How many 15-year-olds do you know who've conducted Beethoven's Fifth with a full symphony orchestra? That's what Oliver did one spring night of his freshman year at Putney. He did not wear the sweatshirt he wore in rehearsals. He wore a proper suit, though one that he says was a little small because he's still growing in leaps and bounds. That same night, after conducting, he took off his suit coat, loosened his tie, and played drums in the Jazz Combo, improvising a rhythm on his ride cymbal that gave the Combo's Latin/swing interpretation of Duke Ellington's "Caravan" added momentum.

"Nobody would call Putney a place to come and make big-city music connections." Oliver admits that, "Undeniably, it's a little isolated out here. But there are serious musicians and a very supportive music community. This is a great place to spend your high school years.

"I have lived in California pretty much all my life. My parents are both musicians. Many of their California friends are musicians. Many of my California friends are musicians. Even so, music wasn't all I looked for in a high school. It was the atmosphere on Putney's campus that I responded to, as well as the fact that the arts, science, history, literature and language faculty all seemed engrossed in their disciplines and in everything their students were doing. I saw an all-round opportunity here."

College? "I’m not thinking about it yet. When I do I'm sure I'll be thinking about music programs. But right now I'm thinking about Project Week and about how great it will be to play percussion for the school musical and then how great it will be to get back to California this summer and see my friends."

Sports? "Every year at Putney students go on what are called 'Long Spring' trips that are week-long, ambitious outdoor adventures that carry forth the idea that there is joy to be found in experiencing nature. I'm all for joy in nature but this year I joined an indoor Long Spring trip. It was a skate boarder's dream come true. We went to Rye Airfield, which is the largest indoor skate park in New England. It's an old hangar. We had it all to ourselves and skated and biked 10 hours a day. It was a 'guy' experience. We hadn't excluded girls, but none signed up. So we hung out, relaxed, and probably got easily as much exercise as the hikers, paddlers, climbers, and rowers."