, a lot of stuff about alcohol and drug safety. We do a lot of work with PRSM and the Students for Sensible Drug Policy. We’re just trying to put out as much information as possible so that people are in a good headspace for the event.”

In an email to the Review, Steifman also wanted to remind concertgoers that Solarity is releasing a set of community guidelines that attendees must read and sign in order to be admitted into the event. The guidelines cover respect, consent, COVID-19 safety, and substance safety expectations for the concert, and will also include phone numbers for Campus Safety and the Counseling Center. Below is a QR code linked to the community guidelines.

Junior and Senior Recitals: Culminating a Conservatory Education

Nikki Keating

From indie rock shows at the Cat in the Cream to Organ Pump’s monthly bellows throughout Finney Chapel, Oberlin is largely defined and enlivened by music. Though recent and upcoming performances from Grammy-nominated trumpeters and hip-hop icons alike warrant a tizzy, the most integral aspect of Oberlin’s music scene is undoubtedly underlined by a particularly prolific sect of Oberlin’s student body. With approximately 500 concerts on campus each year, Oberlin’s Conservatory presents a wide variety of assiduously-honed musical innovations and performances. Junior and senior recitals provide an apt opportunity for the Oberlin community to appreciate the Conservatory students’ musical genius.

Conservatory fifth-year and Jazz Piano major Matei Predescu’s senior recital paid homage to both their idols and their own artistic maturation. The curation of their repertoire reflected the vectors of their past, present, and future as a musician.

“I chose all the pieces myself,” Predescu said. “I tried to find compositions and songs from musicians that were really instrumental in my own self-discovery and in my passion for music. They’re all composers and musicians who I’ve just studied really intensely and who I really admire and respect and just form a huge part of my … artistic direction overall.”

There’s no one way to construct a performance that encapsulates years of artistic growth. Students work in close tandem with professors and peers in order to curate and actualize their repertoires, and often decide to collaborate with each other. Many student-musicians also showcase solo work within larger orchestral pieces, a tactful means of expanding the bounds of style and genre.

In light of this flexibility, many Conservatory students cook up completely signature musical recipes. Last year, double-degree fourth-year and Viola major Rituparna Mukherjee utilized her junior recital as an opportunity to hybridize her artistry and love for Lil Uzi Vert.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have a teacher who has been totally open with me playing jazz [for] my recital and really exploring what I want to do and what I want to play,” she said. “Like last year for my junior recital, I played Lil Uzi.”

Junior recitals represent a milestone of the measures and level of practice and skill improvement that the students have undergone in their previous 2–3 years. These recitals serve as Conservatory students’ first independent performance, marking a novel milestone in their collegiate music career. The process and instruConservatory third-year and Saxophone major Christian Wilson performs for their junior recital in the Birenbaum Innovation and Performance Space.

Photo by Khadijah Halliday, Photo Editor

mentation of these performances allow them to contemplate and solidify the trajectory of their imminent careers and artistic identity on both a private and public scale.

For their first two years, Conservatory third-year and Trumpet major Sam Atlas regarded junior recitals with a distant and daunting mysticism. Now, with their recital around the corner, they’re more prepared than they thought they would be.

“This recital is especially important to me because I’ve seen so many people get up and do their recitals before, and I have never felt anywhere near ready to do something like that,” Atlas said. “It’s always been very nerve-wracking for me to watch other people go up there and be like, ‘How am I gonna do this one day?’ But now I actually feel more ready, and I feel like I’m able to do this.”

Atlas has put in long hours to prepare for their recital, and they have no doubts about the payoff. They believe that junior and senior recitals are a necessary challenge for Conservatory students to gauge their endurance and limits as performers.

“I feel like it’s important to be able to play for a long amount of time,” Atlas said. “And that’s one of the biggest challenges with recitals for us, because we can’t play for hours upon hours. I think it’s just good practice; once you start getting older, you gain the ability to be able to play in front of more people because junior and senior recitals are definitely not just a requirement here — they’re a requirement for almost every music school.”

