[NEohioPAL]New Faculty Appointments at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music

[Marci Janas]

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:			MEDIA CONTACT: Marci Janas
August 30, 2005					440-775-8328 or =
marci.janas at oberlin.edu


THE OBERLIN CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC ANNOUNCES FACULTY APPOINTMENTS FOR=20
2005-2006

Karen Ritscher and Webb Wiggins join faculty

<Editors please note: Digital images available upon request.>


OBERLIN, OHIO =97Faculty appointments at the Oberlin Conservatory of=20
Music for the 2005-2006 academic year announced recently by Dean of the=20=

Conservatory David H. Stull include new members of the string and=20
historical performance divisions. Violist Karen Ritscher joins Peter=20
Slowik on the viola faculty as associate professor of viola, and early=20=

music specialist Webb Wiggins, a long-time faculty member of the=20
Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute, is now associate professor of=20
harpsichord.
	Karen Ritscher, Oberlin=92s new associate professor of viola, is =
a=20
serious proponent of new music. Ritscher has commissioned and premiered=20=

works by many composers, among them Bruce Adolphe, Linda Bouchard,=20
Wendy Mae Chambers, Bright Sheng, Alice Shields, and Chen Yi. A member=20=

of the Manhattan-based Azure Ensemble, a new music group, she has also=20=

been a member of the Aureus Piano Quartet. Her chamber music=20
performances include those with James Oliver Buswell IV, Paul Katz, Ani=20=

Kavafian, and Nathaniel Rosen.
	Ritscher=92s other performance experiences include principal =
violist for=20
the Dallas Opera and the Houston Grand Opera, assistant principal=20
violist for the American Composers Orchestra, and more than 15 years=20
with both the Orchestra of St. Luke=92s and the Orpheus Chamber=20
Orchestra.
	Her music making includes appointments at the Aspen Music =
Festival,=20
the Beijing International Music Festival and Academy, the Bowdoin Music=20=

Festival, the Heifetz International Summer Institute, and the Musicorda=20=

Summer Music Festival. She has also performed with the New York=20
Philharmonic and the Houston Symphony.
	Since 2002, Ritscher has served on the faculty of the Karen =
Tuttle=20
Coordination Workshop, an annual summer workshop that explores Tuttle=92s=20=

physical and emotional approach to the viola. Ritscher has been a=20
featured panelist and performer at the International Viola Congress, a=20=

featured panelist at the American String Teachers Association, and has=20=

presented master classes in Seoul, Korea, the Cleveland Institute of=20
Music, the New England Conservatory of Music, and the Hartt School of=20
Music, among others. Besides her teaching duties, Ritscher is also the=20=

education editor for the Journal of the American Viola Society and=20
author of the column =93In the Studio.=94 She was the string consultant =
for=20
Madeline Bruser=92s The Art of Practicing: A Guide to Making Music from=20=

the Heart, published by Bell Tower Press in 1997, and served as a board=20=

member of the American Viola Society from 1996 to 2002. Ritscher earned=20=

both a bachelor of music degree, with distinction, and a master of=20
music degree from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied viola=20=

with Martha Strongin Katz and Francis Tursi. Additional studies include=20=

those with Karen Tuttle. Ritscher=92s chamber music teachers include=20
Donald Weilerstein, Paul Katz, and Aldo Parisot.
	With specializations in harpsichord, continuo, and instrumental =
and=20
vocal chamber music, Oberlin=92s new Associate Professor of Harpsichord=20=

Webb Wiggins, who was visiting professor of harpsichord at Oberlin=20
during the 1993-1994 academic year, has been a faculty member of the=20
Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute, America's premiere summer=20
workshop for baroque instruments and voice, since 1985, and served in a=20=

similar capacity for the Amherst Early Music Institute in=20
Massachusetts. Wiggins coordinated the Early Music Program at the=20
Peabody Conservatory of Music at the Johns Hopkins University, where he=20=

was a member of the faculty from 1986 until 2005, and where he served=20
as musical director of baroque operas in the Peabody opera department. =20=

