Despite the cloud put on the Danenberg Honors Recital by the mandatory attendance policy (and ironically, the somewhat poor attendance), the musicians on stage showed the true range and talent of the Conservatory student body.

The program opened with Artist Diploma student Anastasia Dedik playing Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz followed by senior Meagan Brus, assisted by Karen Piranian, singing Hans Pfitzner’s Alte Weisen. Brus completely embodied the spirit of Alte Weisen, changing her mannerisms almost every phrase to match the spirit of that individual line of poetry. Piranian’s playing was equally poised and full of personality.

Next on the program was junior harpist Sarah Oliver, playing Carlos Salzedo’s Scintillation. I have seen Oliver play Scinatillation a number of times now, and this was by far her best performance. The variety of colors and styles she brought to the work (which has a tendency to sound square) made the piece come to life. My favorite part of the whole program was when Oliver smiled in the final bars, knowing she had nailed the piece and revealing that she’d managed to have fun doing it.

The program continued with first-year clarinetist Boris Allakhverdyan playing Edison Denisov’s Sonata for Clarinet, followed by Plateaus, a piece written by student composer junior Timothy Rosser and conducted by sophomore Dana Sadava.

The program ended with an encore played by senior Vlado Pupinoski, first-year Konstantin Dobroykov, senior Max Hellermann and Robert Adkins.

Although Brus’s and Oliver’s performances were my favorites, every performer played beautifully. It was such a pleasure to have so many of the Conservatory’s best performers playing on the same stage.

It is impossible to write about the honor’s recital at Oberlin without mentioning the tremendous changes this event has undergone in the last year. These changes include a move from Warner to Finney, an unenforced attendance policy making it mandatory for all Conservatory students and faculty to attend and a disorienting shuffling of dates and times.

One possible reason for the mandatory attendance policy is so that, in a time of increasing compartmentalization of study, the students in the Conservatory have at least one shared experience of this incredible breadth of talent. I think this is an excellent goal. As a harpist, I rarely see a vocal recital, a historic performance concert or a jazz performance.

Unfortunately, the conservatory has not been successful in getting all Conservatory students to attend. The honor’s recital on Tuesday night had nowhere near the whole Conservatory student body in attendance. And many of the people who were there resented the pressure of the mandatory attendance policy. Also, because of the size of the audience, Finney had a hollow, cold atmosphere.

I recommend moving the honor’s recital back to Warner, dropping the mandatory attendance policy, closing down the Conservatory for an hour or two and having the recital in the middle of the day. If there were truly no other musical commitments during the honor’s recital and it took place in the same building in which Conservatory students spend the bulk of their day, there would be a much higher turnout. Overall, the concert highlighted the organization’s unrealized potential.

The Conservatory has a commendable goal for this biannual performance, but they need to continue working out practical details to realize this objective.