Five Oberlin Singers Perform With The Cleveland Orchestra; One Takes Lead Role

	Dashon Burton '05

Under the baton of Pierre Boulez, five Conservatory students sang with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus in an all-Stravinsky program on Thursday, May 5, and Saturday, May 7. Last-minute excitement occurred when bass Dashon Burton '05 was tapped to replace one of the professional singers who became ill; Burton performed the role of the Chamberlain in Le Rossignol in the ailing singer's stead.

The performances were part of two weeks of concerts that coincided with worldwide celebrations of Boulez's 80th birthday and also celebrated the 40th anniversary of his Cleveland Orchestra debut. The other students who joined Burton were soprano Marie Masters '05, who was the soloist in Four Russian Peasant Songs, and tenor Thorsteinn Abjornsson '06, mezzo soprano Robin Hok '06, and tenor Michael Sansoni '07, who all sang minor roles in Le Rossignol.

"These students gained the opportunity to work with one of the greatest orchestras in the world," says Professor of Singing Gerald Crawford of the auditions that led to the performances. "To venture forth in such a fashion, while still an undergraduate, has enormously powerful implications."

Crawford, who is also director of the division of vocal studies, is Burton's teacher. He recounts that on the Tuesday before the performance, Burton was asked if he would assume the role. "He has never worked in Russian and everyone knows the difficulty of Stravinsky's writing," says Crawford. "He was up until 5 a.m. on Wednesday morning preparing for the 10 a.m. rehearsal with Mr. Boulez and the orchestra. The rehearsal went really well; he told me that he was terrified but one would never know!"

Burton ranked with the other lead singers as "superb" in Donald Rosenberg's Plain Dealer review of the concert.

The Cleveland Orchestra opens auditions to voice students when there is a need for performers to sing smaller roles. Music Director Franz Welser-Möst attended the recent auditions and discussed the suitability of the voices with Peter Czornyj, artistic administrator of the orchestra.

	Marie Masters '05

The Cleveland Orchestra began using Oberlin voice majors in the spring of 2003. "To my knowledge," says Crawford, "very few students from other schools have ever been selected because we generally fill the requests for many differing voice types."

Masters says she was thrilled to have this experience in the world of professional singing. "I have learned so much not only from my own experience, but from observing and talking with the other singers. It was also an amazing opportunity to work with a musical genius like Pierre Boulez.

"This has taught me what to expect in a professional environment and how to be graceful and confident under pressure," she adds. "I am so honored to have had this opportunity; I will cherish it always."