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Concerto Winners Eric Lamb and Erika Tolano to be Featured in Oberlin Chamber Orchestra Concert, Sunday, April 16, 8:00 P. M., in Finney Chapel
Story and photos by Linda Shockley
THE PROGRAM
Concerto for Flute in D minor, by Carl Philipp Emanuel
Bach (1714-1788)
• Allegro
• Un poco Andante
• Allegro di molto
Chuench'i, A Song Cycle from the Chinese, by Gerard Schürmann (b.1928)
INTERMISSION
Symphony No. 9 in C major, D. 944, by Franz Schubert
(1797-1828)
• Andante - Allegro, ma non troppo
• Andante con moto
• Scherzo (Allegro vivace) - Trio
• Allegro vivace
RELATED
Concerto
winners Eric Lamb, senior flutist from Detroit, Michigan,
and Erika Tolano, second year Artist Diploma soprano from
Canberra, Australia, will be featured soloists in the
Oberlin Chamber Orchestra performance, under the direction
of Mitchell
Arnold, visiting assistant
professor of conducting on Sunday, April 16, 8 p.m. in
Finney Chapel. Lamb and Tolano were among seven winners from
a field of 22 finalists in the 1999-2000 Oberlin Concerto
Competition. The program will feature works by
Carl
Philipp Emanuel Bach,
Gerard
Schürmann and
Franz
Schubert. The performance is
free and open to the public.
Flutist Eric Lamb, who studies with professor of flute Michel Debost, says of Bach's Concerto for Flute in D minor. "This beautiful piece of music is a major element of the standard flute repertory. To finally perform it with a full orchestra is a great pleasure and I think it's an important step in the continual process of becoming a mature artist. The piece offers musical challenges because you can't hide behind rich, romantic musical sonorities. You must stand on your own musically.
"But I have lots of support. The orchestra sounds great and Mitch Arnold has been terrific. And Mr. Debost, aside from the plethora of musical gems that he offers each week, he teaches how to be a convincing musical presence, how to carry oneself, and how to love the music. He makes it a wonderful experience for everyone; music is not a selfish endeavor."
Lamb adds, "Although it can be a scary piece to play, I'm really looking forward to the performance because my entire family will be here and I love performing for my family. I derive great pleasure from looking out in the audience and seeing my colleagues, friends and family.
Soprano
Erika Tolano, who studies with professor of singing
Richard
Miller will perform Gerald
Schürmann's Chuench'I, composed of seven songs based on
Arthur Whaley's translation from Chinese text. Aptly timed
for spring in Ohio, the first and last songs represent the
beginning and ending of spring.
Tolano says, "This piece was originally set for piano, and Schürmann orchestrated it a couple years later. It's rewarding to hear Schürmann's piece with the orchestra and it's so much fun to perform with an orchestra rather a piano. It's quite interesting and surprising to hear all the colors and to see what he chose to give to certain instruments. For example, there's a lot more brass and woodwinds than I would have imagined. I would have envisioned some sort of glockenspiel. The orchestration transforms the piece from the original."
She adds, "One of the most obvious vocal challenges in this modern piece is the English diction. It's deceptive in that, while it is translated from the Chinese, it feels very British. I prepared with lots of notelining."
My
experience in working with competition winners at Oberlin
has always been exciting," says conductor Mitchell Arnold.
"The overall quality of student musicians at Oberlin is so
high that the competition winners truly shine. Eric Lamb's
talent and sense of style has made the process of
collaboration rewarding for the players and myself. And
Erika Tolano is a joy to accompany. She'll perform the
Schürmann, and as a contemporary piece, it presents
difficulties that the Bach does not. Her exemplary vocal
qualities, musicianship and sense of rhythm have made the
rehearsal process quite successful."
About the Oberlin Concerto Competition
Each fall, Conservatory students compete for a few hotly-contested spots on the Oberlin Orchestra and Oberlin Chamber Orchestra's rosters. For the 1999-2000 competition, seven winners were selected from 22 finalists. In addition to Eric Lamb and Erika Tolano, concerto competition winners included Wei Wei Le, a senior violinist from Shanghai, China; David Bowlin, a senior violinist from Moline, Illinois; Liz Freivogel, a double degree junior violist from Kirkwood, Maryland; Cathryn Lai, a senior pianist from Greensboro, North Carolina; and Felix Petit, a junior violinist from Caracas, Venezuela.
Judges for the competition included faculty members Ryan Anthony, David Boe, James Caldwell, Alvin Chow, Gerald Crawford, Stephen Moore, Paul Polivnick, Peter Rejto and Michael Haber. The jury represented one faculty member from each performance division, one faculty member from a non-performance division, and an outside adjudicator.
"The overall performance level was extraordinarily high," says David Boe, jurist and professor of organ and harpsichord. "My perception of this competition is that the quality, which has always been impressive, has grown even more compelling over the past number of years. Selecting a small group of winners from an outstanding field makes the work of the judges very difficult. I'm sure the judges agree that many more of our finalists would have been fully deserving of performing as soloists with the orchestra."
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