[NEohioPAL] Robert Spano Conducts the Oberlin Conservatory Symphony Orchestra in New CD Release

Tue Feb 10 06:33:22 PST 2009

*Media Contact:*
Marci Janas, Director of Conservatory Communications
440-775-8328 (office); 440-667-2724 (cell); marci.janas at oberlin.edu
<marci.janas at oberlin.edu?subject=RE%3A%20Robert%20Spano%20Conducts%20the%20Oberlin%20Conservatory%20Symphony%20Orchestra%20in%20New%20CD%20Release>
*Acclaimed Carnegie Hall Concert Featuring Robert Spano Conducting the
Oberlin Conservatory Symphony Orchestra Now Available on CD *

*A Performance Praised as "Stellar" by the New York Times is Released on the
Oberlin Music Label and Will Soon be Available on iTunes and Amazon.com; CDs
Now Available for Review and Broadcast*

OBERLIN, OHIO (February 9, 2009) — Slightly more than two years ago, the
Oberlin Conservatory Symphony Orchestra performed under the baton of
award-winning conductor and Oberlin alumnus Robert Spano to a packed Isaac
Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall. That
concert<http://www2.oberlin.edu/con/connews/2007/feat_carnegie.html>,
which wowed the New York critics, is now available on the Oberlin
Music<http://www2.oberlin.edu/oberlinmusic/>label.

*The Oberlin Conservatory Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall* features
pianist Pedja Muzijevic performing Mozart's *Piano Concerto No. 25 in C
Major, K. 503 *(with Philipp Karl Hoffmann's cadenza); Jennifer Higdon's *blue
cathedral*—one of the most performed orchestral works by any living
composer; and Béla Bartók's *Concerto* *for Orchestra*. The concert was
recorded live on the Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall, in New York City, on
January 26, 2007. Spano, who was named Conductor of the Year for 2008 by
Musical America, is Music Director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. The
Carnegie Hall concert was presented with the generous support of Jolyon F.
Stern (OC '61), President and CEO of DeWitt Stern Group, Inc.

Vivien Schweitzer of the *New York Times* praised the Oberlin Conservatory
Symphony Orchestra's Carnegie Hall appearance with Robert Spano, especially
their performance of the Bartók, which was, she wrote, "stellar." She called
the orchestra's reading of the Higdon "dynamic," writing that the musicians
"played … with skill and understanding, vividly illuminating the
Coplandesque swaths of color that build to an intense, optimistic climax."
Muzijevic, she wrote, "gave a … tastefully ornamented rendition" of the
Mozart."

Writing for *MusicalAmerica.com*, Patrick J. Smith praised the Bartók as a
"polished and forward-thrusting rendition calculated to bring down the
house—which it succeeded in doing," and he agreed with the ovation the
musicians received at the end of the program: "These young men and women had
shown conclusively that the so-called 'death of classical music' is a very
long way from being realized—at least at Oberlin."

"The Carnegie Hall concert was an enormous success for Oberlin and a great
experience for our students," says Dean of the Conservatory David H. Stull.
"Maestro Robert Spano and Mr. Jolyon Stern have our permanent gratitude for
bringing this wonderful project to fruition."

Paul Eachus, Director of Audio Services at the Conservatory, was audio
engineer for this recording. Associate Dean Michael Lynn is the producer of
Oberlin Music. More information about the concert at Carnegie Hall,
including artists' bios, is available on the event's web
site<http://www.oberlin.edu/con/orchestra>
.

The CD can be purchased directly from Oberlin
Music<http://www2.oberlin.edu/oberlinmusic/>by calling 440-775-8272 or
by e-mailing Mary Sutorius at
mary.sutorius at oberlin.edu. It will also be available on Amazon.com, iTunes,
and other major digital music services. Other live orchestral recordings on
the Oberlin Music label are *The Oberlin Chamber Orchestra *with soprano
Alyson Cambridge '02, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, and *The Oberlin
Orchestra in China*, conducted by Music Director of the Oberlin Orchestras
Bridget-Michaele Reischl. In 2007 Oberlin Music released *Beauty Surrounds
Us*, which features original compositions and performances by members of
Oberlin's award-winning jazz faculty.

*About the Oberlin Conservatory Symphony Orchestra*
 "Some of America's best orchestral musicians" have trained at the Oberlin
Conservatory of Music, notes the *New Yorker*, and since 1896 the Oberlin
Orchestra, the Oberlin Chamber Orchestra, and the Oberlin Conservatory
Symphony Orchestra (the school's touring ensemble) have been the pride of
Oberlin. Each ensemble shares a rich history of performances with notable
guest conductors, among them Marin Alsop, Pierre Boulez, Tan Dun, Sir Simon
Rattle, Robert Shaw, Oscar Shumsky, Robert Spano '83, Igor Stravinsky, John
Williams, Hugh Wolff, and David Zinman '58.

In addition to the critically acclaimed performance at Carnegie Hall under
the baton of Robert Spano, Music Director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra,
recent appearances of the Oberlin Conservatory Symphony Orchestra under the
baton of Music Director and Conductor Bridget-Michaele Reischl include a
performance at Walt Disney Concert Hall in January 2009; at Cleveland's
Severance Hall, home of the Cleveland Orchestra; and a 13-day tour of China.

After Sir Simon Rattle conducted the Oberlin Chamber Orchestra in December
2004, *Plain Dealer* music critic Donald Rosenberg wrote that the concert
was "stamped by magnificence." Indeed, Rosenberg included the Oberlin-Rattle
performance of Mahler's *Symphony No. 4*, which he described as "uncommonly
rich in poetry and drama," in his list of top 10 memorable events from the
2004 concert season.

About the Oberlin Conservatory of Music
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. In reviewing the American premiere of Olga Neuwirth's opera *Lost
Highway* for the *New York Times*, Vivien Schweitzer noted that "Oberlin has
produced some of the top names in contemporary music … Oberlin's rural
experimental haven has resulted in successful music careers in a cutthroat
marketplace."

For more information about Oberlin, please visit
www.oberlin.edu<http://new.oberlin.edu/conservatory/>
.

###

Visit the Oberlin Conservatory of Music Press
Room<http://new.oberlin.edu/conservatory/press-room/>or subscribe to
our RSS feed for more breaking news.

-- 
Marci Janas
Director of Conservatory Communications
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
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.neohiopal.org/pipermail/neohiopal-neohiopal.org/attachments/20090210/efee4bff/attachment-0003.htm>