From ice to oboe: a musician-athlete's journey

When Ryan Klein '08 begins his senior oboe recital at 7 p.m. tonight in Filene Recital Hall, his performance will bear witness to a highly original Skidmore career. That's because even at Skidmore?legendary for its support of extraordinary, left-brain/right-brain study interests?the double major that Klein planned in his freshman year was a standout. Deeply interested in exercise science and music, Klein played both the oboe and varsity men's ice hockey. (For more on how he did that, see Scope magazine's freshman-year profile here.)

	Ryan Klein '08

But what won out was the oboe (and its larger cousin, the English horn, which he also plays). Klein left the hockey team and the exercise science program; he entered his junior year a confirmed music major, dedicated to polishing the high level of brilliance and technique his senior recital is designed to showcase.

On Friday's program: Francis Poulenc's Sonata for Oboe and Piano (1962), Paul Hindemith's six-movement Sonata for English Horn and Piano (1941), and Mozart's 1781 Quartet for Oboe, Violin, Viola and Cello, in which he will be accompanied by Hanna Tonegawa '11 on violin, Alyssa DeStefano '08 on viola, and Andrew Brown '09 on cello. The program continues with Robert Schumann's Romance No. 2 (1849), and the 1933 Idillio-Concertino in La maggiore, Op. 15, by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari. Skidmore pianist Patte Hadfield will also accompany Klein. Admission is free and open to the public.

Klein's decision to go with the music was made easier by a stream of calls for gigs with regional musical ensembles such as the Lake George Chamber Orchestra, the New Opera, and the Schenectady Symphony Orchestra. He also plays with the College's orchestra, woodwind quintet, double reed trio, and the eight-piece Skidmore student band, Nat Osborn and the Free Radicals, whose original compositions fearlessly blend elements of rock, classical, and jazz. "The great thing about quitting varsity hockey and freeing up so much time was how it expanded my musical horizons" says Klein.

By the way, it was the massive time commitment, not the fear of damaging his music-making fingers, that dictated Klein's decision to drop his favorite sport. He still misses hockey?it was his "outlet for physical aggression," he explains calmly?but makes up for the loss by coaching Skidmore's women's ice hockey club team and putting in a couple of hours a week with the student club team, the Halfbreds.

Absolutely no regrets, says Klein, who was recently accepted by his No. 1 grad-school choice, the California Institute of the Arts. He plans to pursue a master's degree there in oboe performance, and after that, a life in music performance. It's a hard field to break into, but worth going for, says Klein, who grins at the realization that "I came to Skidmore a jock, and I will leave Skidmore a musician." For sure. His next major performance will be as co-soloist in Bach's Double Concerto for Violin and Oboe, with the Lake George Chamber Orchestra at 2 p.m., Sunday May 18, at the Hyde Collection in Glens Falls.