The Alumni Magazine for Worcester Polytechnic Institute. (WPI)
Issue link: http://wpialumnimag.epubxp.com/i/277771
30 Spring 2014 When they leave WPI, graduates take their music out into the world in a variety of ways. Weeks and his wife have sat up late into the night at their kitchen table, talking through the options with graduating seniors. Some fnd a good balance between an engi- neering career and a vibrant nightlife of gigs. Others, like Subaiou Zhang '10, might resolve to "lay the instrument aside" to focus on other goals. Zhang, who took frst prize in China's National Violin Competition for Young Musicians at age 7, came to WPI to study biology and biotechnology, but found that completing her music minor reawakened her passion to perform. Last year her auditions won her full scholarships at several prestigious conservatories. She is now a full-time graduate student in violin performance at Boston University. "Though I have tried to push music aside many times, it has always pulled me back," she says. The Producer's Path Neal Cappellino '87 describes himself as a typical suburban rock- obsessed teenager of the '70s who dreamed of taking to the stage with his musical idols. When his band needed a mixer, he built one. In his own musical compositions, he experimented with sound-on-sound recordings using two cassette tape recorders. "I just did it for fun," he says. "I wasn't thinking about engineering— I was in a band." Today he sometimes has to pinch himself to believe he's record- ing and producing the likes of Dolly Parton, Brad Paisley, and Nickel Creek. With three Grammy Awards in his discography, (including Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, for Alison Krauss and Union Station's Paper Airplane), he takes pride in bringing to life the mu- sical vision of top talent and independent artists in his Nashville studio, The Doghouse. As an electrical engineering student at WPI, Cappellino wrestled to resolve his technical and his creative sides. He played in the Jazz Ensemble, took music theory and history classes, and did his Hu- manities Suffciency on jazz pianist Bill Evans. Professor Rich Falco helped him fnd a spiritual home at a place where music and elec- tronics merged—the legendary Long View Farm recording studio in North Brookfeld, Mass. "It was a straight up, fve-bucks-an-hour job," Cappellino laughs. "They let me in the door, but I had a lot to learn before I was of any use to them." Although there are now de- gree programs in sound engineering, Cappellino says, "Sometimes it's just a matter of being a guy in the room and someone turns to you and says 'Do you know how to work that, kid?' "I consider myself a classic example of the perfect marriage of the technical and the creative. Having a strong music component at WPI was important for me, and in hindsight, I realize the value of my technical learning. You couldn't have told me that, at 20. That's something you have to live out and come to realize yourself." Answers: 1. Jay Geils, Danny Klein, Dick Salwitz 2. Jean-Pierre Trevisani '89 3. Subaiou Zhang '10 4. Dave Jacques '84 5. Bob Sinicrope '71 6. Isabella Quagliato '05 7. Sergio Salvatore '02 8. Hank Medwin '42 9. David DiGuiseppe '75 10. Dan Sullivan '77 11. Omari O'Neal '08 12. Paul Winter's Miho: Journey to the Mountain (Best New Age Album, 2011) 13. Alan (Robert) Pearlman '48 14. Irma Servatius '04 15. Michael Dukakis 1. Grammy nominees in 1983—fans are still lobbying for their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 2. A tenor with the L'Opera Lyrique de Paris, he found his voice while on a choir tour with the late Louis Curran. 3. First-prize winner of China's National Violin Competition at age 7, she won a full scholarship to Boston University's graduate performance program. 4. Home "bass" for John Prine, Emmylou Harris, and other Nashville notables, he can be heard on several of Prine's Grammy- nominated albums. 5. He was named 2007 Jazz Educator of the Year by the International Association for Jazz Education. 6. Engineer by day, this singer/pianist sways by night to the rhythms of Brazilian jazz. 7. From the Great Hall in Higgins House to Carnegie Hall, WPI was the key for this jazz pianist. 8. A world-renowned acoustical oceanographer and music enthusiast, he endowed a string ensemble at WPI with scholarships for four musicians. 9. Author of The Mighty Accordion, he began his music career as a child singing at a barber shop. 10. His JamStik electronic guitar device was one of Popular Science's top inventions for 2013. 11. This hip-hop artist and videographer released his frst EP in his senior year at WPI. 12. The WPI Festival Chorus can be heard on this Grammy-winning album. 13. His ARP synthesizer rivaled the Moog in the 1970s. 14. Professional violist (and daughter of two WPI professors), she performed Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola with her sister. 15. Former presidential candidate whose 80th birthday was celebrated with WPI music groups. UTUNES Test your knowledge of WPI's musical talent. WPI_spring14_features1.indd 30 3/9/14 12:12 PM