The Oberlin Jazz Septet (OJS), the premier small jazz combo featuring students from the Conservatory, and representative work from the Conservatory’s Technology in Music and Related Arts department (TIMARA), will be among the scores of performers and exhibits exploring the intersection of art and technology in 20 venues throughout downtown Cleveland September 1 through 4 for the city’s first-ever Ingenuity Festival of Art and Technology. The TIMARA department will present a free video concert, shown Saturday, September 3, at 5 p.m. in the Cleveland Trust rotunda, located at 900 Euclid Avenue. The OJS performs a free concert Sunday, September 4, at 1 p.m. on the 4th Street stage, the heart of the festival.

The festival district is located in the lower Euclid Avenue area from Public Square to East 9th Street, plus East 4th Street from Euclid to Prospect. Performances and exhibits will take place at traditional venues, clubs, and restaurants, as well as in unique areas such as alleys, vacant storefronts, and streetscape stages. For complete information about dates, hours, venues, performances, and exhibits, please visit www.IngenuityCleveland.com.

Dean of the Conservatory David H. Stull was quoted in a Plain Dealer article about the festival: “I think it’s critical for Oberlin to be involved in this,” he said. Oberlin students will be able to “witness firsthand what cities can do when arts organizations come together.” Assistant Professor of Computer Music and Digital Arts Tom Lopez, chair of the Conservatory’s TIMARA department, and Associate Dean of the Conservatory Andrea Kalyn have worked closely with Ingenuity’s organizers James Levin and Thomas Mulready.

Two of Lopez’s compositions, Métropolitain and Underground,composed for videos by new media artist Nate Pagel, are included in TIMARA’s presentation along with two films by Professor of Electronic and Computer Music Gary Lee Nelson and painter Christine Gorbach, My Regards and Charitoo. Rounding out the mix are works by two Oberlin TIMARA majors; Bit Torrent by Leif Shackelford ’05, who graduates this semester, and Free Art, Episode 2 by Travis Johns, who graduated in May. The pieces will be featured in surround sound on four video screens.

Oberlin was a leader in bringing 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 TIMARA in the early 1970s; 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. For more information about TIMARA, visit http://timara.con.oberlin.edu.

Members of the Oberlin Jazz Septet for 2005-06 are trombonist Allie Bosso ’06 from Simsbury, Connecticut, a student of Associate Professor of Jazz Trombone Robin Eubanks; saxophonist John Butler ’06 from Lake Forest Park, Washington, a student of Visiting Professor of Jazz Saxophone Gary Bartz; guitarist Andrew Conklin ’06 from Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, a student of Associate Professor of Jazz Guitar Robert Ferrazza; Theodore Croker ’07 from Leesburg, Florida, on trumpet, a student of Visiting Professor of Jazz Trumpet Marcus Belgrave; drummer Charles Foldesh ’07 from Prescott, Arizona, a student of Assistant Professor of Jazz Percussion Billy Hart; pianist Sullivan Fortner ’08 from LaPlace, Louisiana, a student of Visiting Teacher of Jazz Piano Dan Wall; and bassist Curtis Ostle ’06 from Chevy Chase, Maryland, a student of Professor of Jazz Studies and Double Bass Peter Dominguez. Dominguez is also the director of the OJS.

OJS members, who are nominated each year by the jazz studies faculty, represent the most outstanding student performers, arrangers, and composers from the Conservatory, and their performance repertoire includes original compositions and arrangements of classic jazz. In past years the OJS has been featured at the Detroit, Elmhurst, and Notre Dame jazz festivals, at performance venues in Cleveland, Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Denver, and at Jazz Aspen Snowmass as well as at many high schools and arts programs throughout the United States.

Oberlin’s undergraduate jazz studies program, chaired by Professor of African American Music Wendell Logan, prepares students for careers as professional jazz musicians and for advanced study in jazz. The jazz studies faculty includes composers and performers who, in addition to teaching lessons and coaching ensembles, maintain active performing careers throughout the world. Numerous Oberlin alumni have achieved success in the jazz idiom, among them keyboardist Ted Baker; pianist and composer Stanley Cowell; bassist, composer, and arranger Leon Lee Dorsey; pianist, arranger, and producer Allen Farnham; bassist Ben Jaffe; composer and pianist Jon Jang; writer, composer, and saxophonist James McBride; and trumpeter, trombonist, and composer Michael Mossman.