A Mash-Up Between Dartmouth Entrepreneurs and Musicians in Mexico City
From performing in one of Latin America's premier concert halls to seeing, firsthand, efforts to safeguard Indigenous heritage, more than 60 Dartmouth students immersed themselves in the culture of Mexico City during two trips over spring break. In March 2023, 10 students joined two Dartmouth programs—the Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship and the Rassias Center for World Languages and Cultures—for a weeklong exploration of social entrepreneurship. Nearby, the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble was on a musical journey showcasing new work by Mexican composers.
Each trip was part of a broader initiative. The wind ensemble tour grew out of the Mexican Repertoire Initiative at Dartmouth, which aims to bring Mexican compositions to the international stage and provide opportunities for Mexican composers. Magnuson's Social Entrepreneurship Experience reflects the center's growing focus on societal issues.
"Sometimes people think entrepreneurship is just Silicon Valley or other for-profit businesses," says Jamie Coughlin, the center's founding director. But Magnuson's Social Entrepreneurship program, launched in 2021, brings students, faculty, and staff together around issues like environmental conservation and sustainable economic development.
During their week in Mexico City and the surrounding areas, students got an up-close look at social entrepreneur-led ventures. At Ehecalli, an innovative ecotourism center, they built a composting toilet, experienced a traditional sweat lodge, and conversed at length with founder Nando Ausín '06 about sustainability, including just how much there is to learn from Indigenous populations. They toured Xochimilco Ecological Park and Plant Market, a 400-acre reserve that utilizes ancient farming methods to grow food in a sustainable way.
The students were also accompanied by Helene Catherine Rassias-Miles, director of Dartmouth's Rassias Center, and Jim Citron, a lecturer in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. The partnership with the Rassias Center is just one way Magnuson is leveraging expertise across campus, says Coughlin. A credit-bearing Arts Entrepreneurship course in the Department of Music he developed with wind ensemble director Brian Messier debuted this term.
Collaboration was also integral to the wind ensemble trip. It showcased new works by Mexican composers, most of which were commissioned by Dartmouth's Hopkins Center for the Arts or created through the Mexican Repertoire Initiative, which Messier founded. "This is our first opportunity to really share this music, not only in the U.S., but with our Mexican partners in this music making," says Messier.
The wind ensemble teamed up with two local bands for performances in two venerable concert halls, where audiences included most of the composers whose works were being performed.
Oboist Sophia Sulimirski '23, an environmental studies and biology major from Westchester County, New York, says the trip "blew my expectations out of the park. I made so many new friendships and watched so many new friendships emerge. It was really touching to see that this is ultimately why we are here, to make those connections and to play awesome music."
