This year, a few times a month, the Brandeis community should expect a concert near or inside the Rose Art Museum. The new series, Lamplight Sessions, is a collaboration between the Student Committee for the Rose Art Museum (SCRAM), Brandeis Television (BTV) and the University radio station, WBRS. The first Lamplight Session was on Sunday and featured the student group How Deep Was the Ocean (with students Harris Cohen ’16, Ben Kazenhoff ’16 and Gabe Rosenbloom ’16). 

SCRAM Student Coordinator Fritz Oleshansky ’16 says that they are hoping to feature something in between the indie music that is often performed at Chums and the popular music played at Fall Fest and Springfest. The concerts will be recorded and filmed by BTV and Student Production Services and will be uploaded to SCRAM’s YouTube channel. BTV is in the process of editing Sunday’s concert, and it should be uploaded roughly within the next week and a half, Oleshansky told the Justice. 

As for the campus radio station’s involvement, Oleshansky and General Manager of WBRS Harris Cohen ’16 both expressed interest in live broadcasting concerts from the station. Cohen says that the radio station does not have the capacity and equipment to live broadcast from the Rose as of yet, but says that an option would be to have the musicians come into the live studio and broadcast from there in the interim. But Oleshansky is also looking further than the campus radio station and is interested in broadcasting on Boston-based radio stations. 

James Conlon ’16 of BTV and Cohen referred to Sunday’s concert as a “test.” The groups are still figuring out what is the best way to produce these sessions. “With concerts, it’s all about trying to figure out how many people you need, how many resources you need from other clubs, from Getz, from our own equipment closet,” said Conlon. For the event on Sunday, BTV had twelve of their staffers managing four cameras.

Meanwhile, WBRS is looking to extend their contribution to the series through the logistics of booking and promoting student awareness. “Moving forward, we’re really hoping to be able to be the group that’s behind making the posters and letting the campus know and promoting [the concerts] through social media,” said Cohen. He noted how WBRS already has experience in this field. For example, they assist with the booking for Springfest. “WBRS has a lot of experience in concert promotion and talent booking. … That’s like a third of what we do,” he said.  

Oleshansky says that through the series, SCRAM is looking to extend their role on campus. “SCRAM, in the past, has been known exclusively for one thing—SCRAM Jam,” said Oleshansky. 

On Sunday, the first concert of the series was held at the “Light of Reason,” the installation directly in front of the Rose. But Oleshansky said that as it gets colder, the concerts will be moved indoors to the Foster Wing of the Rose where, Oleshansky says, “acoustic properties … are truly ideal for intimate acoustic concerts.” 

The next Lamplight Session will be on Sept. 20 and will feature artist Scott James from New York City. “He’s got a great fan base on YouTube, and we’re hoping that we can sort of take advantage of his existing fan base to sort of springboard our own,” said Oleshansky.  

*This article was amended for accuracy concerning subjects' names on 9/8/15/.