Collegium Musicum Presents Concert of Magnificats April 27 and 28   by Charity Johnson '99
			Collegium Musicum The Oberlin College Collegium Musicum, directed by Steven Plank, professor of musicology, will present a program titled Mostly Magnificats Friday, April 27, and Saturday, April 28 at 8:00 p.m. in Fairchild Chapel. The concert features settings of the Canticle of Mary -- the Magnificat -- by Heinrich Schütz, Johann Walter, and John Nesbet, as well as Marian motets by Giovanni Gabrieli, Giovanni Palestrina, and Franz Biebl. The group will also perform this program May 2 at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. The Oberlin Collegium Musicum specializes in the performance of Medieval, Renaissance and early Baroque music. Initiated in the early 1960s, the group is in its 11th year under Plank’s direction. The group’s repertoire includes mass and motet settings by William Byrd, Thomas Tallis, Robert Fayrfax, Claudio Monteverdi, Tomas Victoria, Orlando di Lasso, Heinrich Schütz, and Giovanni Palestrina. Last spring, the ensemble was invited to perform at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Washington, DC. They have also performed in Cleveland at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral and at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Plank has been a member of the musicology department at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music at Oberlin College since 1980, and teaches courses in Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music. His scholarly interests range from liturgics and Restoration theater music to 17th-century sacred music drama. He has written numerous articles in American and English journals, and is the author of the book The Way to Heavens Doore: An Introduction to Liturgical Process and Musical Style (Scarecrow Press, 1994). His performance interests are also wide-ranging. A trumpeter in the Louisville Orchestra for seven years prior to beginning doctoral studies at Washington University in St. Louis, Plank came to Early Music largely through a growing interest in historical winds. His teachers in historical performance include Trevor Pinnock, James Tyler, Edward Tarr, and Bruce Dickey. Besides Plank’s work as a choral conductor, he remains active as a performer on organ, cornetto, and baroque trumpet.
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