[NEohioPAL] Construction Begins on the Phyllis Litoff Building, Oberlin's Environmentally Innovative New Home for Jazz Studies

[Marci Janas]

Media Contact Only:
Marci Janas, Director of Conservatory Media Relations
440-775-8328 (office); 440-667-2724 (cell); marci.janas at oberlin.edu


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

*CONSTRUCTION BEGINS ON ENVIRONMENTALLY INNOVATIVE PHYLLIS LITOFF BUILDING,
OBERLIN'S NEW HOME FOR JAZZ STUDIES *

OBERLIN, OHIO (August 13, 2008)—The syncopated sounds of jackhammers and
backhoes heralded the much-anticipated groundbreaking for the Phyllis Litoff
Building on July 30, 2008, when site clearing for the project began on the
Oberlin College campus. Construction on the environmentally innovative home
for jazz studies at Oberlin's Conservatory of Music began in earnest on
August 8, 2008. Krill Construction of Cleveland, Ohio, is the general
contractor for the project, which is expected to take 14 months to complete.
Plans are for the building to open during fall semester 2009, and
arrangements are being made for a gala dedication ceremony and grand
opening. More detailed information will be announced at a later date.

Oberlin's intentions for the building are manifold. Besides housing
Oberlin's renowned Jazz Studies Department and a world-class recording
studio, the Litoff Building will also provide a vibrant archive for the
largest privately held jazz recording collection in America. The
Conservatory's academic programs in music history and music theory will
relocate to the new facility, which will also stand as a permanent tribute
to two individuals: Wendell Logan, Professor of African American Music and
Chair of the Jazz Studies Department, and the late Phyllis Litoff, beloved
New York City jazz impresario and cofounder of the famed jazz club Sweet
Basil.

The architectural firm of Westlake, Reed, Leskosky (WRL) has designed the
ambitious facility to meet these various goals, all while striving to hit
the high bar that Oberlin has set for the building's environmental
sustainability: to become the first music facility in the world to achieve a
LEED [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] Gold rating. WRL's
design intends to accomplish this objective by employing building practices
that include the use of local and recycled materials, carpets and paints
that do not produce off-gases, occupancy sensors that monitor ventilation
demands, and a closed-loop geothermal heating and cooling system.

Oberlin College consistently appears on national short lists of
environmentally responsible campuses. The *Kaplan College Guide 2009*,
published by *Newsweek*, named Oberlin one of the nation's 25
environmentally responsible schools. *Grist*, an online publication that
provides environmental news and commentary, placed Oberlin fifth nationwide
on its list of top green colleges and universities in 2007.

At a ceremonial groundbreaking held early in June to coincide with Oberlin's
Board of Trustees meeting, Oberlin College President Marvin Krislov said
that the Litoff Building "will be more than just a cutting-edge green
building. It will be the physical manifestation of Oberlin's great
traditions of inclusion, creativity, leadership, and innovation." Lead
architect Paul Westlake spoke about Oberlin's "remarkable values," and said
that "there is a conspiracy of excellence in its processes and people.
Innovation is embedded in the DNA and culture of Oberlin."

The Cleveland Chapter of the American Institute of Architects has already
honored Westlake's firm with a merit award for the project's master plan.
According to Kevin Robinette, WRL'S project manager, the building's stunning
exterior will be constructed of aluminum composite panels, ipé wood siding
(ipé is a Brazilian hardwood that is harvested exclusively from naturally
sustainable forests), and glazed curtain wall systems comprised of
acoustically rated glass and fritted patterns that will reduce solar heat
gain.

"The Phyllis Litoff Building will be the premier facility of its kind
anywhere in the world," said Dean of the Conservatory David H. Stull at the
June ceremony. "It is ultimately a manifestation of the collective vision of
a great faculty, a phenomenal student and alumni population, and a few of
the finest individuals I have had the pleasure of knowing who have financed
this project. It is an extraordinary accomplishment for Oberlin."

The lead gift for the project—$5 million from Cleveland businessman Stewart
Kohl '77 and his wife, Donna—is said to be the largest private gift in
support of jazz education at a U.S. college, and honors Phyllis Litoff, a
close friend who died in 2002. In his remarks at the ceremony, Stewart Kohl
spoke about the project and his philanthropic muse: "Today we put a little
scar in the earth from which will emerge a beautiful building and a great
addition to the life of Oberlin College. And from this building perhaps will
emerge a future Louis or Wynton. Our highest motivation is to honor Phyllis
Litoff. The building has to meet her high standards."

Professor Wendell Logan expressed his gratitude to the Kohls and the
project's other major donors, and to Oberlin's "irrepressible and intrepid
dean, David H. Stull. This building is a testament to our students, who came
here and went on to achieve successful careers. They are what make this
building possible." Mel Litoff held aloft a photographic portrait of his
late wife, noting that before she died she remarked that she "wanted her
life to mean something."

The lead gift made by the Kohls was followed in short order by a record
donation from the Kulas Foundation. Other major donors include Oberlin
graduate Clyde McGregor '74 of Chicago, Illinois, a member of Oberlin's
Board of Trustees who pledged $4 million to the Litoff Building in honor of
his mother, Lilly Marie Smith '43; and Joseph Clonick '57, also of Chicago,
who had made a gift of $1 million dollars early on; he followed that with a
pledge of an additional $4 million to support a recording studio and
performance space for the project.

Chicago resident James Neumann '58 and his wife Susan have donated to
Oberlin their collection of more than 100,000 jazz recordings—the largest
privately held jazz recording collection in the United States—and a vast
array of related posters, ephemera, and iconography, and it will be archived
in the Litoff Building. The Jim and Susan Neumann Jazz Collection will be an
invaluable resource for students, faculty, and scholars. "We're focused
first and foremost on using the collection to support our performance
training program," Dean Stull told John McDonough of *Downbeat* magazine
earlier this year, and Oberlin plans to achieve this objective through a
large-scale digitization project that will culminate, said Stull, in "the
largest online jazz archive in the world."

Oberlin offers a premier undergraduate jazz studies program, chaired by
Professor of African American Music Wendell Logan, that prepares students
for careers as professional jazz musicians and for advanced study in jazz.
The jazz studies faculty includes composers and performers who, in addition
to teaching lessons and coaching ensembles, maintain active performing
careers throughout the world. Numerous Oberlin alumni have achieved success
in the jazz idiom, among them keyboardist Ted Baker; pianist and composer
Stanley Cowell; bassist, composer, and arranger Leon Lee Dorsey; pianist,
arranger, and producer Allen Farnham; bassist Ben Jaffe; composer and
pianist Jon Jang; writer, composer, and saxophonist James McBride; and
trumpeter, trombonist, and composer Michael Mossman.

*The Oberlin Conservatory of Music,* founded in 1865 and situated amid 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 "national treasure" by the Washington Post, its alumni have
gone on to achieve illustrious careers in all aspects of the serious music
world. For more information about Oberlin, its commitment to environmental
sustainability, and the Phyllis Litoff Building, please visit
www.oberlin.edu.

# # #


-- 
Marci Janas
Director of Conservatory Media Relations
 and Editor, Oberlin Conservatory Magazine
Oberlin Conservatory of Music
 39 West College Street
Oberlin, OH 44074
www.oberlin.edu/con
Voice: 440.775.8328
Fax: 440.775.5457
marci.janas at oberlin.edu
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