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FOUR
OBERLIN CONSERVATORY STUDENTS WIN
CONCERTO COMPETITION
DECEMBER 4, 2003—Prokofiev was the composer of the hour—and the lucky charm—at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music’s 2003 Concerto Competition, held Saturday, Oct. 11, in Finney Chapel.
Of the four winners, three performed works by the Russian master. The four musicians, selected from among 18 finalists, have secured spots as soloists with the Oberlin Orchestra and Oberlin Chamber Orchestra during the 2003-04 season. All concerts, which are free and open to the public, will take place in Finney Chapel with Steven Smith, associate professor of conducting and music director of the Oberlin orchestras, conducting three of them. Two concerts in the spring are scheduled for live broadcast on WCLV-104.9 FM, Cleveland’s classical music radio station.
This year’s winners include one violinist, one tenor, and two pianists. Violinist Gared Crawford ’04, of Houston, Texas, studies with Professor of Violin Gregory Fulkerson. Tenor Arthur Espiritu, an artist diploma candidate and a native of Rizal, Philippines, studies with Professor of Singing Richard Miller. Pianist Scott Meek ’05, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is a student of Associate Professor of Piano Alvin Chow. Taisiya Pushkar ’04, born in Kishinev, Moldova, but now of Brooklyn, New York, studies with Professor of Piano Lydia Frumkin.
Espiritu, the non-Prokofiev winner, performed Mozart’s aria Misero! O sogno! O son desto, K. 431. He reprised the work in concert with the Oberlin Chamber Orchestra Nov. 7.
Crawford will perform his winning Prokofiev Violin Concerto in D major with the Oberlin Chamber Orchestra Dec. 7 at 8 p.m. in Finney Chapel.
Meek will appear with the Oberlin Orchestra March 5, performing Prokofiev’s Concerto No. 3. Glen Cortese, the newly appointed music director and conductor of the Oregon Mozart Players and music director of the New York Chamber Sinfonia, will serve as guest conductor for this concert, which will be broadcast live on WCLV, 104.9 FM, and which also includes Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture, op. 80, and Respighi’s Fountains of Rome and Pines of Rome.
Rounding out the Prokofiev season, Pushkar will play his Concerto No. 1 with the Oberlin Orchestra, conducted by Steven Smith, May 9. This concert, which will also be broadcast live on WCLV, includes Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, performed by Oberlin’s Musical Union, conducted by Hugh Floyd, and Charles Ives’ Symphony No. 4.
As in previous years, according to Dean of the Conservatory Robert Dodson, "the level of talent was such that the process of choosing only four finalists was a challenging one. The judges, however, acquitted themselves admirably in the task."
Each year the competition jury is composed of one faculty member from each performance division, one faculty member from a nonperformance division, and an external adjudicator.
This year’s judges were Professor of Composition and Music Theory Randolph Coleman; Assistant Professor of Clarinet Richard Hawkins; Assistant Professor of Violin Kyung Sun Lee; Associate Professor of Singing Lorraine Manz; Professor of Piano Peter Takàcs; Associate Professor of Conducting and Music Director of the Oberlin Orchestras Steven Smith; and, returning for his second stint as juror, Robert Sherman, host of the McGraw-Hill Companies’ Young Artists Showcase on WQXR, the classical music radio station of the New York Times.
"It was wonderfully encouraging to encounter one fine talent after another, to hear a parade of performances that projected confidence, assurance, and deep musical understanding," says Sherman. "Good for all of these student artists, and bravo to their Oberlin mentors as well."
The Oberlin Conservatory of Music, founded in 1865, became part of Oberlin College in 1867. It is the oldest, continuously operating conservatory in the United States, and is renowned internationally as a professional music school of the highest caliber situated within the intellectual vitality of a liberal arts college.
Media Contact: Marci Janas
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