Black River Singers' St. John's Passion on May 12 Features Oberlin Faculty, Alumni, and Student Soloists By Charity Lofthouse ’99
			The Black River Singers, directed by Assistant Dean of the Conservatory Marci Alegant, will present Bach’s St. John’s Passion in concert Sunday, May 12, at 3 p.m. in Warner Concert Hall. The performance, which will be played on period instruments, is free and open to the public. John Alston, a faculty member of Oberlin’s Baroque Performance Institute (BPI), will sing the role of Jesus. "This concert has been in the works since the summer 2000 BPI, when I first had the opportunity to work with John Alston," says Alegant. "I knew the first time I heard his voice that I wanted to do this work and that he had to sing the role of Jesus. Fortunately, other equally wonderful singers agreed to participate!" Artist diploma student Leif Aruhn-Solén ’02 will sing the Evangelist, and fourth-year double-degree student Scott Skiba ‘03 will sing Pilate. Other soloists include alumni Harriet Buckwalter’90 and James Dawson ’86, owner of Oberlin Music; Assistant Professor of Music Education Jody Kerchner; and senior vocal performance majors Scott Mello, Peter Tantsits, and Hannah Waldman. The Black River Singers, founded by Alegant in 1997, perform a broad repertoire of music at many venues throughout the region. The group has performed with the Choral Arts Society of Cleveland and the Cleveland Women's Orchestra, the Oberlin College Community Strings, the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, and, by invitation, at the Ohio Choral Directors Conference. This concert is made possible through the generosity of the Nord Family Foundation, the Stocker Foundation, and the Historical Performance Department of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music at Oberlin College.
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