Campus News

This Week in Photos: Tiny, but Mighty

March 4, 2022

Yvonne Gay

A violinist and guitarist play instruments in a library.
Third-year students Jake and Eliza Balmuth perform on violin and guitar in the conservatory library.
Photo credit: Yvonne Gay

After a five minute delay to the start of the program, Public Services Librarian Kathleen Abromeit inches her way to the back of the conservatory library, then pauses. “Should we give it another five minutes,” she asks, looking around the room. She’s excited. After a two-year hiatus Abromeit will announce the library’s first Tiny Ref Desk Concert. The program’s return also serves as inspiration for this week’s photo series.

Two students holding a violin and guitar speak with fellow students in a library.
Jake and Eliza Balmuth speak with their peers at the end of the concert. Photo credit: Yvonne Gay

The Tiny Ref Desk Concerts are modeled after the popular NPR Tiny Desk concert series: 20-minute intimate performances in a noise-free environment. 

Abromeit launched Oberlin’s rendition of the concerts in the fall of 2018. By December 2019, 10 guest performers, faculty, and students had taken the tiny concert stage, fulfilling what Abromeit had hoped: challenging the stereotypes of a library and bringing it to life. The last concert—given just before the height of the pandemic—was held in March 2020 by a group of women who performed suffrage songs as part of Oberlin’s Women's Leadership and Suffrage programming.

On March 1, after a small delay to allow for more guests to make their way to the conservatory library, Abromeit welcomed siblings Jake and Eliza Balmuth to the tiny stage. After the concert visitors were invited to a pop-up Women’s History Month exhibit in the Special Collections room. A woodwinds quintessence concert is scheduled for April 28. See more photos from the March concert on Oberlin's Flicker page.

Our tour continues with stops at Olympus, The Puppy Episode, a Festival of Ideas, Allen Mercy Hospital, and Dye Lecture Hall

 


A group of students in a play stand facing the audience.
In the premiere of Olympus by Cyril Amanfo ’22, young people of color recognize their spiritual, mental, and emotional immortality—and in claiming their power, they discover their ability to heal themselves and others. Photo credit: John Seyfried
A boy and girl in a play speak to each other.
The Winter Term opera—The Puppy Episode—was performed in Warner Concert Hall. The opera was based on the two-part episode of Ellen DeGeneres’ eponymous sitcom that aired in spring 1997. “The Puppy Episode” marked—in hilarious fashion—the long-rumored coming out of the program’s central character as well as the comedian who portrayed her. Photo credit: Yevhen Gulenko
Five students stand next to a table and large chart.

The Festival of Ideas in the Science Center Commons celebrated research and projects performed by students during Winter Term. Students at this table demonstrate their “In or out” project—an automated tennis line calling system. Members in the project included Suvan Agarwal ’23, Ben Chermside ’25, Griffin O’Neal-Freeman ’24, Sydney Paunan ’25, and Katie Siegfried ’25. Photo credit: Courtesy of the Office of Communications
A woman speaks at a podium.

Award-winning author and Oberlin College Writer-in-Residence Molly Antopol gave a public reading of her book, the UnAmericans, in Dye Lecture Hall. Antopol was joined on stage by Associate Professor of Creative Writing Emily Barton and Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature and Jewish Studies Sheera Talpaz for a discussion and question and answer session. During her week-long residency, Antopol also workshopped with students in classes taught by Barton and Talpaz. Photo credit: Yvonne Gay
A girl leans against an emergency room sign in front of a hospital.
Jackie Brick ’24 stands next to the emergency entrance of the Allen Mercy Hospital in Oberlin. Brick interned as an ER assistant at Mercy during Winter Term. Photo credit: Yvonne Gay

 

This Week in Photos is a selection of images and is not meant to represent a weekly timeline. Images highlight campus, community, people, and events related to Oberlin College.

 

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