Music Concentrators
Arthur Adams '12 is a pianist who started playing in December 1999. A student of Arlene Cole’s through the Applied Music Program, he prefers to play early 20th century Russian (and some French) piano music, with some jazz influences. At the moment Arthur’s favorite composers are Scriabin, Debussy, and Nikolai Kapustin. He is also very interested in composing, especially for piano, and has been an active member of Brown New Music. Beyond the sphere of music Arthur is the president of Brown Tang Soo Do and is an avid Rubik's Cube solver who will be hosting his third Rubik's Cube competition at Brown on May 19 through the Brown Cubing Club, which he founded. Arthur also enjoys swimming and is looking forward to the new pool. In addition to being a music concentrator, pursuing a track in music history, theory and composition, Arthur is also a physics major in the astrophysics track. Arthur will be pursuing graduate work in physics and astronomy at San Francisco State University, with the eventual goal of a PhD in astrophysics. His planned field of research is extrasolar planets.
Matthew Block '13 is a Music and History concentrator hailing from Philadelphia. He started playing trumpet at age 10 and became heavily involved with jazz in the Philly area. Matt has been playing in the Brown Jazz Band since freshman year and currently leads the trumpet section. He also started and still runs the WednesdayNight Jazz Jams in the Underground. He is dedicated to growing the presence of a jazz community at Brown. Matt also co-leads the Music DUG. This summer Matt interned in New York at Human Music and Sound Design, a company that composes and produces original music for advertising, TV, film, and interactive media. He hopes to pursue a life of music in that type of field where he will be able to express his ideas through composition and through his trumpet.
Throughout his four years at Brown, David Brown '12 has been involved in a variety of activities in both music and theatre Arts Performance Studies departments. He has been a Brownbrokers board member, developing and producing student-written musical theatre, and co-writing Dorian, one of two shows given a staged reading by Brownbrokers with the intention of a mainstage production. He has also served as a Musical Forum board member, including being its 2010-11 co-chair, and with them he has produced musical theatre and music directed Into the Woods and numerous song cycles/revues/concerts. David has also lent his musical talents to Production Workshop and Brown Opera Productions. In the Theatre Arts Performance Studies Department David has assisted musically with numerous department shows, has been pianist and assistant musical director/conductor for Brown/Trinity Rep Playwrights Rep (Summer 2010), and was pianist for Trinity Rep (Fall 2011). A senior music concentrator in the Music Department, David was a teaching assistant for 3 music courses, studied piano and organ through the Appled Music program, and was an accompanist for Applied Music voice students. He recently presented a senior recital performing works by Samuel Barber and George Crumb as well as original compositions. His future plans include returning to the San Francisco Bay area to continue his passion for music, theatre and education.
Carrie Danielson ’14 is a Music Theory & History/Composition concentrator from Mora, Minnesota. She began playing the oboe with her school band in the fifth grade, and after discovering the joys of instrumental music, took up piano lessons a year later. In high school, she was an active member in her school’s Band program, for which she received the John Philip Sousa Award and was selected for the Minnesota All-State orchestra as and oboist and English hornist. At Brown, she continues to study oboe with Amy Mendillo through the Applied Music Program and is a member of both the Brown University Orchestra and The Brown Band. For the past seven years, she’s had the pleasure of serving as the pianist for her home church of Grace Lutheran, where she continues to play whenever she finds herself back in her small community. To this day, Carrie realizes the impact music education has had on her life and works to promote research and advocacy for arts education in our schools. In 2010, she conducted an epidemiological study focusing on positive correlations between music education and factors contributing to overall mental health, for which she was honored as a national semi-finalist in the College Board’s Young Epidemiology Scholars competition. At Brown, she hopes to continue on to reach her goal of sharing the importance music has to our youth and society. Though she hopes to go into the medical field in the future and will be spending this summer doing cancer research at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, music will always be an integral part of her life, which is why she has chosen it as a concentration here at Brown.
