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!
Wow. It has been one hectic week! There has been so much to do and accomplish (a lot more to go too), so I'm going to tell you all about what one of my typical weeks this term looks like.
Typically, Sunday is a work day for most Dartmouth students (including myself). Whether you have to write an essay or make a sculpture, you can expect to work on your assignments on Sundays while spending some time with your friends. For the last two Sundays, my days have consisted of writing a discussion post and working on my sculptures for my studio art class. In addition, I have had rehearsal with the Dartmouth Chamber Orchestra (DCO) which is a student led group of musicians.
This academic year, the Dartmouth course schedule has mainly two standard sets of times for classes. One set of class times is for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday while the other one is for Tuesday and Thursday. I have my writing class, which is a first year requirement, during the first set of times. The class is titled Caribbean Reverberations, and it has been really interesting to learn about since it talks about some topics I am familiar with. After some meals and class, I have rehearsal with the wind ensemble (DCWE). It is always a great way to relax after having a long day of doing work, because I let the music put me into a new, peaceful mindset. I also have rehearsal for the DCWE on Wednesdays too. Therefore, my Monday and Wednesday have a similar schedule that I follow.
This is the view from my writing class inside of Baker Library during a snowy day.
However, my Tuesday and Thursday are typically the most chaotic days of the week. On both days, I have both my sculpture and music history class. That's almost around four hours of class a day. A good rule to plan out your time is that for every hour of class you may spend three hours doing work. On Tuesday, I also have rehearsal for the Contemporary Music Lab which is one of my favorite things to do during the week. We learn how to improvise and develop a greater sense of musicianship. And on Thursday, I have a tuba lesson where my teacher helps provide guidance on how to become a better musician as well.
On Friday, I go to class and then take a lot of time to relax from doing work throughout the week. Usually, I will do some work in the earlier half of the day and then hang out with friends for Saturday. Although all of this is what a typical week this term looks like for me, sometimes there will be more or less throughout the week. For example, this week I had two extra rehearsals and then watched/performed in the Jazz Coast's concert. My piece of advice is to have your typical schedule written down somewhere and allow time for breaks each day because they help so much!
A picture of all the percussionists who performed in the Coast concert! Including the percussion instructor Amy Garapic and guest artist Vanderlei Pereira!!!
Unlike some other universities, many of the STEM lecture classes at Dartmouth require concurrent enrollment in a laboratory section. What is it like navigating that time as a student?
