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!
Recently, I took a trip to Cornell with the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble (DCWE). The DCWE music ensemble was selected to play in a conference for the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) to demonstrate the importance of band programs within the US Northeast region. There, we played music by Mexican composers as a part of the Mexican Repertoire Initiative established by the DCWE under Brian Messier, the director of bands at Dartmouth. This initiative has sought to bring composers and new voices to the stage for band programs across the US. During this ensemble's last three years, we have performed over a dozen new works from many diverse Latin composers. In addition, we have even met nearly all of these composers in person, which has been a life-changing experience for us all.
Although we left for Cornell during a busy part of the term, the entire ensemble seemed to enjoy the whole experience! The music we played definitely left an impact on the audience there. We demonstrated that not all band music has to fit standardized performance obligations or the classic repertoire! This was our favorite concert and the best performance we have done in years. I'm so happy to have had the chance to perform on a new stage and find passion in my music again.
Mexican Repertoire Initiative Presentation at Cornell!
Pretty architecture at Cornell!
Outside of the music world, visiting Cornell was a wonderful time with my friends from Dartmouth. We ate at their dining halls and compared them to our own; they sadly had no FoCo cookies like that of Dartmouth's famous cookies at FoCo (our dining hall). Of course, we had coursework to do, so we visited their libraries, too! After watching the last ensemble perform, we left for Dartmouth to return home and get back to our coursework to prepare for our approaching finals! It is time for the Spring quarter and for us to start rehearsing new music for another performance. However, the DCWE had one of its many new traditions a week after the concert, where we baked something with the band director! This time, we celebrated the winter term by making homemade bagels of many types to enjoy during the last week of the term.
Learn about the different programs Dartmouth offers prospective students to explore campus life, learn about Dartmouth, and enjoy an all-expenses paid trip to Hanover!
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!
I recently visited the Harold Edward Cable Makerspace, a workspace designed for students to create personal projects. Read about some of the different tools available and what I made!