Holly Doerflinger ’13 was born and raised in
El Paso, TX and is double concentrating in Music and Anthropology. She began to play flute in the fourth grade and after several years of being unable to play anything, she finally began to flourish. In high school, she was a member of her city’s youth orchestra, her high school marching band, honor band, symphonic orchestra, and the TMEA All Region Honor Band. She continues to focus on performance through the Applied Music Program and participation in the Brown University Wind Ensemble and the Rhode Island Philharmonic Community Flute Ensemble. Additionally, she writes music, sings in her church choir, and gives music lessons to children and teens from low-income regions of Rhode Island. While she never intended to combine her two degrees, part of her research focuses on how people in various ethnic communities in Providence use music to negotiate their racial identities. After Brown, she hopes to pursue a PhD in Linguistic Anthropology and a Masters of Music Education.
Will Epstein '12 is a student in the MEME program. His work traverses and blends a wide array of musical methods from free improvisation to the production of laptop compositions and songs. His honors thesis dealt primarily with the latter; a collection of twisted fairy-tale like songs that attempted to uncover the organic and spiritual elements in electronic music. Outside of the classroom, Will has participated in and led a number of bands, often wielding his much beloved saxophone along with as any number of other musical toys. He currently tours internationally in a group with his friend and fellow Brown student, Nicolas Jaar. Musical aspirations thoroughly predominate Will's plans for the future as he hopes to extend his work of the last four years into and through the broader milieu.
Berit Goetz ’13 is a music concentrator (theory/history/composition track) from St. Paul, Minnesota. A graduate of St. Paul Central High School, Berit has performed as a vocalist and classical pianist with the St. Paul Ordway Honors Chorus and Orchestra, the Minnesota Chorale, VocalEssence, and the Minnesota Orchestra. From 2008-2009 she studied jazz voice and piano with Irving Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, which culminated in a workshop and performance with Lincoln Center Jazz. At Brown, she studies classical piano with Arlene Cole, and has also studied AMP jazz voice with Yvonne Monnett, participated in an AMP jazz combo with Paul Mason, and sung in the University Chorus. Berit is committed to bridging the gap between music academia and pop culture; she sings with and has directed the Chattertocks, Brown’s oldest all-female a cappella group, and in addition to arranging and composing pieces for the ensemble she has written and recorded three albums of original songs for voice and piano. A comparative literature double-concentrator, she will continue her studies of British literature at the University of Cambridge, Pembroke College before returning to Brown to complete an interdisciplinary thesis in music and cultural history.
MariaLisa Itzoe '12 is currently an undergraduate student at Brown University, double concentrating in Music, with a focus in Ethnomusicology, and Psychology. A native of Baltimore, MD she discovered a passion for music at a young age and continues to play/study the harp through the Applied Music Program at Brown. In high school, MariaLisa became fascinated with neuroscience and the way in which music, when applied in a medical setting, may serve as a therapy for patients with neurological disorders. In addition to taking courses, MariaLisa enjoys working as a Research Assistant in the Brown Alpert Medical School lab of Dr. Willoughby Britton (Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior). The lab focuses on studying the neural correlates of meditation and the effects of music, dance, and contemplative studies on depression, anxiety, self-awareness, self-judgment, and sleep. MariaLisa also serves as President for Brown’s Chapter of The Triple Helix, which publishes bi-annually the “The Science in Society Review: The International Journal of Science, Society, and Law.” First established at Cornell in 2004, this organization has grown into an international community of students who seek to examine the connections between the humanities and sciences. With chapters existing at more than fifteen universities world- wide, TTH members have an initiative to further the community’s understanding and appreciation of the intersections of knowledge. In addition to her leadership in The Triple Helix, MariaLisa also loves singing in the Brown University Chorus (she was a recipient of the Conductor’s Award 2010), serving as a Community Advisor for Brown’s Department of Residential Life, working with the Brown Catholic Community, running, reading, traveling, and speaking French.
