Among the classes available to Bowdoin music students next year are Introduction to Film Music, Introduction to Electronic Music, Song Writing and Song Analysis, and Hep Cats, Sex Kittens, and Bennies Wholesale: Uncovering American History in Music Magazine Archives!
Zain Blair-Roberts ’28 is a math and government major and a music minor who plays jazz piano. The track he brought to the party was “The Suburbs” by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire. “The track is a defining expression of late 2000s/early 2010s indie rock,” said Blair-Roberts. “I personally really enjoy the song as a description of what it is like growing up in suburban America. Having grown up in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex—one of the largest areas of suburban sprawl in the country—I can relate to many of the themes of the song.”
Valentina Chukwu ’28 is a music performance and German major on a pre-med track. She also plays the double bass, and she chose the first movement from the second double bass concerto by nineteenth-century Italian composer Giovanni Bottesini. Her discovery of this work, she said, opened her eyes to what the double bass could do. “I didn’t realize for some time there was a classical piece for solo double bass. I thought the instrument was just part of an orchestra. Finding this made me want to get better at the instrument,” said Chukwu, who plans to learn the second movement of this concerto to perform next semester. In her spare time, Chukwu likes to repair musical instruments—acoustic and electric.
Mason Kahn ’28 is a biology and German major and a music minor, as well as being a rock drummer and sound technician. His chosen track was “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” by The Band, specifically their live performance from the classic 1978 rock and roll movie The Last Waltz, which depicts the group’s final concert. “I watched this movie more times than I can count,” recalled Kahn, who admitted that was partly because it was the only movie his parents would let him watch for a while. “This song helped shape my appreciation for the emotion that can be put behind a live performance,” he said, “while the film also featured many guest artists that were important for my musical development, such as Neil Young, Eric Clapton, and Levon Helm.” Kahn even named his cat Levon, after The Band’s drummer and vocalist.
Math and physics major Sikander Khan ’28, who is minoring in music, went in a different direction for his choice, opting for music from a video game. “The track I chose is called ‘Dragonborn’ by Jeremy Soule, from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.” This game, said Khan, was an important part of his childhood since its release in 2011. The song, which is the title track of the game, is sung in the fictional language of Dovahzul or Dragon-speech from the game, he explained. “The chant is sung by a massive choir, creating a theatrical sense of dread, awe, and impending battle and captures the battle-torn, war-ridden parts of the game along with calmer sections representing the slower and relaxing regions of the game.”