If you were on campus this week, chances are you heard the buzz about Esperanza Spalding’s Wednesday performance, which lasted over two hours in Finney Chapel. What you may not know, however, is that Spalding’s performance was part of a three-day festival marking the Conservatory Jazz Studies department’s 30th anniversary.  College junior George Hawk was ecstatic that a fellow member of the student acapella group ’Round Midnight ran into Spalding at the Hotel at Oberlin.  “’Round ...

Last week, the Conservatory’s Performance & Improvisation program hosted Venezuelan-born jazz pianist and composer Luis Perdomo in a residency which brought his original compositions to the student-led PI ensembles as part of the Conservatory’s Artist Recital Series. The residency culminated in a performance Saturday night which featured six of Perdomo’s compositions performed by the student ensembles, alongside a solo set of his own.  Perdomo looks to salsa and other Latin American styles of music, as well as classical music, as sources of inspiration for his original compositions.  The New York-based jazz pianist has collaborated and performed with contemporary innovators like saxophonists Miguel ...

Musician Joyce DiDonato and company brought an eclectic fusion of jazz and classical music to Finney Chapel on Wednesday, Feb. 27, performing songs from their new experimental compilation album, Songplay. This show is part of the Oberlin Artist Recital Series, an initiative known for bringing renowned musicians to Oberlin’s campus, joining campus and community together in a shared love of music.  What makes Songplay unique is not only the lineup of project collaborators, but also the arrangement of the songs. Pianist Craig Terry did that arranging, which ranged from Baroque epics to American contemporary classics. Terry approached the tracks from a jazz perspective, which resulted in a strong juxtaposition between the ori...

California singer-songwriter Kyle Terrizzi knows what it’s like to try and make it as an independent creator. Currently working as the one-man band M. the Heir Apparent, Terrizzi has advice and insight into negotiating the twists and turns of the lucrative music industry.  Prior to his 2016 debut EP Be Free, Terrizzi has released three albums under the name The Plastic Arts, which had a similar acoustic style to his current act. Since then, he has explored acoustic covers that have been ad...