Matthew Jaroszewicz '12 is a senior concentrator from Cincinnati, OH. He is a 2008 graduate of Cincinnati's Walnut Hills High School. A saxophonist and pianist, he participated in Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band in High School, and made the Ohio District XIV Honor Band in 2005, 2006, and 2007. He continues to play saxophone with the Brown University Jazz Band, which he has been a member of since arriving at Brown in the Fall of 2008. Matthew's primary focus has turned to orchestral and opera conducting, the career path he intends to pursue. He began studying scores his junior year of high school, and conducted his first orchestra as the music director of Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe, produced by Brown University Gilbert and Sullivan during the spring of his freshman year. He also conducted BUGS' production of The Gondoliers during the fall of his sophomore year, Ruddigore during the fall of his junior year, and Princess Ida this past spring. In the summer of 2010, he conducted a production of Ralph Vaughan Williams' opera The Pilgrim's Progress at Christ Church Cathedral in Cincinnati. He is currently planning a production of Giuseppe Verdi's Nabucco at Christ Church Cathedral for the summer of 2012. This past summer, he studied conducting with James Fellenbaum at the New York Summer Music Festival in Oneonta, NY and Jonathan Schiffman at the Atlantic Music Festival at Colby College in Waterville, ME. Outside his musical pursuits, Matthew was a year round swimmer for the Cincinnati Aquatic Club from 2001-2008. In the summers of 2009 and 2010, Matthew was the coach of his former summer swim team, the Kenwood Crocodiles, in Cincinnati, which he was a member of from 1998-2008. He now enjoys running, in which his favorite race distance is the Half Marathon, swimming, and skiing. Recently, Matthew competed in two triathlons, and placed 26th out of 2408 in the 2011 Newport Half Marathon. He is also an avid Cincinnati Reds fan.
Alec Kacew '14is a music concentrator from New York City. He began playing cello at the age of 5 and was a boy soprano in The Young People's Chorus of New York during his Middle School years. He has studied chamber music at NYU's Steinhardt School and cello performance and music theory at Manhattan School of Music. At his high school, he was a member of the orchestra, a cappella group, and received honors in music. Since coming to Brown, Alec has participated in the chamber music program and has played in the pit orchestra for several operas. As a sophomore, he conducted and music directed Brown University Gilbert and Sullivan's Fall 2011 production of The Mikado. This summer, he is interning at WNYC's radio program New Sounds, hosted by Jon Schaffer, where he hopes to gain experience with some of the most current trends in the music world, along with music licensing and radio production.
Meghan Kelleher '12 is concentrating in Music History, Theory and Composition and hails from Rumford, RI. Meghan, primarily a vocal soprano, has been studying voice privately since the age of thirteen and is currently studying under Dr. Bradley Fugate in the Applied Music Program. She sang with the Moses Brown School Concert Choir for seven years, ranked first among the sopranos in the 2005 and 2006 RIMEA Senior All-State Chorus Festivals, and performed at Carnegie Hall during her three years with the Junior Providence Singers. Meghan currently performs in the Brown Chorus and sang solos in the chorus’ performance of Handel’s Messiah last December. She is also heavily involved with musical theatre, and at Brown has played Gianetta in The Gondoliers and Edith in The Pirates of Penzance, both with Brown University Gilbert and Sullivan. She also performed in the Musical Forum 2010 Commencement Revue The Scandal. Currently she is music directing BUGS’ fall production of Ruddigore and continues her position of music director for the all-female a cappella group The Ursa Minors, for whom she also arranges much of their repertoire. Last year Meghan co-wrote an affectionate musical spoof of the Brown Music Department called In Theory for the Brownbrokers Mini Musical Festival, and is currently independently working on her first full-length musical.
Jacob Klapholz ’13 is a Music Theory & History/Composition concentrator from Weston, Massachusetts. A graduate of Weston High School and the New England Conservatory Preparatory School with honors in brass performance, Jacob currently plays trumpet in the Brown University Orchestra and a brass quintet while studying trumpet with Charles Schlueter, former principal trumpet of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Jacob has participated in various music festivals including the 2010 Trumpet Seminar at the Center for Advanced Musical Study at Chosen Vale, the Atlantic Brass Quintet Seminar and has appeared in concert with the Boston Civic Symphony, Opera Providence, and the Mercury Orchestra among others. At Brown Jacob has pursued his love of opera serving as the Alumnae Hall Administrative Board representative for Brown Opera Productions (BOP) and began his conducting career as music director for BOP’s 2011 spring production of Die Fledermaus. A collector of both old and new classical recordings, Jacob has also begun blogging his reviews of various recordings and concerts and hopes to share his insight and opinions with the online community.
