OCEAn Festival 2002

[Ben Kamen <Benjamin.Kamen@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:	MEDIA CONTACT: Marci Janas
October 8, 2002			(440) 775-8328//marci.janas@xxxxxxxxxxx

OCEAn 2002 NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL MAKES WAVES AT OBERLIN CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC
IN NOVEMBER

<Editors please note: A concert schedule is included with this release.>

OBERLIN, OHIO ? OCEAn, Ohio Community of Electro-Acoustic n (where n is a 
variable), will make waves once again with its biennial festival of new
music at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and at Oberlin?s Cleveland
performing arts venue, the Here Here Gallery. Nearly 40 composers from Ohio 
will converge on Oberlin and Cleveland in a sonic extravaganza of
contemporary electronic music that is free and open to the public.
	For newcomers to electronic music as well as for its aficionados, the
OCEAn Festival is, says Assistant Professor of Computer Music and Digital
Arts Tom Lopez, producer of the festival, ?a phenomenal opportunity to see
and hear a wide range of new work: video and dance collaborations, music
composed in real-time on a laptop computer, and, most especially,
interaction between computers and traditional performers on flute, violin,
saxophone, percussion, and other instruments.
	?OCEAn?s ?n? could mean new music, composers, artists, or friends,? says
Lopez. ?The unifying idea of the festival is the use of technology; an
important function of the festival is to increase awareness of technology?s
impact on music. I am also interested in exploring the edges between
?academic? and ?freelance? work. This year, more composers from outside
academia are involved in the festival, offering us an opportunity to share
our expertise and to see our unique talents showcased in performance. We
also host a number of student composers; this experience is an important
step in their professional development.?
? M O R E ?




Oberlin OCEAn Festival of New Music . . .
Page Two


	Other members of the Oberlin Conservatory faculty participating in the
festival are Professor of Electronic and Computer Music Gary Nelson,
Associate Professor of Composition Lewis Nielson, Teacher of Wind Chamber
Music and Flute Kathleen Chastain, and Visiting Assistant Professor of
TIMARA John Morrison.
	Other Ohio colleges and universities participating in OCEAn 2002 are
Bowling Green State University, Capital University, Cleveland State
University, Heidelberg College, Miami University, The Ohio State
University, Ohio University, and the University of Cincinnati.
	OCEAn 2002 is supported by grants from Meet the Composer, Inc., the Bascom 
Little Fund, the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Oberlin?s Division of
Contemporary Music and Department of TIMARA (Technology In Music And
Related Arts).
	Funding from Meet the Composer, Inc. is provided with the support of the
National Endowment for the Arts, ASCAP, and the Virgil Thomson Foundation.
	More information about OCEAn 2002 is available online at
timara.oberlin.edu/ocean/index.htm.
About Tom Lopez
Tom Lopez is Assistant Professor of Computer Music and Digital Arts at the
Oberlin Conservatory of Music at Oberlin College, where he is also a Henry
Luce Educator in the Emerging Arts Program. He is also the Director of the
Computer Music Program at The Walden School. Lopez has received awards from 
the National Endowment for the Arts, Meet the Composer, Mid-America Arts
Alliance, the Knight Foundation, and ASCAP.
Before completing his doctoral degree at the University of Texas at Austin, 
Lopez, who also holds a bachelor of arts degree from Oberlin College and a
master of fine arts degree from the California Institute of the Arts, was
awarded a Fulbright
Fellowship as a composer-in-residence at the Centre International de
Recherche Musical
? M O R E ?
Oberlin OCEAn Festival of New Music . . .
Page Three

in Nice, France. He has appeared at festivals and conferences around the
world as a guest lecturer and composer, including Monaco?s International
Festival for Dance in the Media, the Cleveland Institute of Art, the
Mid-American Center for Contemporary Music, and the Kansas City Festival of 
Electronic Music.  He has been a resident artist at the Atlantic Center for 
the Arts, Villa Montalvo, and Djerassi. Lopez?s music has been performed at
The Kennedy Center for the Arts and other venues throughout the United
States and around the world.
Technology in Music and the Oberlin Conservatory
The Oberlin Conservatory of Music was first to bring music technology to a
small undergraduate institution, offering courses in electronic and
computer music since 1968, when the National Science Foundation provided a
large startup grant. Oberlin established the Technology In Music And
Related Arts Department in the early 1970's; its mission was ? and is to
this day ? to study the connections between music and the other arts ?
dance, theater, video, and film.
In 1987 Oberlin established an electronic and computer music curriculum
leading to a bachelor of music degree. Students enrolled in this major
combine traditional subjects in music with the newest methods for music
making. Classes in music history and theory, ethnomusicology, and
performance give electronic and computer music students a perspective for
viewing their own music.
	In 1989 TIMARA inaugurated a state-of-the-art facility that houses
equipment for sound synthesis, recording, and computing. This complex
provides the setting for teaching, research, and composition, and includes
four production studios, a room for computer music work stations, faculty
and staff offices, a technical workshop, and a 24-track recording studio
with a control room adjacent to a large rehearsal space.
? M O R E ?

