Students Perform at Kennedy Center

Seven conservatory students traveled to Washington, D.C., last weekend to perform at the Kennedy Center as part of the center’s Conservatory Project.

Their concert of 20th-century works took place Sunday, April 14, and opened with violinist Zou Yu ’13, accompanied by pianist Joseph Hauer, a junior, in a performance of Witold Lutslawski’s episodic Subito. Pianist Gregory Wang, a senior, followed with Igor Stravinsky’s brilliant Pétrouchka. Wang’s classmate Wyatt Underhill, violin, joined him for Arnold Schoenberg’s twelve-tone Phantasy for Violin with Piano Accompaniment, Op. 47. The concert concluded with Heitor Villa-Lobos’ ingenious Trio for Oboe, Clarinet, and Bassoon, with sophomores Timothy Daniels, oboe; Jesse McCandless, clarinet; and Benjamin Roidl-Ward, bassoon.


The Conservatory Project, part of the Kennedy Center’s Performing Arts for Everyone initiative, provides a platform for the best musicians from American conservatories and introduces the next generation of performers to Washington, D.C. audiences. Oberlin has presented concerts in the series every year since its inception in 2004.

These annual off campus concerts are “important performance opportunities for young musicians,” says Dean of the Conservatory David H. Stull. “The experience gained is invaluable to their professional training.”

The April 14 concert was live streamed, and a video of the entire performance, as well as those of all Oberlin performances in the Conservatory Project series, are archived on the Conservatory Project website.