Jonathan Koh '13 loves music, rabbits, and meditation. He is a musician, guitar teacher, recording engineer and computer scientist. He is dual concentrating in MEME (Electronic Music) and Computer Science. He is from Waltham, MA, and is currently 20 years old. He has been playing guitar since 5th grade, and working with computer music since 7th grade. For samples of his electronic work visit soundcloud.com/jvkoh. For samples of his live recorded work you will have to contact him directly.
Matthew Milano ’13, hails from the Garden State. He intends to double concentrate, with special interest in Music Theory and Composition and Computer Science Systems Engineering. While his concentration interests do not intersect academically, music has found its way into every chapter of Matthew’s life – as a small child playing the piano at Carnegie Hall, Weil Recital Hall, to first chair as a clarinetist and bass clarinetist, to Highland Bagpiping, playing the Irish Uilleann pipes, and reeling away with the Irish tin whistle – Matthew loves to make music. In his high school academy for science, Matthew also enjoyed playing in the band, in World Music Ensemble, and singing in the award winning BCA Choir, Chamber Choir, and Bergen Sound, the five member a cappella ensemble. He joined the Brown Chorus his first semester at Brown and has been singing ever since. Matthew is currently composing music for several independent games, local projects/commissions, and his own pleasure.
Sarah Mooney '13 is a Junior Music Concentrator from Warwick, Rhode Island following the MEME track. In high school she was very involved with music performance , participating in chorus and chorale, and taking private instruction in piano. However, through Brown's music department she has discovered her love of new media and music. Sarah is the Promotions Director for WBRU, a commercial radio station in Providence that is run by Brown students. At the station, Sarah is responsible for the planning and coordination of their concerts and events and gets an inside look into the music industry through her work with record labels and musicians. Sarah is also a member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority and is Residential Peer Leader in a first year unit.
Bridget Nixon '14 is a Music Theory, History, and Composition concentrator from New Haven, CT. Bridget began singing in the Elm City Girls' Choir in New Haven at age eight and sang with them for ten years. In addition to her public high school Bridget attended the Educational Center for the Arts for four years, where she performed in choral and musical theater ensembles and studied music theory and composition. Throughout her years in high school Bridget regularly sang in two church choirs in the greater New Haven area. Bridget currently sings in the University Chorus and studies voice under Dr. Bradley Fugate. She directs and arranges songs for the Ursa Minors, one of Brown's all-female a cappella groups. She also serves as director of the Youth Choir at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Wickford, RI. Bridget is thrilled to be a part of the Music Department at Brown!
Maggie Qi '12 is a senior concentrator in the five-year Combined A.B./Sc.B. program for Music and Neuroscience. She was born and raised in Beijing, China until the age of 13, when she moved to the United States. She began her musical training at the age of 3 and piano studies at the age of 5. Music has always been an important part of her life, and in college she decided to pursue a degree in Music with a focus on Theory and Composition. Maggie loves to compose in the Baroque style and also enjoys writing acoustic folk rock. She has been serving as a Keyboardist/Vocalist for church since the age of 15. She was a member of the Brown Christian Acapella With One Voice and Oxford University's All-female Acapella In the Pink. She plans to pursue a degree in Medicine after college and use her knowledge in music to continue serving the community. She attended Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Interlochen Summer Arts Camp, and is a recipient of the Buxtehude Award of Musical Excellence at Brown University.
Madeline Sall '13, a native of Newton, MA, was lucky enough to stumble upon the Brown University Music Department and subsequently decided to concentrate in Music History, Theory, & Composition. Ever since she joined her synagogue's junior choir at the tender age of 7, Madeline has not stopped singing (quite literally!). Currently, she sings mezzo soprano with the Brown University Chorus and studies voice privately through the Applied Music Program with Dr. Bradley Fugate. In Fall 2010, she played Zita in the Brown Opera Productions performance of Gianni Schicchi and has sung 'Oh Thou, That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion' in two performances of Handel's Messiah with the Brown University Chorus. Madeline plans to write her senior honors thesis on the philosophical problems of representing ideas and emotions in instrumental music. Outside of the Music Department, Madeline works as the Production Director at WBRU, Providence's commercial alternative radio station run by Brown students, and takes aimless walks around Providence streets.
