Leonard Ranallo, Stephen Aron, Jacob Blizard, after concert

Oberlin seniors Jacob Blizard and Leonard Ranallo formed a duet this past year with the intention of giving a full program together. The plan worked out well, though neither realized much how the concert would bump into their respective solo degree recitals. Not the least bit cowed, though, the two dug hard into preparations and produced a terrific ad-hoc recital. (Oberlin Conservatory refers to all non-required student performances as "ad-hoc"). I always encourage my students to give full chamber music concerts along the way, as they work on their degrees, though few actually do it. These two got the bug, and in addition to learning and rehearsing the music, they actually created many of the scores as well, in a blitz of original arranging efforts, focussed on orchestral repertoire. To their credit, they made these arrangements from full scores, not reductions. As a finale, they invited classmate Mohit Dubey on stage for a reading of his trio arrangement of indigenous Ghanaian music--a real crowd pleaser. Congratulations for an impressive program, beautifully played!

Here is a photo gallery of the concert, followed by the actual program. (Yes, they called themselves "Shreduous 5000")...

Jacob Blizard, Mohit Dubey and Lenny Ranallo

And, the program: