Department of Music

The professor of music talks about Sondheim, the ethics of file-sharing, life on stage, and the liberal arts.

Professor Steve Swayne raises concerns about therapeutic music interventions.

For 52 years, a professional brass quintet has been hired to play the solemn marches and ceremonial music for the Dartmouth Commencement each spring. At this year’s ceremony on Sunday, June 8, however, the customary quintet will be replaced by student musicians, some in caps and gowns, who will play the processional, recessional, and incidental music, about 90 minutes in all.

Research is important, says Liliana Ma ’14, because it is a path to opportunities for expanding the current knowledge base.

Michael Blum ’15 was raised in a musical household in Great Neck, N.Y. When he was 9, he learned to play the guitar from his father, Len Blum, a classical guitarist. But it wasn’t until he got to Dartmouth that he realized music could be more than a hobby.

In a Pacific Standard opinion piece, Professor of Music Steve Swayne reflects on the recent “loud music” trial in Florida, the way music can make listeners feel powerful,  and the effect of “second-hand” sound.

Folk singer Pete Seeger, who died January 27 at age 94, was no stranger to Dartmouth. He sang at the College a number of times and, say faculty members, has been an influence on their work, and in their lives.

A rare sketch leaf manuscript written by Ludwig van Beethoven—which goes on the auction block January 15 in Amherst, N.H.—is an extremely important piece of evidence about the way the composer worked, according to Associate Professor of Music William Summers.

Professor of Music Sally Pinkas talks with the Valley News about next week’s concert “Playing for Peace,” which will include the world premiere of Kareem Rouston’s Traces, described by the Emmy-nominated Syrian composer as a “meditation on loss.”

Professor of Music Melinda O'Neal acknowledged that her "Music 52" students had "a very tall order" for their final class project: They had a full orchestral score to learn and just two weeks in which to prepare to conduct 30 instrumentalists.