This year’s recitals mark a particularly exciting moment: it’s the first time many Conservatory third- and fourth-years are performing in front of a live audience since COVID-19. Students are now allowed to perform in front of a masked audience, allowing for an intimacy between performer and audience largely unachievable during Oberlin’s Zoom era.

“It’s amazing. This past weekend, so many of my friends had their recitals in person, and they were forced to have their recitals over Zoom last year,” Mukherjee said. “To get to see all of their recitals and see audiences’ live reactions in the moment — I mean, it’s unparalleled.”

Recitals open with students’ homage to their Conservatory education, reflections that often hit close to home for fourth- and fifth-years. In her senior recital this year, Mukherjee hopes to communicate the ties between music, her own identity, and larger tenets of the human condition.

“The overarching message is that we all are so special and every single human being is so important,” she said. “I guess I’m just trying to share who I am and what I love in my last performance. That’s the message that I just want people to know.”

Continued from page 11 another one for maybe just six, seven, or eight Black, male students. The whole part of it was his wanting to foster and develop our Black manhood. He pushed us harder than any other class and instilled in us a lot of values on being powerful, young, Black men. Another person would be Theater and Africana Studies Professor Caroline Jackson Smith. She was super influential on my mind and mentality. I took a film class with her, and though I didn’t know what I’d be getting into, I’ve still got 15 books from her class. She really helped me understand Black cinema. Being welcomed and allowed to study in that circle of academia, being respected there, having to write papers, and being tasked to maintain all those things really influenced me to not be afraid to step outside of music.

What inspired you to create an Afrocentric album? How did you come to this concept?

Well, I think the concept of Afrocentrism is false at its core because the whole world copies Black culture and is influenced by Black culture. You can walk into a coffee shop in Williamsburg and be surrounded by wealthy white people listening to Biggie Smalls. It wasn’t really Afrocentric, and it wasn’t me really thinking about “Africa” as much as me trying to not avoid the truth that this is Black-influenced music. It’s always gonna be Black music, and I think I was just embracing that. Conceptually, I wanted to make an album that played like a movie, and the most popular story in any movie is the hero’s journey. That’s a classic format for a movie — this would be a great conversation to have with Caroline Jackson Smith. Me knowing that stuff and having an understanding beyond the origins of Greek mythology is actually Keynesian spirituality. I thought I’d take inspiration from the original hero story, the hero who took the eye of Horace and became Ra, which is actually the story of humanity and how humanity evolves into divinity. It’s the story of how you die and become God of your own universe, which is like every Marvel movie you’ve ever seen! It’s Eternals, Thor, Star Wars; I wanted to do that musically.

Oberlin Local Businesses Offer Creative Gift Ideas

Maeve Woltring

Arts & Culture Editor

College students are typically not the best gift-givers, as the end-of-semester frenzy often takes precedence over holiday spirit. Fortunately for all you stress-riddled Scrooges, this semester’s schedule offers some extra time to find the perfect student budget-friendly tchotchkes to gift your friends and family. With finals falling after winter break, the Oberlin student body has the novel opportunity to shop for holiday gifts outside of Mudd study breaks. But if you’re like me, this opportunity might simply threaten to illuminate the impressive extent of your procrastination. Enter this time-efficient cure-all: the Oberlin guide to gift giving. From a stroll downtown to a scroll through the Oberlin Pottery Co-op’s Instagram feed, the answer to your holiday prayers may be just down the block.

Nestled on Main Street is All Things Great, a stockpiled wonderland of great consignment. According to shop owner Laurel Kirtz, All Things Great is all about mutualistic exchange. Her business model: reduce waste, supply service, and opportunize peace of mind. To put it simply, Laurel Kirtz knows her stuff. Born and bred in Oberlin, Kirtz has been in the thrift game since the ripe old age of 19, though her path toward a career in consignment was not straightforward. Her journey started with house cleaning and led to work in decluttering, a gig that established a long-standing amity between Kirtz and other people’s overlooked objects. Kirtz can pick good linen out of a sea of polyester, and she would never sell you a polyurethane-soled shoe. Though she has a particular affinity for ’20s wear and mending old furs, Kirtz’s store title rings true: she collects, sells, and repairs pretty much everything.

