Oberlin College Community Strings to Hold Fall Auditions on August 31, 1999 Strings Open to College, Conservatory and Area Residents Story and photos by Linda Shockley
			Phillip Highfill, professor of accompanying, conducts a rehearsal of the Oberlin College Community Strings. Local musicians hoping to wow their families by performing in Oberlin College's beautiful Finney Chapel will now have the opportunity. Fall auditions for Oberlin College Community Strings will be held at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, 77 West College Street in Oberlin, on Tuesday, August 31, in Bibbins 108, located on the first floor of the Conservatory. Sign-up sheets with available audition times will be posted the week before, outside Bibbins 108. College Community Strings is open to students, faculty, staff and left to right: bassist Marcus Lofthause, conservatory sophomore; violist Lauren Goodman, college sophomore; violist David Oertel, college sophomore. townspeople. Rehearsals are held every Tuesday evening, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., beginning September 7. Strings founder and music director Philip Highfill, professor of accompanying, offers this advice for those planning to audition: "Please arrive prepared with any solo piece or extended orchestral excerpt that best represents your playing. Auditions for returning members are optional; seating will be based on your most recent audition." The Strings, a Conservatory outreach program founded in the spring of 1995, is the only group on campus that specializes in music written for string orchestra, or concertos with string accompaniment. The Strings is composed of approximately 42 members. It was founded, says Highfill, to create more performance opportunities for all serious musicians, not simply those at the Conservatory. "The Community Strings," says Highfill, "is different from any other orchestra on campus in that it is only strings, and it is composed primarily of students from the College of Arts and Sciences, community members, and a few Conservatory students who play strings as a second instrument. Also, like the Community Winds and the Musical Union, our once-a-week rehearsal schedule is less concentrated than that of other Conservatory ensembles." The Strings ensemble offers two annual concerts. The fall semester program, slated for a December 9 performance in Finney Chapel, includes music by Bach, Mozart, Poulenc and Dvorak. For additional information, contact music director Philip Highfill (440/775-8226, 440/774-2157, or philip.highfill@oberlin.edu).
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