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Timothy Weiss

“Our job is to bring to life new works.” The Director of Oberlin’s renowned Contemporary Music Ensemble discusses his work in our new series of video profiles.

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Peter Slowik

“Oberlin students are known in the musical community for the way they continue to learn,” notes Professor of Viola Peter Slowik. That, he says, is the mark of an Oberlin education.

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David Breitman

The next best thing to studying historical performance, says David Breitman, would be a lesson with C.P.E. Bach himself. And that’s not possible. Or is it?

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Jan Miyake

“Talking about music is very difficult,” acknowledges Assistant Professor of Music Theory Jan Miyake, but studying its form can help students understand more.

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Kendra Colton

Combining a career as a teacher with an active performing schedule is a win-win for Assistant Professor of Voice Kendra Colton and her students.

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Marilyn McDonald

“Oberlin is fertile ground for teaching, musically and intellectually,” says Professor of Violin Marilyn McDonald

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Peter Swendsen

As technology becomes ubiquitous in daily life, Assistant Professor of TIMARA Peter Swendsen says, artists must explore new ways of communicating.

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Peter Dominguez

While at school and once they graduate, Oberlin jazz students have many opportunities to perform and learn, says Professor of Jazz Studies and Double Bass Peter Dominguez.

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Peggy Bennett

Meet the youngest students at Oberlin Conservatory: pre- schoolers in Professor of Music Education Peggy Bennett’s Music Play classes, part of Oberlin’s music education program.

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Michel Debost

“The meeting of a musician with his instrument is like a love affair,” says Professor of Flute Michel Debost, still in love with the flute after 65 years playing and teaching.

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Monique Duphil

Sure, it may be in rural Ohio, but to Professor of Piano Monique Duphil, Oberlin is “a whole world in miniature,” where students from all over the globe come to study.

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Joanne Erwin

In Professor of Music Education Joanne Erwin’s conducting class, students learn what it’s like to be “on the other side of the baton.”

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Hugh Floyd

“The rehearsal,” says Director of Choral Ensembles Hugh Floyd, “is the most exciting part of the process for me” in working with Oberlin’s three choruses.

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Daune Mahy

From opera to the Oberlin- -in-Italy immersion program to diction classes, there are many opportunities for Oberlin singers to hone their craft, says Professor of Singing Daune Mahy.

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Lewis Nielson

Oberlin students “are so motivated to play contemporary music,” says Professor of Composition Lewis Nielson, making Oberlin a great place to be as a composer.

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Steven Plank

Academia, teaching, and performance have always interested Professor of Musicology Steven Plank, and he says Oberlin helps keep all of his many interests alive.

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Michael Rosen

Most people don’t realize it, he says, but Professor of Percussion Michael Rosen knows that “percussion is more than just rhythm.”

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George Sakakeeny

When was the last time you heard four bassoons? Professor Sakakeeny’s Oberlin Bassoon Quartet brings this unique sound to venues around the world.

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Webb Wiggins

Associate Professor of Harpsichord Webb Wiggins teaches his students how to make an Instrument that he says is patently unmusical—with no dynamics, no sustain—sing.

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Alex Klein

Professor of Oboe Alex Klein strives to prepare Conservatory students for tomorrow's musical demands, a mission he says is in line with Oberlin's progressive social legacy.

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Bridget Reischl

Bridget Michaele-Reischl, Music Director of Oberlin's orchestras, keeps her finger on the pulse of what's happening in the professional world and brings that knowledge to her work with Oberlin players.

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Charles McGuire

According to Associate Professor of Musicology Charles McGuire, “Music is not just something that's in a concert hall.” The interaction between music and society is a focus in many of his music history courses.

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Darrett Adkins

Assistant Professor of Cello Darrett Adkins feels he best serves his students by maintaining his own vibrant performing career, staying intimately connected to what it's like to be on stage.

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David Bowlin

Assistant Professor of Violin David Bowlin, an Oberlin alum himself, helps his students discover an entire “world of sound” within their instrument.

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Gary Bartz

“Musicians don't see categories,” says Visiting Professor of Jazz Saxophone Gary Bartz. Great music, he says, transcends labels like ‘classical’ or ‘jazz.’

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James David Christie

James David Christie, Professor of Organ, says Oberlin is an “organ paradise.” Christie has played throughout the world, but, he says, “There’s no school that has the facilities that Oberlin has.”

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Jody Kerchner

Associate Professor of Music Education Jody Kerchner helps Oberlin students learn how to teach many different kinds of pupils, in part because she believe that “every child is innately born a musician.”

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Lydia Frumkin

Professor of Piano Lydia Frumkin is dedicated to helping her students develop the sound, the technical ability, and the intelligence that will allow them to bring composers' ideas to life.

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Peter Takács

For Professor of Piano Peter Takács, a musical score is a point of departure, full of possibilities, but in need of a personal interpretation to truly come to life.

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Robert Walters

At Oberlin, oboe students can also study English horn, bass oboe, and baroque oboe, an opportunity, says Associate Professor of Oboe and English Horn Robert Walters, that makes for “a very complete professional oboist.”

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Robin Eubanks

Improvisation is like a conversation in the language of music, says Associate Professor of Jazz Trombone Robin Eubanks. “If you're going to speak in jazz, you have to learn the vocabulary.”

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Roland Pandolfi

The days of specializing are gone for horn players, says Professor of Horn Roland Pandolfi. He teaches his students how to be the sort of player that orchestras now expect: one who can “do everything.”

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Salvatore Champagne

As an undergraduate at Oberlin, Salvatore Champagne, now Associate Professor of Singing, learned and performed operatic roles he later took to professional European stages. Oberlin’s focus on undergraduates, he says, is a tremendous benefit to students.

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Scott Haigh

“My goal as a teacher is to make myself obsolete,” says Teacher of Double Bass Scott Haigh. By training his students to be keen observers, Haigh makes them their own best teachers.

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Sedmara Rutstein

The piano holds a spectrum of sound possibilities that Professor of Piano Sedmara Rutstein likens to an entire symphony orchestra. As a pianist, she says, “You play many instruments.”

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Wendell Logan

“This is our classical music,” says Wendell Logan, Professor of African-American Music. Jazz, he says, is perfectly at home at the Conservatory: “I think that the music belongs here just as much as Americans belong on this soil.”

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Yolanda Kondonassis

To build her career as a successful solo harpist, Assistant Professor of Harp Yolanda Kondonassis has had to advocate, not just for herself, but also for her instrument. She passes that dedication on to her students.

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Tom Lopez

TIMARA Professor Tom Lopez tells us how new technology makes it possible for composers to manipulate audio and video in real time … and then he shows us, using his own video profile as the raw material.

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Milan Vitek

When he was six years old, Professor of Violin Milan Vitek asked his parents for a violin. There were no musicians in his family, but he knew that, in the violin, he had discovered a “never-ending love.”

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