91ֱ�� Alumni Honored with Awards at 61st Grammys</h1> <article> <h1>91ֱ�� Alumni Honored with Awards at 61st Grammys</h1> <p>cstrauss — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 21:09:06 +0000</p> <span>91ֱ�� Alumni Honored with Awards at 61st Grammys</span> <span><span>cstrauss</span></span> <span><time datetime="2019-02-11T16:09:06-05:00" title="Monday, February 11, 2019 - 16:09">Mon, 02/11/2019 - 16:09</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>91ֱ�� alumni are regularly featured at the annual Grammy Awards ceremony. The 61st edition honoring musical accomplishments by performers over the last year included 91ֱ�� alumni in six categories across three genres. </p> <p>Best Folk Album: <em>All Ashore</em> — Punch Brothers (<strong>Chris Eldridge ’04</strong>, guitar)</p> <p>Best Opera Recording: Bates: <em>The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs</em> — <strong>Michael Christie ’96</strong>, conductor; <strong>Edward Parks ’06</strong>, baritone</p> <p>Best Classical Solo Vocal Album: <em>Songs of Orpheus - Monteverdi, Caccini, d’India & Landi</em> — <strong>Jeannette Sorrell ’90</strong>, conductor; Apollo’s Fire Baroque Orchestra (with 91ֱ�� alumni <strong>Johanna Novom ’07</strong>, <strong>Rene Schiffer ’96</strong>, <strong>Karina Schmitz ’02</strong>, <strong>Rebecca Landell Reed ’11</strong>)</p> <p>Best Jazz Vocal Album: <em>The Window</em> — Cécile McLorin Salvant, and pianist <strong>Sullivan Fortner ’08</strong></p> <p>Best Orchestral Performance: <em>Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 11</em> — Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons, conductor (with 91ֱ�� alumna and violinist <strong>Yuncong Zhang ’07</strong>)</p> <p>Best Choral Performance, Classical: <em>Zealot Canticles</em> — The Crossing chamber choir with <strong>Mandy Wolman ’07</strong></p> <p><br> </p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2019-02-11T12:00:00Z">Mon, 02/11/2019 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Cathy Strauss</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Numerous alumni across classical, jazz, and folk genres named winners at the 61st Grammy Awards ceremony.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2356">Conservatory</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2368">Alumni</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2373">Awards and Honors</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=32971">Opera Theater</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=35596">Voice</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=35616">Conducting</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=33041">Baroque Cello</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=33036">Baroque Violin</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=35116">Violin</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25281">Musical Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=34691">Jazz Performance</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=35986">Viola da Gamba</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=36206">Viola</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-faculty field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/peter-slowik" hreflang="und">Peter Slowik</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/bobby-ferrazza" hreflang="und">Bobby Ferrazza</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/robert-spano" hreflang="und">Robert Spano</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/historical-performance" hreflang="und">Historical Performance</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/jazz-studies" hreflang="und">Jazz Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/strings" hreflang="und">Strings</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/musical-studies" hreflang="und">Musical Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/vocal-studies" hreflang="und">Vocal Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/conducting-and-ensembles" hreflang="und">Conducting and Ensembles</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">91ֱ�� alumni (clockwise from top left) Sullivan Fortner, Edward Parks, Chris Eldridge, and Jeannette Sorrell at the 2018 Grammy Awards Ceremony.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">91ֱ�� Conservatory</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>She Wrote the Book on BPI</h1> <p>eburnett — Wed, 19 Dec 2018 22:11:13 +0000</p> <span>She Wrote the Book on BPI</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2018-12-19T17:11:13-05:00" title="Wednesday, December 19, 2018 - 17:11">Wed, 12/19/2018 - 17:11</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>“In the beginning, we didn’t have any computers,” Catharina Meints says, recounting the earliest days of the Baroque Performance Institute at 91ֱ�� and the challenges they faced in connecting with their target audiences.</p> <p>“We didn’t have any cell phones. And an international phone call was beyond outrageously expensive. So we wrote letters.”</p> <p>They wrote countless letters, in fact, to musicians around the world who were enraptured by historically informed music played on period instruments.</p> <p>“And we didn’t even know how to type, so we got help with that too.”</p> <p>Forged by a passion that could be indulged in precious few other ways, the Baroque Performance Institute attracted some 50 fascinated musicians in its first year, 1972. The following summer, that number doubled to 100. Over the years, Meints estimates, more than 1,000 different musicians have taken part in BPI, a great number of them returning numerous times—and some of them <em>every</em> time.