Quayle on vegetarians, art, and leaving Oberlin

Accomplished composer also happens to be a student

As audience members of Chances will agree after this weekend, it will be a pity for Oberlin to lose Matt Quayle this December when he graduates. Quayle, a composition and piano double major in the conservatory, wrote and composed the musical which will be performed in Wilder Main.

"This musical is sort of a step aside from the classical work I was doing in Oberlin, sort of a return to what I was doing when I was younger." Quayle says.

Quayle grew up with musical theater, but Oberlin provided a change with its overwhelmingly classical teaching revolving mainly around opera. Both art forms combine music and acting but in very different and sometimes conflicting ways. For this work, with its comedy and text, Quayle found a musical theater structure to work better than that of an opera.

Having lived in three OSCA co-ops Quayle has had substantial experience with some of the topics raised in Chances. Vegitarianism and meat-policy is certainly a much discussed topic in the dining co-ops and adding Oprah to the mix makes for a very interesting and entertaining show indeed.

Quayle proposed the idea to OMTA (Oberlin Musical Theater Association) last fall, and it was accepted. The group has been very supportive, as this type of student composed and written work is exactly what they are looking to promote. Quayle started the search for a staff and this fall production was well underway.

While Chances is definitely a musical, much of its influence came from opera. With some hopes that his work could start to bridge the ever-widening gap between opera and musical theater, Quayle takes into account the two schools of thought. Classical music's movement from the vernacular to the more intellectual can be very problematic in addressing varying audiences. Quayle did not set out to write a pop musical but it seemed very appropriate for the story.

"I've never been really able to reconcile myself with opera...especially with comedy," Quayle points out.

While his structure, harmonies, and chord combinations certainly come from his classical education, he also recognizes the validity of musical theater as an art form. On the other hand, several professors here do not, seeing participation in a musical to be too dangerous to a voice major's vocal chords. Part of the training in singing opera, Quayle counters, is in the support of the voice and thus this teaching should be able to be transfered to musicals and other more pop-style singing.

The musical format fits the piece not only in style and tone, but in that much of the work revolves around the text. Often in opera the music is more central than the text, and the words become hard to fully understand. Musicals work hard to make sure that their text is enunciated and understood, as it is often the text that links the different music numbers.

That Quayle both wrote and composed this work is also unusual, since usually composers collaborate with others who specialize in the writing. This puts a good amount of responsibility on one person to complete both a coherent musical arrangement and a strong text. In this case, the two have influenced one another quite a deal with some of the words stemming from the music and vice versa.

Quayle has much more experience in the composing side of things, however. His last week's performance at Finney Chapel as part of the Conservatory's concerto competition proves both that Quayle has been extremely busy lately, and is in the top of his class. Seven students were selected to perform in this series which will last throughout the year. With Tim Weiss conducting the first concert Quayle's week begins and ends with exciting performances very different from one another.

His claims to fame are not even limited to the United States, let alone Oberlin. Through a link made by a professor here at Oberlin, Quayle was able to meet a director at the Almeida Theatre in London and subsequently in 1996 have a piece of his played there during a "Concert of American Music." In addition, through this director he was able to make further connections. Currently three of his songs, "Three Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins," are being performed by the New London Children's Choir. For someone still completing his degree, Quayle is well on his way to securing his hold in the professional music world.

Upon being grilled about what awaits in his future as he sees it, Quayle seems calm. He does not know what will happen beyond the six months after his December graduation which he will spend in England. He does not see himself living in England forever but with his success so far it seems he will do well wherever he is geographically.