Awake by eight and home after ten, that is the schedule many music majors live by. Most of us would consider their schedules impossible.
However, music majors seem to find the exhausting hours insignificant compared to their passion for music.
“Music is the only thing I care about.” Arron Taub, a Junior Music Performance Major at Keene State said.
Photo Illustration by Brian Cantore / Photo Editor: Above (left to right) is Dan Ciccarello, Aaron Taub and Miriam Sharrock. Jim Tomaszewski was unavailable to be photographed.
This semester Taub is taking 13 classes for 20 credits. Taub said, for some of his classes like Music Workshop, he receives no credit. However, the classes for little credit do not disturb Taub’s passion for his art. Instead he embraces his time consuming major by utilizing the opportunities his department presents.
“The music department provides you with any opportunity you can make.” Taub said.
Taub has been a section leader in Concert Band for the percussion section. Also he had his first feature solo in front of the whole band during one performance.
“That was awesome because percussionists are usually in the back.” said Taub
Taub is extremely dedicated to his field of music performance, but that does not stop him from being intrigued in a different side of music.
Referring to music composition Taub said, “There is a whole world of writing music that totally fascinates me and right now is totally mysterious to me that I want to explore.”
A fellow music major, Jim Tomaszewski, who studies music technology and classical music, shares Taub’s fascination with undiscovered fields of music.
Tomaszewski, whose stage name is Jstjr, works as a DJ for McCue’s Billiards and Sports Lounge and has traveled to Florida and Boston to work.
“The music that I make is not necessarily main stream radio dance music. I make tropical bass music. It’s basically electronic dance music that’s based off either Spanish or Island rhythm and it has a lot of that percussion background. So it has my percussion background coming through,” Tomaszewski said.
Tomaszewski described his music as either Latin American, Portuguese and African drum rhythms with a Westernized twist.
“I take their template and chop it up into ways I can put it into a western style. Their music doesn’t have an intro middle or chorus feel, there’s no repetition. It just goes. People want the drop (the bass drop).” said Tomaszewski.
Tomaszewski said he is very passionate about his music. “I sit for 8 hours sometimes and only work on music. Seriously, I will get in a trance because that’s how inspirational it is for me,” Tomaszewski said.
Miriam Sharrock, a Music Composition major at Keene said she knew she wanted to incorporate music into her life but was unsure if she wanted to make a career out of it.
Sharrock discovered her desire to pursue a music career at age 19, when she started to notice a difference in her reception to the concerts she attended. “I remember going to concerts when I was 19 and being so much more in awe of the music. That’s when I realized I really wanted to go with music.,” Sharrock said.
Sharrock said she thinks part of her delayed decision to become a Music Composition major was from stubbornness.
“I think part of my late decision was because I was being stubborn. Saying I don’t want to be like my parents. But I realized it’s so much a part of me I can’t escape it,” Sharrock said.
Sharrock explores the same mysterious world of music that Taub finds so compelling. She spends her free time writing her own pieces, drawing inspiration from her feelings and surrounding.
“I draw on my own emotions. Some of my more complicated and crazy pieces are times where I am stressed out and frazzled. I think I draw form the immediate world around me,” Sharrock said.
Sharrock’s focus on composing is not her only main interest. She is also a certified massage therapist. She has been certified for five years and recently started her own business.
“I opened my own studio in Harrisville at the Harrisville inn,” said Sharrock.
Sharrock said she is happy she has massage therapy as an avenue to make money so she can write music that she wants to write.
Dan Ciccarello, a senior Music Education and Music Composition major has interests outside of music like Sharrock.
“I love getting out in the out doors and going hiking.” said Ciccarello.
Ciccarello is also very involved in Boy Scouts. Growing up he was a Boy Scout, which led him to work as the Program Director at a Boy Scout camp this past summer.
However when the time came for Ciccarello to choose Boy Scouts or music, music was an easy choice.
“When I got into high school the only string program they had met after school at the same time as my troop meetings. I couldn’t go to the troop meetings because of Orchestra.” Music majors seem to have many other interests, but when asked what is more important, many of them would probably agree with what Aaron Taub said.
“Music is what I do.”
Anna Glassman can be contacted at aglassman@keene-equinox.com