I’ve always been aware that at Oberlin we are incredibly lucky to have access to a range of performance venues for the guitar students and guests. I know well that at many colleges and conservatories, performance space is highly limited, resulting in a low ceiling on the number of concerts students can give, or the number of guests who might be able to perform, or the number of special guitar performance events that might be possible. But at Oberlin, it’s like there’s no limit. I was musing over this the other day and counted eleven venues! So I thought I’d celebrate this abundance and variety with a post about it. Most of the spaces listed have built-in audio recording, video-recording and live-streaming capabilities.

Our normal degree-recital space, pictured in so many of these posts, is Kulas Recital Hall. Comfortably seating 145, this room combines perfect acoustics for guitar with excellent lighting and sight-lines.

The next-most often used space for guitarists is Fairchild Chapel. Located in Boswell Hall, across Tappan Square from the Conservatory, it features about 150 seats (church pew-style), stone walls, a very high ceiling and stained glass windows. The guitar sounds amazing in there, with the long-echo ambiance we can’t resist. It is a much sought-after spot to play in. We use this space for most for our pre-degree recitals (Freshman Recitals and Sophomore Recitals), but we’ve had numerous guest artist performances there, as well as our annual Studio Recitals.

Many students prefer to perform in the glass jewel-in-the-sky that is Stull Recital Hall. Seating 120, it is a beautiful and intimate location for live music. Built recently and dressed in blond oak and glass, it is perched above the top floor of our primary classroom building, Bibbins Hall, and has views into the treetops on three sides. It is features adjustable window shades, superb lighting and variable seating.

Occasionally, a student opts to give their recital in Warner Concert Hall, one of the Conservatory’s major venues. Featuring 500 seats, it is the primary room for large ensembles and piano recitals. The guitar sounds great in there, though, and with a little amplification, fills the room nicely. Beautifully appointed and fully decked-out, Warner was the site of the feature recitals during the 2005 GFA Convention (Barrueco, Galbraith, Tanenbaum, Masters, Smits and many more.)

For really big events, we even find ourselves performing in Oberlin’s largest venue, Finney Chapel. A 1,200-seat converted church with pew-style seating, it is where major guest artists, some large ensembles, and organ concerts take place. Even so, I found myself playing on that stage once, with the Conservatory Concert Choir in an all guitar/choir concert.

When Oberlin made a major new addition to the Conservatory a few years ago (the Kohl Building), it included a brand new recording studio. The performance space for this state-of-the-art studio is called Clonick Hall, a variable seating space often used for live performance. Guitarist have played in there several times. The sound is perfectly still—ideal for recording, but also it proves a great room to plays in.

For events which cross over into the popular music genres, we sometimes play in the Cat In the Cream Coffeehouse. The Coffeehouse’s fully decked-out stage is surrounded by cafe-style seating (325 seats), and a functional tea/snack bar. A recent student recital there featured classical guitar for half, then the student’s band played the second half. There have been theatrical performances there with guitar as well.

Sometimes, the Main Lounge of Wilder Hall will be the site of a theatrical presentation. Wilder is a student gathering place with dining rooms, bowling alleys and billiard parlor, meeting rooms, offices, and more. The Conservatory hosted guests for a musical-theatrical performance there, with a fully professional array of portable multi-level seating and stage lighting. The ensemble, the Zohn Collective, included guitarist Dieter Hennings.

The College’s primary performance space for theatre is Hall Auditorium. Located on the east side of Tappan Square, it is the site of plays, musical theatre and some opera. When Oberlin hosted the GOLD Competition in 1994, the finals took place on Hall Auditorium’s stage (Ivan Rijos, 1st prize). Recently, there was guitar student participation in a performance of Cabaret.

We had a flamenco event in a non-standard venue on campus recently. Our visiting guest flamenco dance faculty, Alice Blumenfeld, performed with her troupe, including guitarist Marija Temo, in the living room of Johnson House. A victorian-era campus residence, this facility often hosts special events.

When the Oberlin Inn was modernized and renamed the Hotel at Oberlin in 2016, the rebuild included a new performance space on its basement level. Called the Birembaum, this room accommodates about 100 in a club-like environment. With a live bar, distinctive triangular tables for its cafe seating and excellent house sound system, the black-box-style environment of the Birenbaum is perfect for jazz and pop music, though my students are constantly saying they will perform there. Other classical music students have. However, I’m still waiting…

We are thankful at Oberlin for the large number and remarkable variety of performance venues we have. This bounty makes scheduling concerts more manageable and offers the students a delightful variety of experience while there.