Riyad Seervai ’13 is a junior concentrator in Music with an emphasis on Theory and Composition. Born in Bombay, Riyad was brought up in a household with a strong tradition of listening to and appreciating western classical music. His keen interest in music theory stems from years and years of listening to repertoire – today, he is familiar with and can recognize at a drop of a hat thousands of compositions ranging from Brahms’ Horn Trios to Ravi Shankar’s Concertos for Sitar and Orchestra and beyond. He loves to collect and compare as many recordings of the same piece as he can get his hands on. He began playing the piano at age 6, and continues to take lessons through Brown’s Applied Music Program. As a biology concentrator, Riyad has focused his study on Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, and Biochemistry. He has done research on epigenetic changes seen during cellular senescence (aging), gene expression during development of the forebrain, and the genetics of adverse drug reactions. He will complete an undergraduate thesis on sexual reproduction in the Candida species of pathogenic yeasts under the guidance of Dr. Richard Bennett. Outside the academic sphere, Riyad is a member of the Brown Model United Nations club, a Trip Leader in the Brown Outdoor Leadership Training (BOLT) program, a varsity squash athlete, and a yoga instructor through the Yoga and Mindfulness (YAM) group. After Brown he hopes to pursue an MD/PhD degree, and to ultimately set up a research program that allows him to consolidate his three main pleasures – biology, yoga, and music.
Nara Shin '13 is in the MEME program. She plays piano but enjoys recording it even more. She owns a synthesizer named Gary. She currently studies organ under Professor Mark Steinbach, University Organist, through the Applied Music Program. In Paris, she studied with Jean-Baptiste Robin, organist at the Royal Chapel in the palace of Versailles. She enjoys scoring film and video, sound-designing plays, and collaborating with others. She is working towards a new genre of film sound tracks that combines orchestral and electronic music.
Annalise Van Meurs '14 iis a concentrator hailing from Menlo Park, CA. Though ultimately at Brown as a PLME student intending to go onto medical school, she was enticed by the music program in her freshman year and became an enthusiastic music concentrator. She began playing violin at age 5 and ultimately switched to the viola during high school, studying with Leonid Gesin of the San Francisco Symphony. During her middle and high school years, she played with the El Camino Youth Symphony, eventually serving as principal and co-principal of the viola section for two years. At Brown, she plays in the orchestra and is a proud member of the Zeta Delta Xi fraternity. She enjoys fuzzy objects, bike riding, and mozzarella sticks.
Zachary Wilson '12 is a Music Theory, History, and Composition concentrator from Ashland, MA, with a second concentration in Computer Science. He began his musical study in the fourth grade, when he began learning to play the clarinet. In high school, he performed with both his school's concert band and wind ensemble, as well as pit orchestras for the school's musicals. At that time, he discovered passions for theory and composing, and has focused on those areas in his studies at Brown. He has performed in both the Brown University Wind Symphony and the Brown University Chorus. He is actively involved in Brown University Gilbert and Sullivan, where he has performed on stage, performed in the pit orchestra, and music directed, and has written mini-musicals, some of which have been performed by Brownbrokers. He recently completed his honors thesis, a 10-11 minute wind ensemble piece to be performed by the Wind Symphony. He was a recepient of the Ron Nelson Award for excellence in composition in 2011 and the Brand Musical Premium for musical excellence in 2012. His future plan is to pursue a Ph.D. program in composition in the fall of 2013. He is a member of Brown's chapter of the Alpha Delta Phi Society, which owns a 130-year old Steinway piano. In his spare time, he enjoys camping, hiking, the game of Go.
Alex Yuly '12 is an audio engineer, sound designer, and music producer/composer from Seattle. His past work includes theater productions with Production Workshop and Musical Forum, a music show on Brown Student Radio, composition and audio mixing for the documentary film Faith In The Big House, and a diverse collection of self-produced music. He was an audio engineering intern at Interlock Media in Boston this past summer. When he's not making music and designing soundscapes, Alex enjoys dancing, doodling, AutoTune, and spicy food.