UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The College of Arts and Architecture is relaunching its alumni interview series, “Movers, Shakers, Designers, Makers,” with new intro and outro music composed by two students from the composition and music technology program in the School of Music.
The video series, which features conversations with alumni about professions, practice and Penn State, is hosted by B. Stephen Carpenter II, Michael J. and Aimee Rusinko Kakos Dean in the College of Arts and Architecture. The latest interviews feature School of Theatre alumni Mary Lou Belli, Emmy Award-winning director, and Aaron Brinen, who had an early acting career and then transitioned into psychology.
Baljinder Sekhon, associate professor of composition and head of the composition program, facilitated the contest to choose new pieces for the interview series.
Music from sophomore composer and oboist Claire Brown was chosen as the intro theme, and music from junior composer and violinist Nikolai Dabagian was selected for the series’ outro music. Each received a $700 prize.
“Being selected means a lot,” Dabagian said. “Opportunities like this really help, not just financially, but also because they push you to focus on your education and your growth as a composer.”
For Brown, the contest offered an opportunity to showcase how the composition and music technology program has shaped her artistic voice, she said.
“I learned so much in my first year here, not just about composing but about music in general,” Brown said. “The community in the studio is so encouraging. Everyone is supportive, and hearing each other’s work influences you in the best way.”
Aside from composing music for the video series, Brown said her wind ensemble composition, “A Thousand Paper Cranes,” will be premiered by the Symphonic Wind Ensemble in Eisenhower Auditorium this academic year. She recently completed a commission for the Southeastern Women in Music Symposium, which will premiere in Tennessee this December.
Dabagian is finishing a brass quintet piece and preparing a large chamber-vocal work titled “Dark Man,” which is set to a poem by Sergei Yesenin. His work this semester, whether for the contest or for his classes, has helped him to connect with the ideology that “composition is thinking.”
“Penn State has helped me think more deeply about texture, timing, when to add or subtract instruments, all of those details,” Dabagian said. “That knowledge absolutely shaped the piece I wrote.”
He said his original idea was slow and meditative, but he abandoned it, opting instead for something rhythmic and driving.
“I started improvising in GarageBand,” Dabagian said. “I found this guitar riff that felt energetic but not overwhelming. That was the goal, something that works in the background, not in your face. That was a challenge.”
The compositions created for the video series are both short electronic sequences that used a variety of synthesizer instruments, according to Sekhon.
“Both of these composers are exceptional students in the composition program,” Sekhon said, “It's exciting to learn that two students were selected and we thank the Office of the Dean for this opportunity.”