</p> <p>“The people who came to BPI in those earliest years have gone on to become the most important figures in the world in terms of historical music,” says Meints, a longtime professor of viola da gamba and cello at 91ֱ��, and a former longtime cellist with the Cleveland Orchestra.</p> <p>As BPI nears its 50th anniversary in 2021, it continues to attract a mix of longtime fixtures, young musicians looking to broaden the horizons of their playing—and even novices hoping to indulge long-held passions for period music.</p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-right"> <figcaption>James Caldwell and Catharina Meints, circa 1972<br> Photo courtesy 91ֱ�� College Archives</figcaption> </figure> <p>The roots of BPI can be traced to Meints and her late husband, James Caldwell. A recent addition to the 91ֱ�� Conservatory faculty at the time, oboist Caldwell harbored a relentless passion for knowledge and for collecting—everything from bonsai trees to French art nouveau glassware to modern pottery. He also collected antique viols, upon which he was not formally trained but on which he became a standout player nonetheless.</p> <p>That thirst for knowledge led Caldwell and Meints to envision an annual celebration of period music that would involve performances, master classes, and more. And both of them envisioned it involving legendary cellist August Wenzinger as a key participant.</p> <p>In the late 1960s, Caldwell and Meints had seminal experiences with the Swiss master during conferences and summer visits to Europe. Their sessions were built around the notion of <em>internalized learning</em>—experiencing an extensive amount of content in one place, then retreating home to take it in more deeply over time. 91ֱ��, with its idyllic setting, plentiful available space during the summer, and cache of important historic instruments, would be the perfect place to offer such learning in America. Wenzinger himself was all too happy to oblige.</p> <p>“We spent some time thinking about the name,” Meints recalls. “Most events at the time were workshops with stacks of music,” she says, gesturing with her arms to suggest an overwhelming pile of paper. “And they never actually played anything twice.”</p> <p>“It’s going to be <em>Baroque</em>, not Renaissance,” she remembers them declaring.</p> <p>“It’s going to be <em>performance</em>-based, not just sitting around reading music,” they also agreed.</p> <p>“It’s going to be an <em>institute</em>, which implies that there will be lectures and context and learning about the music that they were playing, and not just sitting around playing reams of music.</p> <p>“So it was a very well-thought-out name. We wanted to convey a lot about what would be going on just by the title.”</p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-right"> <figcaption>2014 BPI performance in Warner Concert Hall<br> Photo by Dale Preston ’83</figcaption> </figure> <p>From the first Baroque Performance Institute through its 17th year, Wenzinger was a pivotal figure and the international celebrity whom many came to see and hear. Meints has commemorated those days with a newly released memoir, <em>91ֱ�� Baroque Performance Institute: The Wenzinger Years</em>, which brings to life many of the indelible moments experienced by BPI guests in its formative days.</p> <p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/oberlin-baroque-performance-institute/id1399961854?mt=11">Available on iTunes</a> <span aria-hidden="true" class="fa fa-external-link"></span>, the ebook includes many archival photos and programs as well as complete rosters of attendees from year to year. In addition, it is embedded with numerous audio clips—about an hour of music in all—that resurrect exclusive live performances and recordings created in the 1970s and ’80s.</p> <p>“It’s unbelievable the number of lives that we have profoundly changed because they have come here and discovered what they really want to do,” Meints says. “You often find musicians who are fine players and interesting people, who find that they don't necessarily fit in with their musical world. Then they discover this and find that it’s exactly what they want to do.</p> <p>“People have found family here. They found a place to fit in.”</p> <p><em>The 2019 Baroque Performance Institute takes place June 16-29 on the campus of 91ֱ�� College. Learn more at <a href="/summer-programs/bpi">oberlin.edu/summer</a>.</em></p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2018-12-20T12:00:00Z">Thu, 12/20/2018 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Erich Burnett</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Catharina Meints helped launch the Baroque Performance Institute. Now she’s chronicled its formative years.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2356">Conservatory</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2387">Conservatory Summer Programs</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=35986">Viola da Gamba</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=33041">Baroque Cello</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/historical-performance" hreflang="und">Historical Performance</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Tanya Rosen-Jones '97</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Frank Talk About Injuries</h1> <p>eburnett — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 17:43:05 +0000</p> <span>Frank Talk About Injuries</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2021-06-07T13:43:05-04:00" title="Monday, June 7, 2021 - 13:43">Mon, 06/07/2021 - 13:43</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>After receiving acupuncture treatment for a hand injury in 2001, acclaimed violinist Pamela Frank suffered nerve damage in her arm that put her career on hold for more than a decade. She returned to the stage in 2012 but continues to enlighten young musicians on the importance of mindful playing.