Orchestra Plays Getty Center

John Williams Conducts Oberlin Orchestra In L.A.

Far from the comparatively unglamorous Finney Chapel, the Oberlin orchestra performed at the Getty Center last week under the direction of Academy Award winner John Williams. A repeat performance of their Oct. 8 concert at Oberlin, the set, while varied ‹ coupling Mozart's Symphony No. 35 with three pieces from the film Schindler's List ‹ was also thematically cohesive, according to fourth year mezzo-soprano Laurie Rubin. "You feel like the pieces are meant to go together," said Rubin, soloist in the evening's performance of Samuel Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915. She described the mood as nostalgic.

Acting College president Clayton Koppes felt the concert's success indicates Oberlin's unique role among colleges. "No other college in the country could've done what Oberlin did at the Getty." he said. "The orchestra played superbly under John Williams. This is the kind of event that really makes you proud of Oberlin. I think it was also very valuable for the college in establishing and deepening ties with alumni and friends in the L.A area."

By all accounts, Williams' international fame made him no less approachable to Oberlin students. "He was so easy to work with," Rubin said, "so laid back, so comfortable."

Sophomore violinist Julia Sakharova played the solo on the pieces from Schindler's List. "He did a remarkable job," Sakharoova said, "reflecting all different kinds of emotions and feelings that Jewish people had during the Second World War."

According to Rubin, the concert was an opportunity to "reach out to the alumni and people in the L.A area." 350 people from the West coast attended, including parents, alumni, members of the L.A philharmonic, and members of the L.A school district.

Three curators at the Getty center are, in fact, Oberlin alumni. Thomas Krens, Mark Leonard, and Kirk Barstow, Koppes said, "are some of the most highly regarded curators in their field. Again, it brings home Oberlin's eminence in the arts generally."

The orchestra stayed in L.A from Sunday, Oct. 15 until Wednesday, Oct. 18, performing Tuesday night. Given the variety of pieces performed, Rubin felt the concert "brought the musician audience together with those who don't know as much about music." In this vein, Williams's two encores were the themes from E.T. and Raiders of the Lost Ark ‹ guaranteed crowd pleasers.

Rubin's performance, she said, "was the first time in my life that I went up there feeling as relaxed as I did." Knoxville: Summer of 1915, a prose poem by James Agee set to music by Samuel Barber, is, Rubin said, "a memory of childhood, of a summer evening." Due to its prose, the piece was rhythmically challenging. "You definitely get the sense that there's no form," Rubin said. However, the backdrop of the orchestra provided the necessary support, what Rubin described as "a field of sound." This spirit of collaborative support made the evening an irrefutable success.