Violinist Benjamin Goodwin from Santa Cruz, California, is a first year composition major studying at Oberlin Conservatory. He has experience playing in orchestras and chamber ensembles, like being the concertmaster of the Santa Cruz County Youth Symphony and playing in a string quartet for two years. As a composer, he has written music for his youth symphony, a choir tour in Ireland, and will soon have his first professional premiere by the Santa Cruz Symphony. Each summer, he co-directs the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music Youth Ensemble, helping students compose music for a small ensemble of aspiring musicians. Due to his extensive background in composition, he has a unique perspective when it comes to journalism, hearing how musicians communicate the intent behind a work. In his free time, he enjoys a nice rest before committing to his next musical theater gig.
Vinny Filippelli is a first generation Italian-American and a third-year student at Oberlin College, hailing from Cleveland, Ohio. He is majoring in psychology with a concentration in journalism, a combination driven by his passion for helping athletes navigate their mental challenges. Having been immersed in sports for much of his life, he has witnessed firsthand the toll they can take—not only on the body, but the mind. Vinny aims to share the stories of athletes who have overcome struggles, hoping their experiences will inspire others to keep fighting. Looking to further his writing skills, Vinny enrolled in a music criticism class- where he discovered enjoyment in writing about music. Outside of his academic pursuits, Vinny is a laid-back individual who enjoys life’s simple pleasures, like spending time with friends and family and taking leisurely walks.
Owen Neaman is a second year student at Oberlin College. He is currently pursuing a major in Musical Studies with an integrative concentration in journalism. Born and raised in New York City, he started going to concerts in middle school and began writing about music in high school. After seeing DIY punk shows in downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn, he started writing about concerts he saw in his local scene, writing on genres including jazz, rock, punk, and metal. Writing album reviews and conducting interviews with artists allowed him to connect with other musicians, and he soon joined multiple bands that gigged regularly around the city. He’s now an active member of the music scene in Oberlin, composing music and playing guitar for rock band False Spring. In addition to writing about music, he’s also hosted radio shows on WOBC 91.5 FM and currently works as an Oberlin concert sound technician.
Ben Giesen is a third year Musical Studies and Computer Science major at Oberlin College who has recently begun exploring a passion for multilingual journalism. From studying both the jazz and classical saxophone tradition over the past ten years, he has developed a nuanced understanding of musical performance and the cultural elements that encompass it. In addition to this, the media production and compositional writing skills that he has honed through his liberal arts education have given him a strong foundation for practicing journalism. During a recent research project in Galicia, Spain he put some of these skills into practice by seeking out contacts, conducting interviews, and creating educational media on the topics of traditional music and dance. When he is not busy with research or school work, Ben likes to spend his time cowboy camping in his home state of Colorado, busking with his friends, and discovering new genres of music.
Griffin Frerichs is a second-year Computer Science and English major from Lincoln, Nebraska. With a passion for journaling that stemmed out of boredom during the pandemic, he sees writing as the ultimate form of self-expression and problem solving. Starting at Oberlin and taking some Creative Writing classes, he realized how much his habit forced him to develop his own voice. Intersecting his newfound passion, he also loves all things music. Besides a growing list of others’ music recommendations that he’ll “eventually listen to,” he also plays music. After getting a guitar in his sophomore year of high school and eventually losing his drive for incessant noodling, he decided to start taking lessons. What he listens to varies wildly from day to day, but some of his favorites include Charles Mingus, Denzel Curry and Billy Strings. He also has a distinct fondness of the Grateful Dead.
Penelope Cline is a first year student from Norman, Oklahoma. As an avid viola player and musical theater enthusiast, she was active in the Oklahoma youth orchestra community throughout high school and is interested in how music shapes the stories we tell. At Oberlin College, she is planning to pursue a math degree with a music minor. After taking her first music journalism class, she became interested in the reflective style of writing and thinking about music. She likes to knit and crochet in her free time, and enjoys drinking mint tea at night. Her favorite composer is Rebecca Clarke.
Sophie Leah is a fourth-year student at Oberlin burdened with too many interests—including a burgeoning love of journalism. Her education has primarily been in music, studying double bass for over ten years, with successful forays into piano, violin, and guitar. However, performing arts is where all her interests truly intersect. She has been a prolific pit musician on many musical theater productions, with acting involvement for shows such as Legally Blonde, and management contribution for productions like La Finta Giardiniera. Because of these interconnections between her varying interests, she is able to write from a lens of experience. By being a part of many stages of the artistic process, her writing reflects a consideration for the multi-faceted roles that shape a musical product. In what little free time she has, one could find her drinking coffee while writing a song with her guitar back home in Florida.
Sophie Montague is a second year student at Oberlin College studying Sociology and Arts Administration. She grew up in Montclair, New Jersey, just a train ride away from the most iconic NYC concert venues– places that shaped who she is. She’s been a music journalist ever since the publication of her middle school thinkpiece bashing people who don’t care enough about lyrics. Sophie credits Oh Wonder’s 2015 self-titled record as the album that made her fall in love with music. Currently, she holds a near monopoly on all the Oberlin concert booking organizations that don’t get paid. But when she’s not caught up in the fast pace of show biz– you can find her strumming an indie folk song, brewing tea for a friend, or searching for additions to her vintage postcard collection. More than anything, she’s interested in how music can foster interpersonal connections and motivate social change.
Geri Mishra is a third year Musical Studies major from central Indiana, with a concentration in Arts Administration, and a minor in Arts and Creative Technologies. She will likely tack on other minors and Concentrations because like most Oberlin students, she has a degree size complex. A former video game composer, her ultimate dream is to be a pop star under the name geri.mx. In the meantime, to pay the bills in the future, she has done social media and A&R for multiple independent record labels and music management companies. Ever-opinionated, her favorite subject to explore in her writing is in-depth analysis of media typically overlooked by academia, such as hip hop, pop music, Reality TV, and internet spaces. She enjoys being neurotic about fashion, going to the gym in cute outfits, playing girly games, being blonde, and most importantly, making music on her pink sparkly Macbook.
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