For prospective Conservatory students whose schedules didn’t allow them a chance to sit in on a rehearsal of the Oberlin College Choir or meet with a hoped-for teacher, the Conservatory web site is now the next best thing to being there.

April 2008 saw the launch of a dynamic new web feature: videos of Conservatory faculty in several modes of discourse and activity. Faculty are shown giving lessons, rehearsing ensembles, performing, and, of course, talking—about their thoughts on music, their philosophy of teaching, and what every young conservatory student should know.

David H. Stull, Dean of the Conservatory, wanted to introduce more sound and movement to the Conservatory’s web site. He found the perfect facilitator when Daniel Schloss, a 2007 graduate of the College, submitted, on spec, a video he had created about the Conservatory’s U.S. premiere of Lost Highway. Impressed, Stull hired the budding filmmaker on the spot as the Conservatory’s Director of Media Production. Based in New York City, Schloss traveled to Oberlin several times during the 2007-08 academic year to begin shooting. The web pages of 19 faculty members now have a video clip, and just as many are in the editing stage. Schloss will return to campus in May to document even more.

To view the videos, visit http://www.oberlin.edu/con/divinfo/videos.html/.