“From new to old, from something you can wear to something that you can decorate your home with to something that you actually need, we have the finest selection,” Kirtz said. “It’s a mix of traditional thrift store items, curated vintage boutique, and a classic resale shop. … I focus on quality.”

Kirtz’s command and repertoire of objects transcends the material — years of mining, studying, and repairing other people’s stuff bears an interpersonal insight that she undoubtedly implements in her store’s goals and curation. She regards her racks of shoes and drawers of baubles with a nearly familial tenderness, perhaps born from a close consideration of their origins.

“Part of being a stuff-handler is about handling other people’s psychological obstacles,” Kirtz said. “It’s often about quality, which is why I’ll put ‘hundred percent cotton’ on a tag or ‘wool blend’. I’ll let you know what the ingredients are so that you know what you’re buying.”

When prompted to select a favorite contender for a Christmas gift, Kirtz was nearly at a loss — there’s simply too much to choose from. I left her store with a pair of silver hoops and woolen mittens in arm, but on another day I would’ve gone for the floor length silk slip hanging on the back wall. And maybe a grecian urn and some vintage cowboy boots for good measure.

Elsewhere on Main Street sits a wacky and whimsical Oberlin retail staple: Ratsy’s. For the past 16 years, owner Ratsy Kemp has offered inventory true to her slogan, “Never be Normal”. Kemp’s business began as a vintage store, but her collection quickly shed any easy categorization. A peruse through Ratsy’s is akin to entering the dreamscape of Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, but with a Tim Burton-esque twist.

“I started making weird things,” she said. “I have dinosaur people; I have emotional support limbs. I put together weird packages of limbs and now teeth. Sometimes I make the earrings. My boyfriend puts together the weird planter heads.”

The aforementioned “planter head” refers to a potted plant sprouting not only a vacant-eyed, scalped baby doll head, but a tiny arm and a shelf of fungi. If you’re looking for a more conventional gift, however, Ratsy suggests her cheeky collection of mugs, socks, and mysteriously designated “weird toothbrushes.”

Closer to home and crafted by loving student hands is the Oberlin Pottery Co-op. Co-op president and College third-year Luke Stenberg has been a member since their first year, and though they have surely honed their pottery skills over the past three years, they said that the co-op requires no initial skill level. Co-op work hours are mandatory for members, but the small cover fee is not. Members are welcome in the studio 24/7, with enough materials at their disposal to sculpt and throw to their heart’s content. Stenberg’s suggestion? Join the community to pour a little extra love into your gifting game.

“Anyone can join no matter what experience level,” they said. “People shouldn’t be scared to try pottery because they can learn so easily with office hours and online materials. If you’re trying to make a really nice gift that’s handmade and it’s also super functional, pottery is perfect.”

This isn’t to say that the co-op solely offers a space for students to create their own work – they also sell unclaimed pottery at campus events such as TGIF and Maker’s Market. This past weekend, they held a special annual event — Empty Mugs— during which Oberlin students and community members had the chance to peruse a vast selection of work, and put their money to a noble cause. The co-op is partnered with Oberlin Community Services, so all of the collective’s proceeds are distributed to the Oberlin community.

If you’re pressed for time and missed last weekend’s event, it’s not too late! The co-op is launching an online sale on their Instagram this coming weekend.

On Monday, College fourth-year Phoebe von Conta was named North Coast Athletic Conference Women’s Indoor Track Distance/Middle Distance Runner of the Week for the second week in a row. With an impressive cross country season, von Conta is leading the conference with a ranking of 25th in the country in the 3,000-meter event with a time of 10:42.08. The NCAC also recognized her last week when she placed first in the mile in her season-opening indoor track meet with a time of 5:25.07, the best in the region and conference and 13th nationally. Off the field, von Conta participates in co-ops and holds leadership positions in the Green Edge Fund and the Spanish in the Elementary Schools program.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Kathleen Kelleher Senior Staff Writer

You’ve had a great cross country season and you were recently named the NCAC Player of the Week for the second time — how does that feel?