Oberlin OCEAn Festival of New Music . . .
Page Four

Oberlin?s TIMARA Department is most suited to students who wish to pursue a
creative career with contemporary music and other arts-related
technologies. While the primary focus of the department is in music
composition, it also provides support for creative work in new media,
video, and other related arts activities. TIMARA places a priority on
performance and realtime interactive media environments.
The Oberlin Conservatory of Music, founded in 1865, became part of Oberlin
College in 1867. It is the oldest continuously operating conservatory in
the United States, and the only major music school in the country linked
with a preeminent liberal arts college.
Venues for the OCEAn 2002 Festival of New Music are:

Oberlin Conservatory of Music
77 West College Street
Oberlin, OH 44074

Oberlin College at the Here Here Gallery
Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio

Schedule of free events and performers is attached.
###

Media Contact Only:
Marci Janas:			 440-775-8328/marci.janas@xxxxxxxxxxx 10/8/02 #XX-mj









OCEAn 2002 NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL
SCHEDULE OF FREE EVENTS AND PERFORMERS*


OCEAn I

Friday, November 15 at 3 p.m.
Bibbins Hall, Room 325
Oberlin Conservatory of Music

Pre-concert lecture with
Composer Mark Phillips

Friday, November 15 at 4 p.m.
Kulas Recital Hall
Oberlin Conservatory of Music

Tom Lopez?s Espace Pointillés with Kathleen Chastain, flute
HyeKyung Lee?s conFUsion/comBUstion with HyeKyung Lee, piano
John Morrison?s Rising Blue with Amie Weiss, violin
Mark Phillips?s Elegy and Honk with Stephen Key, English horn


OCEAn II

Friday, November 15 at 8 p.m.
Here Here Gallery (Cleveland)

Elainie Lillios?s Dreams in the Desert

Matt Borghi?s Music for Steel String Acoustic Guitar and Laptop Computer
No. 4 with Matt Borghi, guitar & laptop

Tom Lopez?s She Measures Herself with choreography by Elesa Rosasco
Elesa Rosasco, Jean Kondo Weigl, and Kala Hildebrand, dancers,
Costumes by Kim Madalinski


OCEAn III
Saturday, November 16 at 10 a.m.
Kulas Recital Hall
Oberlin Conservatory of Music

A program of works by student composers
Saturday, November 16 at 12:30 p.m.
Kulas Recital Hall
Oberlin Conservatory of Music

Pre-concert lecture with composer James Sheppard


? M O R E ?
OCEAn IV
Saturday, November 16 at 1 p.m.
Kulas Recital Hall
Oberlin Conservatory of Music

A work by Greg D?Alessio
Excerpts from Rocky Reuter?s eRequiem
James Sheppard?s Head On Out with James Sheppard, electronic valve
instrument

Saturday, November 16 at 3 p.m.
Bibbins Hall, Room 325

Pre-concert lecture with composers Mikel Kuehn and Brian Bevelander

OCEAn V
Saturday, November 16 at 4 p.m.
Warner Concert Hall
Oberlin Conservatory of Music

Mikel Kuehn?s Crack with Christopher Blossom, saxophone and Cathie Apple, 
flute
Tom Wells?s Cori immaginari
Michael Thompson?s Derailed
Lewis Nielson?s Traveler

Saturday, November 16 at 8 p.m.
Bibbins Hall, Room 325
Oberlin Conservatory of Music

Pre-concert lecture with composers Mara Helmuth and Marc Ainger


OCEAn VI
Saturday, November 16 at 9 p.m.
Warner Concert Hall
Oberlin Conservatory of Music

Marc Ainger?s Pacific Variations with Ann Stimson, flute
Gary Nelson?s and Christine Gorbach?s Charitoo
Mara Helmuth?s and Allen Otte?s Mellipse 2 with Allen Otte, percussion
Brian Bevelander?s Synthecisms No. 5 with Melinda Faylor, piano
Press the Button?s What is Art?







* Programs are subject to change.