About us

Malcolm Bamba (he/him) is a Creative Director and instrumentalist from Denver, Colorado, specializing in digital media, creative production, and interactive technologies. A child of a West-African immigrant, Malcolm seeks to subvert our ideas around Americana and Pop-Culture, through artistic examinations of a collective cultural lineage. Currently attending Oberlin Conservatory of Music (BM) with an Independent Major in Arts Leadership & Marketing, Malcolm demonstrates an investment in retroactive work around equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives within his community. His work ethic, distinct visual eye, and thoughtfulness around dynamic cultural identities make him an enthusiastic voice in any creative project.

Ariana Cervantes (she/her) is a Posse Scholar from the South Side of Chicago. She is a fourth year Politics major, Writing and Communication minor, and a Journalism concentration at Oberlin College. A passion of Cervantes is storytelling through visual or audio forms. She has written and hosted podcasts centered on the secret behind how artists make their music through a music theory lens. With the visual aspect, she enjoys painting to tell her own stories as well. This is what got her into journalism – being able to help voice the stories of other people of color. In 2020, Cervantes wrote journal articles for Posse Chicago alumni writing their story – one of which was featured on the national Posse Foundation website. In the future, she hopes to bring her creativity to continue to storytell to help marginalized voices be heard more in society. On campus at Oberlin, Cervantes is the treasurer for Solarity, and an ExCo instructor for El Centro Volunteer Initiative: Learning through Teaching.

Wren Chan (they/them) is a fourth year double degree student in violin performance and creative writing at Oberlin College and Conservatory. They studied at the Oberlin Community Music School throughout their entire childhood, and it was there they discovered a passion for chamber music and creating art with others. They are deeply invested in accessible community arts education. Chan has been teaching violin for seven years both in private study and group settings, as well as with children and adults. Serving as director and program manager, this summer they are putting on a children’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Oberlin Children’s Shakespeare Project. A graduate of the Alpha Young Writers’ Workshop (‘20 and ‘21), they are interested in writing fantastical horrors and adventures, and much of their free time is spent reading similar materials.

My name is Reginald Goudeau (though most people call me Reggie), I use he/they pronouns, and I’m a fourth year at Oberlin College. I major in Africana Studies with a Writing and Communication minor and a Journalism concentration. I’m a figure drawing model, a Bonner Scholar, the Journalism Integrative Concentration Assistant, and the Features Editor at The Oberlin Grape. After my time at Oberlin, I hope to eventually become a contributor or editor for a publication that highlights the stories of marginalized groups. I’m originally from Warren, Ohio, and have lived there my entire life (aside from college). I’m also a first-generation, low-income Black student who strives to improve the world for those like me. In my free time, I enjoy watching anime, listening to trap music, and writing poetry. Despite my experience writing and editing at places like The Oberlin Review and The Grape, I’m excited to delve more into the new avenue of music criticism through this course.

April Lee (she/her) is a third-year at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, pursuing a major in Piano Performance under Alvin Chow and a minor in Music and Cognition. She performs locally as a Sacred Heart Concert Series Artist and as the Oberlin Community Music School accompanist. Over previous summers, April has attended various programs on fellowship, including Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival, MusicFest Perugia, and Gijón International Piano Festival. Her passion for writing and music stems from a common ground that they are the most natural modes of expression for her. When back at home in Los Angeles, April enjoys exploring new cafés to foster her coffee addiction, going on drives along the coast, and having more time to read.

Max Newman (He/Him) is a first-year student at Oberlin hailing from Syracuse, New York. From a young age, Newman was surrounded by music; in his childhood, he would create fake playlists on the family computer complete with made up song titles, artists, and track lengths. In his years of schooling, he taught himself to play the piano and saxophone, and also began composing and producing his own music. At Oberlin, he is looking forward to performing around campus and honing his musical skills. He also hopes to start his own radio show at WOBC in the future. Newman has moderate music journalism experience, having spent the winter of 2022-23 creating a detailed list of his 200 all-time favorite albums, each with their own description. He also has written a variety of pieces for his high school newspaper. In his free time, Newman enjoys going for runs, listening to music, watching soccer, and spending time with his dog, Gracie.

Bry Woodard (she/her) is a second-year Psychology and Sociology major with an integrative concentration in Journalism. Outside of the classroom Bry is a captain of the varsity women’s basketball team. She also serves as the Housing and Dining chair on the student senate, as well as being on the board of the Black Student Athlete Group and the Student Athlete Advisory Committee. When she’s not on the court or in a meeting, you are guaranteed to find Bry walking around with her headphones in, probably singing along off key. Her love of music stems from the gospel songs that would fill her house every Saturday when she was younger, indicating that the day would be spent cleaning and playing family board games. Speaking of board games, she is an enthusiast and hosts her friends in a game night every Sunday evening where she rarely loses.

Instructors

Daniel Hathaway founded ClevelandClassical.com in September, 2008, after a thirty-one year tenure as music director of Cleveland’s Trinity Cathedral, where he founded the Wednesday Noon Brownbag Concert Series and Trinity Chamber Orchestra. A graduate of Harvard College and the Episcopal Divinity School, he also studied historical musicology at Princeton and Harvard Universities. Before coming to Cleveland in 1977, he served as head of humanities at the Sunset Hill School in Kansas City and as head of arts at Groton School in Massachusetts. In Cleveland, he has served on the music staff of Cleveland Opera, Great Lakes Theater Festival, and the faculty of Laurel School. As an organist, Hathaway has played recitals in the U.S., England, France, Germany, and Austria. He team-teaches Music Journalism at Oberlin College and Conservatory and is a member of the Music Critics Association of North America.

Mike Telin is the Executive Editor of ClevelandClassical.com, a weekly online publication covering classical music in Northeast Ohio. In addition he also team-teaches two courses in Music Journalism at the Oberlin College & Conservatory. He is an active member of the Music Critics Association of North America and has contributed articles to Early Music America, Classical Voice North America, Symphony Magazine, and CAN Journal.

Telin received his musical training at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and made his living as a bassoonist for more than a decade. From 1990 through 2004, he served as executive director of Music & Performing Arts at Trinity Cathedral, Inc. in Cleveland, Ohio. He also designed and executed a number of major projects including an Artist-in-Residence Community Development Initiative in Cleveland’s Central neighborhood; an International Opera Project in cooperation with the Ohio Arts Council, Oberlin Conservatory and the Instituto of the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires; and helped obtain a $1 million U.S. Department of Health and Human Services grant to incorporate the arts into an HIV and STD prevention program for At Risk Youth in Cleveland.

Telin has co-taught a Public Interest Research course with Dr. Mark Mattern in the Political Science Department at Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio, and co-authored a number of papers with Mattern that focused on the intersection of art and community in Cleveland’s Central neighborhood for presentation at the Midwest Political Science; American Political Science; Urban Affairs Association and Social Theory; and Politics and the Arts conferences in Boston, Chicago and Columbus (Ohio).