Were You at the Same Performance I Was?

The dimly lit auditorium at Oberlin wasn't the greatest place to take photographs, but in this snapshot from Wednesday's first day of Oberlin's Rubin Institute for Music Criticism, the hands of WCLV's Robert Conrad and those of the New Yorker's Alex Ross are communicating on their own during a pre-institute interview heard Thursday on WCLV 104.9 & wclv.com.

Mr. Ross was one of the featured speakers at this new institute at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. He spoke Wednesday night; Anne Midgette of the Washington Post gave last night's address. Still to speak are Heidi Waleson of the Wall Street Journal, former Washington Post critic Tim Page, and John Rockwell, formerly of the New York Times.

Go to oberlin.edu/rubininstitute for more information. Panel discussions and musical performances are also a part of the institute, which concludes Sunday.

Stephen Rubin of the publisher Henry Holt & Co., and whose background in cultural reporting makes him a compelling advocate for informed criticism, is the benefactor.

Student fellows are working with the critics during the 5-day institute. Audience members are invited to submit their own reviews of the musical performances; the winner of the audience prize receives $1,000.

As a former music and theater critic in a mid-sized American city, it was comforting to know that these distinguished music writers had all received letters of dismay beginning, "Were you at the same performance I was?"

Charles Michener, former New Yorker editor, in his opening address Wednesday, answered the question perfectly: No one is ever at the same performance becase we all come to concerts with different ears, experiences and expectations.