Josefina (Josie) Stone was revealed on Thursday, in her first Oberlin recital, as one who plays her best when she has an audience. She’d been sounding increasingly impressive as the semester wore on, but there was a measurable distance between what we’d heard last in class and the command she showed on stage in the glorious ambience of Fairchild Chapel. Josie played music of considerable difficulty with confidence and musical clarity (including works by Bach, Giuliani, Carlevaro and Bogdanovic). She presented with a large, attractive sound and never shied from employing dynamics and timbral changes to help get her ideas across. She held the stage with professional élan and the audience responded in kind with a loud enthusiastic standing ovation. We look forward to hearing lots more from her: Bravo, Josie!!!

Following is a photographic recap of her performance; the program is included at the end of the post.