WPI Journal - The Magazine for WPI Alumni

SPRING 2014

The Alumni Magazine for Worcester Polytechnic Institute. (WPI)

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32 Spring 2014 Conducting a Career "The real beneft for me was the fact that WPI wasn't a music school," says Michael Driscoll '97, '99 MSEE. "Because I wasn't competing with all the music majors that a normal music school would have, I had more opportunities to perform, sing, and con- duct." Managing the Glee Club, launching Simple Harmonic Mo- tion (WPI's men's a cappella group), and conducting the Glee Club and Concert Choir gave him leadership experience invaluable to his present role as director of choirs for Brookline (Mass.) High School. As one of the frst students to complete a music minor at WPI, Driscoll's projects included arranging a cappella pieces and con- ducting Shubert's Mass in G. He notes that his engineering back- ground also informs his work with singers in interesting ways— from the physics of waveforms and overtones, to the mathematical relations of frequencies that he teaches in his AP music classes. From his thesis advisor, Professor Dave Cyganski, currently interim dean of engineer- ing, Driscoll learned to at- tack a problem by breaking it into the smallest solvable steps. "I try to explain con- cepts to my students in the most sequential way I can, with the least amount of extraneous information, to help them understand quickly," he says. Just as his WPI profes- sors stressed building skills rather than memorizing information, Driscoll is passionate about teaching music literacy to empower his singers to read and hear their own parts. "I try to give my choirs the tools to start thinking on their own, so they can apply principles from one piece to another, with- out all the direction coming from the podium," he says. Driscoll originally planned to conduct a community chorus as a sideline to an engineering career. Now, he describes himself as "overly employed" in music, with posts as music director of the An- dover Choral Society and lead musicianship teacher for the Handel & Haydn Society's Vocal Apprenticeship Program. In 2012 he began doctoral studies in choral conducting at Boston University. WPI proved to be an asset in an unexpected way in the years that Driscoll conducted Boston's Saengerfest Men's Chorus. "There aren't too many people out there with so much experience in the all-male repertoire, he says. "I think that's what got me the job." History of Success The Gruppen concert was the pinnacle of a year of intense prepara- tion for Weeks, who compared it to "a war with three generals." One of those conductor-generals was Samantha McGill '09, a futist and composer who took up the baton as a student conductor while earning her BS in management engineering with a minor in mu- sic. She now holds an adjunct faculty position as assistant director of WPI's Concert Band. McGill has a foot in the past and a stake in the future of music at WPI. Inspired by artifacts found in the band room, she researched the history of instrumental music at WPI for her Humanities Suf- fciency project, unearthing evidence of a rich musical past that dates back to WPI's founding—from the Tech Minstrels to the Ban- jo Club and the Boyntonians big band. A business and technology analyst in the Alumni Relations of- fce at Holy Cross, McGill says that conducting and coaching the ensemble she played in as a student is a dream come true. "As a conductor, I want to bring the best out of the group as I possibly can. The coach aspect comes in as we work on technique to bring our students to that next level. Music at WPI was such an integral part of my life as a student that I am overjoyed to be working with the faculty who taught me. I feel fortunate to be a part of the rich and exciting history of music at WPI." J The WPI Orchestra teamed up with members of the Clafin Hill Orchestra for a rare performance of Gruppen in Worcester's Mechanics Hall on Nov. 10. WPI_spring14_features1.indd 32 3/9/14 12:12 PM

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