Oberlin Portrait: Anna Rubin by Michael Chipman
	Excerpts from: "Family Stories: Sophie, Sally" by Anna Rubin and Laurie Hollander, 1997 [ 0:34 - 2:04 ] • 56k modem (slower) • 112k IDN (faster) [ 2:19 - 3:15 ] • 56k modem (slower) • 112k ISDN (faster) Behind-the-scene looks into concerts and events Preview CD's released by faculty, staff & students Past articles from the Oberlin Portrait NOTES: Family Stories: Sophie, Sally is a text/sound piece using narrative, sampled ambient sounds and computer-generated music. It tells the story of Anna Rubin's mother, Sophie Rubin, the child of Russian Jewish immigrants in Atlanta. Sophie became ill and then died when Anna was seven, and Anna was raised by an African-American woman, Sally, who had been hired by the family to care for the children. The racism and anti-Semitism in early 20th century Atlanta are the atmosphere in which this story of a child's unbearable loss -- the death of her birth mother and then the departure of her surrogate mother -- is told. The text was written by Anna Rubin with help from actress/choreographer Aleta Hayes who portrays Sally in song and text.		Anna Rubin, Assistant Professor of Music Composition PHOTOGRAPH BY Michael Chipman Anna Rubin, assistant professor of composition, has created a striking variety of works, which often draw their lyrical and dramatic power from the voice. Whether sung, spoken or cried, whether instrumental or electro-acoustic, her works explore extremes of the human condition -- a father's nightmares, starvation in the Arctic, the horror of the Holocaust. Her most recent work, Family Stories: Sophie, Sally blends biography, race relations and a poignant recreation of the turn-of-the-century South. In this piece the music is literally drawn out of the recorded speaking voice to create a quilt of luscious harmonies. Friday, February 19 Anna Rubin Talks About "Family Stories: Sophie, Sally" Women Faculty Brown Bag Lunch/Colloquium Wilder 112 12:15-1:15 Free and open to the public. What is your first memory of music? I like to answer that question by telling an anecdote about a little 78 rpm record my mother had made during the war years for my older sister during a trip to New York. I used to play this record over and over of my mother's voice: talking about visiting the Empire State Building and seeing the Rockettes. I loved the rise and fall of her voice. I loved repeating it endlessly. It was music to my ears. How old were you when you started playing music? Five years old. What inspired you to be a musician? What keeps you inspired on discouraging days? The sounds in my head. The sounds of the world. Music in general. What is the most memorable performance you have ever seen and why? Probably a 1984 performance of Stockhausen's Trans in Rotterdam. It was magical. If you could perform with one musician living or dead, who would it be and what would you perform? I'd sing chant with Hildegard. If you could master another instrument, what would it be? MIDI glove. If you couldn't be a musician what profession would you choose? Which profession would you definitely not choose? I almost became a psychologist. Wouldn't be a marine. What do you listen to after a long day? Eliane Radigue's long, minimal, Buddhist-inspired, electro-acoustic music. What do you like to read? Topical left political magazines, child psychology, poetry, music analysis. The three words that best describe you: Intense, juggling, mirthful.