Editor's Note: This is the first of a four-part series in which The Dartmouth will delve into the various arts-related majors here at Dartmouth. This week, we spotlight students who choose to major in music.
The music department at Dartmouth is a rather intriguing department, with 31 nationally renowned faculty members and only 12 graduating seniors.
"Now that I think about it, I don't think I know a single music major," mused one '07 when asked about her knowledge of the department. This is a not as uncommon as you might think, given the comparatively low numbers of students at Dartmouth who major or minor in music.
Music is generally (and mistakenly) perceived to be an easy major. However, actual music majors attest otherwise.
Brent Reidy '05, one of a rare breed of music majors who choose not to double major, spends approximately eight to 10 hours a day in the basement of the Hop either practicing or listening to music.
The average music major is described as being quite "insular." Self-motivation is imperative, as one's progress is completely subjective and not judged or graded in the conventional sense. As Reidy puts it, "this is a department where the ratio of work to passion is quite different."
Reidy is a member of The Dartmouth staff.
One marked difference between the department and, say, a conservatory such as Julliard is the lack of intense competition between the students themselves. "Here, it's much more open-minded than it would be at a conservatory -- you're on your own in terms of motivation and practice," says Reidy.
Fellow music major Eric Lindley '05 notes that this difference between the department and a conservatory "can be a good thing, since those students that study music here are often satisfied by what they find." He adds, "Certainly, motivated students have access to excellent faculty in composition, performance and musicology who are more than willing to supplement the required curriculum."
Although students can focus on non-performing areas such as composition or musicology, majors usually have an instrumental or vocal background. Under the "Performance and Musicianship" requirement of the department, music majors are required to participate in ensembles such as the Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra, Barbary Coast and the Handel Society for at least three terms.
The department does not actively encourage individual performances, and students rarely organize their own. It is therefore very seldom that the general public receives the chance to observe the talent and hard work that characterizes both the students and faculty of the department. The recent Festival of New Musics was one such opportunity.
The festival, held on April 26 in Spaulding Auditorium, featured James Tenney as a special guest and was co-directed by Reidy and Lindley. As one of the earliest creators of computer music, James Tenney holds no small distinction in the music field. The modesty with which he was featured in the festival characterizes the quiet but brilliant tone of the department.
To give another example, few at Dartmouth other than those already involved in the music department are aware of the dazzling "all-star cast" of the department's faculty.
Professor Jon Appleton is the founder of electro-acoustic music via Synclavier, a digital performance instrument that he helped develop. He has been awarded numerous fellowships, including the Guggenheim, Fulbright, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities and Rockefeller Foundation fellowships.
Christian Wolff, Larry Polansky and Ted Levin, the chair of the department, are also celebrated and highly respected in their fields.
The small number of music students is thus extremely beneficial in terms of the student-to-eminent-professor ratio. Most music classes are composed of about 10 students or less, and due to the focus on individual musicianship, most majors soon find themselves on first-name basis with their professors.
"Although I don't have a basis for comparison, I think we have some of the friendliest and most accommodating professors. Interested, dedicated students will find that all of them are approachable, and will go out of their way to help them get more out of the department," says Lindley.
Lindley, who performs two to four times a term as a "folk singer-songwriter," originally came to Dartmouth intending to be an engineering major and ended up as a music and physics double major. Indeed, more than two-thirds of music majors are double majors, which might have something to do with the extreme difficulty of having a successful career in music.
Lindley and Reidy are among the few music majors who are planning to pursue a music career. They are both headed to grad school next year; Lindley will be attending California Institute of the Arts while Reidy will pursue a PhD in musicology -- which focuses on history of theory -- at the University of Indiana at Bloomington. "A music major requires 100 percent faith," said Reidy, regarding the music career in general. Kudos indeed to the 12 graduating '05s lucky enough to be the recipients of possibly the most individually focused education that Dartmouth has to offer.