</p> <p>Frank and physical therapist Howard Nelson presented a two-day residency in 91ֱ�� this April that featured a master class, a workshop documenting Frank’s injury and recovery, and one-on-one sessions with students in which they were able to assess and address issues they were each facing. Frank shared the following thoughts with us during her visit.</p> <p></p> <p><strong>How much did you think about health-related issues such as “movement analysis” before you sustained an injury of your own?</strong><br> <br> Not at all! In fact, I ignored many small aches over decades and never felt I had any issues.</p> <p></p> <p><strong>How pervasive are the bad habits you see in young conservatory musicians today?</strong><br> <br> Most people have underlying problems that they do not think are significant or do not seek help for. Some of these may develop into full-blown injuries. Young people are more at risk because they think they are invincible. It is impossible for us to know the percentage of musicians who play with a significant pain problem, but there is no shortage of players who are seeking our help. </p> <p></p> <p><strong>Are there particular factors that most commonly lead to problems among musicians with whom you have worked?</strong><br> <br> There are many factors that we see repeated that can lead to pain and injury. For example:</p> <p>• Sub-optimal fit of their shoulder/chin rest combination to their anatomy. This could cause the overuse of neck muscles or the muscles on top of their shoulder to work harder in order to stabilize the instrument.<br> • Improper muscle use—i.e., using more muscles than are necessary for the task.<br> • Head stays fixed, not free. <br> • Postural alignment veers too far from “neutral” for too long.<br> • Moving the body in a way that makes it difficult to hear their sound well or that can contribute to pain.<br> • Not taking enough breaks when practicing or using a computer, or not performing a beneficial intervention (such as stretching) during breaks.<br> • Postural habits to avoid: head forward, head to the left (looking at fingers), torso rotated too far, actively pulling shoulders down, left arm pinned to the body.</p> <p></p> <p><strong>Are there strategies you can share for avoiding these problems?</strong><br> <br> • Identify the movements or postures that irritate you, and minimize or eliminate them.<br> • Take short breaks (~30 seconds) every 20 minutes while working at a computer or practicing.<br> • Stretch to the opposite position from where you play.<br> • Don’t stand static with your instrument on your back.<br> • Play with the music stand as high as is comfortable at home and in rehearsal (without blocking the view of other players).<br> • Use a mirror and videotape to notice if you are out of neutral.<br> • Try to make your instrument and environment adapt to your anatomy. Modify your shoulder/chin rest as necessary.</p> <p></p> <p><strong>How does one go about locating the proper specialist to help with a given problem?</strong></p> <p>Don’t be afraid to talk to everyone you know about your problem: parents, friends, teachers, mentors, colleagues, and especially to your doctor, who can lead you to an orthopedist (specialized in the body part that bothers you), a physiatrist (rehabilitation medicine), or another specialist. Physicians can prescribe physical or occupational therapy. Occupational therapists more often work with hand and wrist problems.</p> <p><strong>Through your work with students, you’re modeling attributes of today’s entrepreneurial musician: You took a challenging situation and turned it into a path of empowerment, for yourself and for others. At what point in your recovery did you realize that your own tribulations might serve as inspiration for others?</strong><br> <br> The longer and more painstaking the rehabilitation took, the more I wondered if I would ever conquer the problem. I can’t describe the gratitude I felt and still feel to be able to play again. But as with any rehab, one is never “done.” Maintenance requires mindfulness, which I will happily practice for the rest of my life.</p> <p>My goal has nothing to do with entrepreneurship. If I can help destigmatize injury or help others “come out of the closet” by sharing my story, then it will have been worth the struggle. I will never take my recovery for granted and hope to forever inspire others to address their issues in an open and timely way.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Violinist turned mindfulness practitioner Pamela Frank shares her strategies for healthy playing.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2017-06-28T12:00:00Z">Wed, 06/28/2017 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Conservatory Communications Staff</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2356">Conservatory</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2362">Health and Wellness</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=33036">Baroque Violin</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=35116">Violin</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=35261">Cello</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=33041">Baroque Cello</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=36206">Viola</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=35986">Viola da Gamba</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=36156">Double Bass</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/conservatory/divisions/strings" hreflang="und">Strings</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Pamela Frank (right) works with a student violinist in 91ֱ��'s Stull Recital Hall.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Julie Gulenko '15</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> </main></body></html>