He has also taught harpsichord at Princeton University, the University=20=

of Pennsylvania, and George Mason University, and was assistant to the=20=

director of the chamber music program at the Smithsonian Institution=20
from 1985 to 1989, where he maintains an active performance and=20
teaching relationship.
	Wiggins has performed extensively throughout the United States, =
the=20
Netherlands, Taiwan and New Zealand as a soloist and with such=20
ensembles as Apollo=92s Fire, Hesperus, Pomerium, the Smithsonian =
Chamber=20
Orchestra, the Baltimore Consort, the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, the=20=

Folger Consort, Tempesta di Mare, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the=20
National Symphony Orchestra, and the Philadelphia Classical Orchestra.
	He earned a bachelor of music degree from Stetson University in =
1967=20
and a master of music degree from the Eastman School of Music in 1968.=20=

He also studied at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam.
	The Oberlin Conservatory of Music, founded in 1865 and situated =
within=20
the intellectual vitality of Oberlin College since 1867, is the oldest=20=

continuously operating conservatory in the United States. Renowned=20
internationally as a professional music school of the highest caliber=20
and pronounced a =93national treasure=94 by the Washington Post, =
Oberlin=92s=20
alumni have gone on to achieve illustrious careers in all aspects of=20
the serious music world. Many of them have attained stature as solo=20
performers, composers, and conductors, among them Jennifer Koh, Steven=20=

Isserlis, Denyce Graves, Franco Farina, Lisa Saffer, George Walker,=20
Christopher Rouse, David Zinman, and Robert Spano. All of the members=20
of the contemporary music ensembles eighth blackbird and the=20
International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) are Oberlin graduates, and=20
members of the Mir=F3, Pacifica, Juilliard, and Fry Street quartets,=20
among others, include Oberlin alumni, who also can be found in major=20
orchestras and opera companies throughout the world.
# # #

Media Contact Only:
Marci Janas
440-775-8328

=09

Marci Janas
Director of Conservatory Media Relations
Oberlin Conservatory of Music
39 West College Street
Oberlin, OH  44074
www.oberlin.edu/con
(P) 440-775-8328
(F) 440-775-5457
marci.janas at oberlin.edu=

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<underline>

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:</underline>			<underline>MEDIA
CONTACT:</underline> Marci Janas

August 30, 2005					440-775-8328 or
=
<underline><color><param>0000,0000,FFFF</param>marci.janas at oberlin.edu</co=
lor></underline>



<center><bold><bigger>THE OBERLIN CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC ANNOUNCES
FACULTY APPOINTMENTS FOR 2005-2006</bigger>


Karen Ritscher and Webb Wiggins join faculty


<<Editors please note: Digital images available upon request.>



</bold></center><bigger>OBERLIN, OHIO =97Faculty appointments at the
Oberlin Conservatory of Music for the 2005-2006 academic year
announced recently by Dean of the Conservatory David H. Stull include
new members of the string and historical performance divisions.
Violist Karen Ritscher joins Peter Slowik on the viola faculty as
associate professor of viola, and early music specialist Webb Wiggins,
a long-time faculty member of the Oberlin Baroque Performance
Institute, is now associate professor of harpsichord.

	<bold>Karen Ritscher</bold>, Oberlin=92s new <bold>associate =
professor
of viola</bold>, is a serious proponent of new music. Ritscher has
commissioned and premiered works by many composers, among them Bruce
Adolphe, Linda Bouchard, Wendy Mae Chambers, Bright Sheng, Alice
Shields, and Chen Yi. A member of the Manhattan-based Azure Ensemble,
a new music group, she has also been a member of the Aureus Piano
Quartet. Her chamber music performances include those with James
Oliver Buswell IV, Paul Katz, Ani Kavafian, and Nathaniel Rosen.=20

	Ritscher=92s other performance experiences include principal =
violist
for the Dallas Opera and the Houston Grand Opera, assistant principal
violist for the American Composers Orchestra, and more than 15 years
with both the Orchestra of St. Luke=92s and the Orpheus Chamber
Orchestra.=20

	Her music making includes appointments at the Aspen Music =
Festival,
the Beijing International Music Festival and Academy, the Bowdoin
Music Festival, the Heifetz International Summer Institute, and the
Musicorda Summer Music Festival. She has also performed with the New
York Philharmonic and the Houston Symphony.=20

