Hello! My name is Chase and I am a '25 from South Carolina. I'm currently considering studying more film scoring and video game composition to learn about writing music for movies and games! But when I'm not hanging out with friends or doing classwork, you can find me composing music. I'm involved in the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble (DCWE), Dartmouth Chamber Orchestra (DCO), and the fraternity Zeta Psi.
As someone who did not know the ins and outs of marine policy, I loved learning about aspects of the blue economy. This class encourages us to be aware of the human aspect of marine problems regarding coastal erosion, pollution, and climate change. Professor Webster is the coolest!
I could not recommend this class enough to anyone who goes to this school! Professor Beaudoin has truly influenced me as both a musician and a student. We learn the music from the 1800's to present day including famous composers like Tchaikovsky, but also music by Beyonce and even the music of Dartmouth's professors. This is much more than a music history class. It is a class about music, our lives, and exploring the concept of sonder through musical lens.
If you're scared of coding or have a love for music, this is the class for you. This computer science class is cross-listed with music to teach students how to code using a language called processing to learn the basic principles of design through coding. We created several projects throughout the term, but Professor Casey really taught me that there is more to music than I think. For my final, I created an interactive keyboard which created a visual effect for each key that created music which made it a musical instrument! Genuinely such an amazing and fun class that I think people should consider.
Although this class is only offered during the F.I.R.E. study abroad program, it was such an amazing class. I absolutely adored having Professor Canepa teach us about Italy from its politics, music, food, and much much more. This class taught me hands on what Italian culture is through visits to famous landmarks, food tastings, or tours of Italian regions. If you don't want to study abroad, I suggest taking a class with Professor Canepa because she truly is one of my favorite professors I have had yet.
FallHanover, New Hampshire
I was on an off term, but decided to live on campus to join a fraternity and work in town. I took the time to write music for one of my friend's short films and learned a lot about the film music industry.
Dr. Moseley has been one of my most favorite professors by far. I have loved taking this class to divulge into my musical passion through creating music and learning about ways to create music. If you are interested in taking a music class, I highly recommend Dr. Moseley if you find a class with him that interests you!
I took this class with composer Miguel Kertsman who was incredibly knowledgeable in every type of compositional technique that I wanted. I studied electronic music composition with him to understand music digital signal processing better.
Although I'm not a fan of reading literature for the classroom, this class completely changed the way I perceive literature. I adored this class with Prof. Hollister as it engaged with the dissections of film, novels, and short stories regarding how humanity views the end of the world.
I took an off-term this Fall, but I decided to sit in on a class on how to arrange music for strings and woodwinds! After many hours of long work, I had a piece performed and recorded by professional musicians that I worked on in the class!
This has to be arguably one of my favorite classes I have taken at Dartmouth with one of the most qualified and talented professors! Throughout the term, I mixed eight different songs of all different genres and learned the ins and outs of sound engineering. This means figuring out the best ways to create and produce music in the industry. Now, I feel confident publishing my own music and have started helping others publish theirs too by working on their projects!
Jodie Mack's "History of Visual Music" truly changed my Dartmouth career. In their class, students learn about the ways artists has dealt with the intersection of sound and sight through film, sculpture, and live performance. Throughout the term, students present two films or performances of their own creative works. Now, Professor Mack is one of my advisors for my thesis which is a long-form piece of visual music!
SummerGreer, SC
During this Summer, I spent time at home with my parents while teaching at a high school marching band. I took a lot of time to write music to prepare my composition portfolio for grad school applications and took time to visit friends before we graduate!
Throughout this year, I am working on a film entitled "Queer Idyll." You can read more about the senior fellowship and my project on the blog, or at the link on above. My favorite part of my research and project this term has been visiting farms owned or cared for by queer individuals. I have witness so many amazing stories, beautiful locations, and friendly people!
Well, it is that time of the term again where everyone hides in the library for a few days (not really but I guess it is somewhat true)! I currently have two final projects and a paper to write within the next few days, which is honestly a little scary. However, I first had an amazing weekend to celebrate this term before I get started on my finals!
This Hopkins Center hosted a symposium this weekend on Mexican music and the DCWE (Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble) was the central figure in leading the symposium. Our director, Brian Messier, planned and helped organize a weekend filled with events to not only discuss Mexican music and culture, but to perform it and view it! My parents decided to come visit me this time with my grandma to watch the concerts and enjoy the Hanover spring. They ended up attending every concert I had this weekend which totaled to be around five hours of performance.
My view during the DCWE dress rehearsal before the concert
After a busy rehearsal on a Thursday, I performed in a chamber concert where I organized a group to play an uncommon piece of music from a prominent early 20th century composer. Eventually, this concert ended with the world premiere of a drum set concerto from a composer who came up to Dartmouth for the world premiere of two of his compositions. Throughout the weekend, the DCWE members met the composers of all of the pieces we played on Friday night since the concert was filled with four premieres! This concert was probably one of my favorite concert cycles I have ever performed in because it was brand new music that was so fascinating to learn how to play.
My friend and I taking a picture with our conductor Brian!
After the symposium ended late Friday night, I went to bed since I had a recording session the next day to record these new pieces. Immediately after the recording session, I went to go perform in a concert with the DCO (Dartmouth Chamber Orchestra) to play lots of fun music. It was so nice to perform for my family and friends so much this weekend. After a year of little to none performances, this week finally made me feel like I was a performer again. To celebrate the concerts and the near end of the academic year, my friends and family went to eat dinner out together before my parents left town. Now, it is time to finish my finals and pack up my room to say goodbye to my freshman year. However, I am going to be studying Italian in Rome this summer so there is still plenty more to do!
In addition to blogging, I work as a Fellow for the Tucker Center, which focuses on promoting spiritual and ethical life on campus. As part of this role, I'm leading the Interfaith Alternative Spring Break Trip. Read on to learn more about my work!
As a senior, one of the most exciting things for me is my thesis project. In this blog, I describe how to approach making a senior honors thesis. As Dartmouth focuses on their undergraduate research, many students complete a thesis, so let's dive in!
Coming back to Dartmouth for my senior year, I have been loving pursuing my major. However, what I love about the liberal arts education is that you can take classes for interest far beyond any classes in your major.
As my first year (and first spring) at Dartmouth had come to an end, I wanted to provide some thoughts and reflections on my classes this term. Perhaps you'll find something you'd like to take someday!
