“It’s a Magical Thing”: Meet Exeter’s Music Department
By ALEX LIM, JANIBEK SUBKHANBERDIN, and JULIA ZHOU
A fiery passion for music burns within the students and faculty of the music department here at Exeter. Between devoting hours of time to music despite juggling rigorous academics and sleep, performing in and leading ensembles in a variety of diverse spaces, and defining music as their bedrock, members of the PEA community have so much enthusiasm for music. That explains why the music department at Exeter is so different from anywhere else.
“Music was always the thing that made me feel most alive,” Rohan Smith, conductor of the Chamber and Symphony Orchestras, said. “The first time I performed in a big concert hall with a symphony, I felt like I was in this whole new universe. I felt that landscapes and sounds and life were opening up around me. I’ve been very lucky in that way.”
Lower Tristan Price added, “It is my source of energy and joy, and it means a lot to me. It’s really my trajectory in life and my career path. I would say music is my life.”
Exonians have a fervor for the art that is unmatched much elsewhere. Instructor in Music Eric Schultz, specializing in music production and jazz combo training, said, “Music can make me feel more human, in some way. And it would be difficult for me to imagine my life without access to that energy.”
The passion instructors such as Schultz bring to the table inspires the students around them, deepening their relationship with the craft.
Prep Grace Yang, who plays the piano under Instructor in Music Jung Mi Lee, said, “She is honestly the smartest woman I’ve ever met. She really cares about students’ mental health and what we’re going through academically. We don’t even have a lot of time to commit to sleep, so it’s hard for a student to walk to the music building and start practicing. She’s helped me cultivate a passion so that even when I’m not required to practice, I’m willing to dedicate my time and find the free time to go play the piano and practice.”
For other members of the Exeter community, the spirit of collaboration is the key to what makes the music scene at the Academy so special. “I like it very much when something that students have been working hard on, something that students care about, comes together and sounds good and makes an audience happy,” Schultz said. “I think that’s a beautiful thing.”
Schultz continued, “I especially like it when that happens and it’s student-driven. Pieces that are created by students or selected by students are especially satisfying.”
Along with support from the instructors, so much success in creating beautiful art stems from collaboration among students themselves, in spaces such as clubs and orchestral ensembles that range in sizes. Yang, having joined a chamber group for the first time at Exeter, said, “I haven’t really played with other people before—I mostly play piano as a soloist. But coordinating with a violin and a cello, and seeing other groups like Chamber Orchestra work together, has really changed my relationship with music.”
In the same vein, Interim Director of Choirs Jerome Walker highlighted the bonds that come with participating in Exeter ensembles. “I think that maybe sports is where we’re used to thinking of this kind of rhetoric; but when you’re all doing something physically together, when you’re all breathing together, when you’re acting together and really tuned into what other the people around you are doing, as you have to be to make music well together, that’s a really magical thing,” Walker said.
He continued, “The idea of people gathering together to make something that can’t be made individually. You can’t sing a choir song on your own. You need to have all the different parts. You need to have a mass of people making the sound, that’s really exciting and magical to do it with other people.”
Price also emphasized the collaborative aspect of music. “I think I really enjoy the community involvement in music here, especially with [Exeter Association of Rock],” he said. “If you’re there, you know that the people around you are going to be at your level, and your involvement, and want to be there because they want to have that experience, just like you.”
Faculty and students also emphasized the diversity of music at Exeter, whether this means options for musicians of different skill levels, explorations of various genres of music, or other musical opportunities being widely accessible. Chair of the Music Department Marcus Rabb, who conducts the PEA Jazz Ensemble and Concert Band, explained, “My favorite thing about music at PEA is the variety of options available to students, including ensembles, lessons, music classes, and clubs.”
Smith, reflecting similarly on the accessibility of music at Exeter, said: “We’re very lucky because we’re able to support a very strong orchestral program of three orchestras, and that means that we’ve got opportunities for students at different levels.”
Walker built on that idea. “Sometimes working at a high school can feel very classroom-specific,” he said. “And here it feels like there are just so many different ways that that music manifests in our department.”
Outside classical ensembles such as orchestras and chamber groups, a capella groups can be heard spreading joy through serenades, and hordes can be found jamming to rock music with the Exeter Association of Rock. Classes like music-making and clubs exploring soundscapes like EDM bring composition and DJing within reach of new musicians. Music can be found in every space on campus, which makes it such a deeply personal and customizable experience, whether that means composing, singing, or drumming with Schultz in the Global Rhythm Ensemble.
Between the devotion of the students and faculty, and the enormous variation of clubs and music groups available for every kind of musician at every level, music at PEA is an incredible program.
Courtesy of the Exeter Communications Department
Courtesy of the Exeter Communications Department
Courtesy of Epstein-Joslin and Picardy