	Since 2002, Ritscher has served on the faculty of the Karen =
Tuttle
Coordination Workshop, an annual summer workshop that explores
Tuttle=92s physical and emotional approach to the viola. Ritscher has
been a featured panelist and performer at the International Viola
Congress, a featured panelist at the American String Teachers
Association, and has presented master classes in Seoul, Korea, the
Cleveland Institute of Music, the New England Conservatory of Music,
and the Hartt School of Music, among others. Besides her teaching
duties, Ritscher is also the education editor for the <italic>Journal
of the American Viola Society</italic> and author of the column =93In
the Studio.=94 She was the string consultant for Madeline Bruser=92s
<italic>The Art of Practicing: A Guide to Making Music from the
Heart</italic>, published by Bell Tower Press in 1997, and served as a
board member of the American Viola Society from 1996 to 2002. Ritscher
earned both a bachelor of music degree, with distinction, and a master
of music degree from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied
viola with Martha Strongin Katz and Francis Tursi. Additional studies
include those with Karen Tuttle. Ritscher=92s chamber music teachers
include Donald Weilerstein, Paul Katz, and Aldo Parisot.</bigger>

<bigger>	With specializations in harpsichord, continuo, and
instrumental and vocal chamber music, Oberlin=92s new<bold> Associate
Professor of Harpsichord Webb Wiggins,</bold> who was visiting
professor of harpsichord at Oberlin during the 1993-1994 academic
year, has been a faculty member of the Oberlin Baroque Performance
Institute, America's premiere summer workshop for baroque instruments
and voice, since 1985, and served in a similar capacity for the
Amherst Early Music Institute in Massachusetts. Wiggins coordinated
the Early Music Program at the Peabody Conservatory of Music at the
Johns Hopkins University, where he was a member of the faculty from
1986 until 2005, and where he served as musical director of baroque
operas in the Peabody opera department.  He has also taught
harpsichord at Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania,
and George Mason University, and was assistant to the director of the
chamber music program at the Smithsonian Institution from 1985 to
1989, where he maintains an active performance and teaching
relationship.

	Wiggins has performed extensively throughout the United States, =
the
Netherlands, Taiwan and New Zealand as a soloist and with such
ensembles as Apollo=92s Fire, Hesperus, Pomerium, the Smithsonian
Chamber Orchestra, the Baltimore Consort, the Baltimore Chamber
Orchestra, the Folger Consort, Tempesta di Mare, the Atlanta Symphony
Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the Philadelphia
Classical Orchestra.=20

	He earned a bachelor of music degree from Stetson University in =
1967
and a master of music degree from the Eastman School of Music in 1968.
He also studied at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam.

<bold>	The Oberlin Conservatory of Music</bold>, founded in 1865 and
situated within the intellectual vitality of Oberlin College since
1867, is the oldest continuously operating conservatory in the United
States. Renowned internationally as a professional music school of the
highest caliber and pronounced a =93national treasure=94 by the
<italic>Washington Post,</italic> Oberlin=92s alumni have gone on to
achieve illustrious careers in all aspects of the serious music world.
Many of them have attained stature as solo performers, composers, and
conductors, among them Jennifer Koh, Steven Isserlis, Denyce Graves,
Franco Farina, Lisa Saffer, George Walker, Christopher Rouse, David
Zinman, and Robert Spano. All of the members of the contemporary music
ensembles eighth blackbird and the International Contemporary Ensemble
(ICE) are Oberlin graduates, and members of the Mir=F3, Pacifica,
Juilliard, and Fry Street quartets, among others, include Oberlin
alumni, who also can be found in major orchestras and opera companies
throughout the world.

</bigger><center># # #

</center>

Media Contact Only:

Marci Janas

440-775-8328


=09


Marci Janas

Director of Conservatory Media Relations

Oberlin Conservatory of Music

39 West College Street

Oberlin, OH  44074

www.oberlin.edu/con

(P) 440-775-8328

(F) 440-775-5457

marci.janas at oberlin.edu=

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