“Oberlin Stage Left” Highlights Oberlin Prison Music Facilitators

LINK: <https://www.oberlin.edu/conservatory/stage-left>

Arts Bar None

When Oberlin Professor of Music Education Jody Kerchner started a choir, from scratch, at Grafton Correctional Institution, it was not something she’d had on her bucket list.

Now, five years and many rehearsals later, Kerchner joins former OMAG student choir assistants and Oberlin Strings facilitators for a chat about how their community outreach has not only had a profound impact on their lives but also fostered new understandings for those on both sides of the bars.

“If you can’t envision the sound in your head, you can’t sing it. Just like if you can’t see yourself changing, you won’t. It’s the perspective you hold.”
—Grafton resident/OMAG choir member