It’s fun to celebrate the end of cross country in the indoor context. Going from cross country to track is always a quick transition for me, but I’ve never had a complete season for cross country before because I’ve been injured for the past two years. I’ve had intermittent seasons, so this was the first cross country season where I was able to compete in every race — I never had to take time off, which was really a big deal. As an injured person, I went through so much in prior cross country seasons, and it was really nice to do something completely. Moving indoors, there was so much momentum that we all had from a really wonderful season. I was able to carry that to the two races that we had, which were very fun and kind of shocked me into the right mindset for track. Now I’m on my two-week break, and then we’ll start again next year.

During your time at Oberlin, have you been involved in any organizations or communities other than athletics?

I’ve been involved in organizations for each of my majors, Environmental Studies and Hispanic Studies. For Environmental Studies, I’ve been on the board for Green Edge Fund my whole time as a student at Oberlin. I joined in the spring of my first year, and I’ve held a bunch of different positions since then —

Phoebe von Conta Courtesy of GoYeo

right now, I’m the treasurer. In the Hispanic Studies department, I’ve participated in the Spanish in the Elementary Schools program for a while. I did a year of teaching in person, and then I did it remotely during my third year. Now for my fourth year, we’re back in person, and I’ve been able to take a leadership role in that and oversee the student volunteers. It’s a really sweet group of people, and I love getting to know the Oberlin community through the program. I try to be involved in different student organizations and I’m also part of a co-op.

How long have you been running cross country?

I’ve been running since seventh grade.

What made you get into it and decide you wanted to run in college?

I was pretty dead set on a few different schools in my area, and hadn’t thought about going to the Midwest ’cause I’m from the East. I got recruited for Oberlin’s cross country and track team by the coach. When I received the letter, I put it in the recycling bin and almost moved on. My mom fished it out and was like, “You should really look at this school. It’s kind of wacky.” I did, and I came here and visited, and I fell in love with the team and the community at Oberlin. It was the most perfect day — everything aligned. After that, I knew that Oberlin would offer me a space to be someone who’s passionate about the studies I’m doing here along with being someone who can run and push themselves in a more competitive context with people who are doing something similar. I also wanted to be connected to the music opportunities here, which I feel a lot of people at Oberlin are attracted to. I found that every other space I went to, it was like, “You’re an athlete or you’re something, or you’re this; you can’t be all three.” I found that Oberlin offered that for me.

As a fourth-year, do you feel you got a fulfilling student-athlete experience despite the lack of a regular season last year? What is your future after college looking like?

It felt like having a pause in the middle of everything; it was startling and I don’t necessarily feel like I’m done yet. It’s very weird because I was injured my first and second seasons of cross country, and then had no season my third year, so I do feel that there’s unfinished business, but I’m satisfied with the way it’s gone. I’m grateful for the time that I have now to see it through, especially with the team I’m with. As far as my future after college, I would really love to take a break before going back to school because four semesters straight is kind of a grind. I’m just applying to some fellowships and seeing where that takes me. I have a lot of different ideas. We’ll see.

SAAC Hosts First Athlete Social Since Start of Pandemic

Zoe Kuzbari Sports Editor

This past Sunday, Oberlin’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee held its first-ever athlete social. The event was designed to bring student-athletes together after many months of the pandemic forced teams apart.

The plan was originally for students to gather in Philips gym for pizza, hot chocolate, and karaoke, but the event ended up being more competitive, with teams coming together to play a variety of games.

Fourth-year baseball player and SAAC Co-chair David Fineman believes the event went well.

“The athlete social was a great way to bring all the athletes together to be able to bond and have a fun time,” Fineman said. “Especially after the past couple of years with COVID, it was nice to have everyone together for the first time. I think it went very well — a lot more people than we thought showed up and everyone had a lot of fun socializing, playing games, and listening to music.”

Head Volleyball Coach Erica Rau, the faculty advisor who oversees SAAC, shared similar sentiments to Fineman and said the goal of the event was to create a space for all athletes to come together after a difficult year.

“We had over 100 athletes in attendance and the vibe in the gym was a lot of fun,” she said. “I look forward to continuing this as part of one of our department traditions and expanding the event next year. It’s a great way to celebrate all of our athletes and the tight-knit community we strive to foster.”