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Oberlin College Community Strings Concert Dec. 7 Features Pianist Peter Takács and the Black River Singers
By Charity Johnson ('99)
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The Oberlin College Community Strings [OCCS], conducted by Professor of Accompanying Philip Highfill, will present a free, public concert on Thursday, Dec. 7, at 8 P.M. in Finney Chapel. Professor of Pianoforte Peter Takács, and the Black River Singers, directed by Marci Alegant, assistant director of major gifts, are guest performers.
The program includes Henry Purcell's Suite for Strings, Felix Mendelssohn's String Symphony in B minor, Ludwig van Beethoven's Elegischer Gesang, Op. 118, featuring the Black River Singers, and Ernest Bloch's Concerto Grosso for String Orchestra with Piano Obbligato, with Peter Takács as soloist.
This is the first collaboration between the 37-member string orchestra and the Black River Singers, which was founded in 1997. "Working with Marci Alegant has been a pleasure," says Highfill. "The community membership of the group makes it a logical partner for OCCS."
The challenges of producing a work for choir and string orchestra, says Highfill, include "keeping the balance between the orchestra and the singers, without losing any intensity of expression, and coordinating two forces which are, by nature, fundamentally different."
This
is also Takács's debut with the ensemble. "Peter Tákacs
has played the piece before and really likes it; this is the first time
we've done a concerto together." says Highfill. "The Bloch concerto,
though difficult, is a fun piece for the players with lots of contrasts,
and a number of solo parts within the orchestra. This is a concerto grosso,
in which the piano is a prominent instrument within the orchestra, rather
than positioned at the front of the stage, as in a solo concerto by Mozart
or Prokofiev."
OCCS was founded in 1995, and is open by audition to Oberlin students, faculty, staff, and area residents. OCCS is the only ensemble on campus specializing in music written for string orchestra and concertos with string orchestra accompaniment. This performance is the first of two concerts produced by the group annually; the second is scheduled for May 3.
The works on this concert's program, says Highfill, "balance each other well in terms of keys, pacing, styles, expressive range, and a wide variety of challenges for the players."
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