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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Friday, March 29, 2024

Department of Music seeks to unite on-campus music groups

Following spring break, students and faculty members alike will gather in the Granoff Music Center to participate in Tufts’ first-ever all night music festival. The event aims to provide students from both within and outside the music department with performance opportunities and to give students exposure to other on-campus artists with whom they may not yet be familiar.

“[The festival] is a celebration of campus music,” Professor and Chair of the Department of Music John McDonald said. “We haven’t done that as purposefully before [with previous music department affiliated events].”

Danna Solomon, the organizer of the Granoff All Night Music Festival and a staff assistant in the Department of Music, described the goals of the program, which will be held on March 28.

“We have been trying to unify music at Tufts ... for the past couple of years,” Solomon said. “We were really looking for something unique to put on with our resources ... [We] conceived of the event as a way to bring music on campus together because I think that people [consider] the Tufts music scene and the Tufts music department [to be] very separate entities.”

Solomon said that there is room for improvement in the relationship between the music department and the on-campus music scene.

“I’m hoping that [this event] will redefine us in some ways,” Solomon said. “I think a lot of people don’t feel that the music department necessarily supports the music scene at Tufts.”

This event will give students the opportunity to use Tufts facilities to perform — something which is not always possible for those who are uninvolved in the music department. The Granoff Music Center, which opened in 2007, features state-of-the-art performance spaces, most notably the Distler Performance Hall, according to McDonald.

Those planning the event hope to take full advantage of the music center by having acts stationed throughout the building.

“Obviously, the music department is an academic department, so we can’t support absolutely every [student musical group],” McDonald said. “We have limited space. This is a night where there are ... fewer limitations.”

Junior Maeve Bell-Thornton, who is one of the students who helped to plan the event, also remarked on how the festival will bring increased attention to the Tufts music scene.

“The music department, as this [all night event] shows, is really interested in reaching out to more of the student body,” Bell-Thornton said.

She also noted that not all Tufts students are currently aware of the music department’s diverse resources and programming.

“There are a lot of really great free concerts and performances that are offered,” she said. “I don’t think people are really aware of the music scene here.”

Junior Gabe Rothman, who is performing in multiple acts at the event, echoed that sentiment.

“I think our music department is a little underrated,” Rothman said. “I think the people that are involved in the department are really committed and really love the professors that they work with.”

“A lot of the [department’s] concerts are very under-attended,” he added. “I think that a lot of people don’t really know a lot of the different groups that are going on ... [and] this [event] is kind of a way to bring some sort of attention to [the department] and show [the] campus that we have a pretty awesome music department ... and there are some cool things going on.”

Since the opening of the Granoff Music Center, the department has strived to act as a resource for both students and the local community. The Community Music Program offers music classes for local children and teenagers on Saturdays, workshops with community musicians and a regular Community Concert series every Sunday. Most recently, Tufts Symphony Orchestra performed works from Beethoven, Bernstein and Shostakovich at the series.

All of the festival participants are affiliated with Tufts, and the event will also include performances by faculty members and graduate students.

“The final count for number of acts was something around 40 ... it [is] pretty extensive,” Solomon said. “We ended up having to shuffle the way that we wanted to present the music so we weren’t running until 6 a.m.”

According to Solomon, performances will range in size from large ensembles, like the Tufts Wind Ensemble, to solo and duet acoustic acts. The festival’s schedule was designed to maintain variety throughout the night., and though students may come solely to see a specific act, they are encouraged to stay and make their own discoveries.

“We’re hoping that people stick around and drum until the sun comes up,” Solomon said.

The event will feature fundraisers to help student musicians perform outside of Tufts and go on tour. Entrance to the event, however, will remain free of charge.

“A lot of Tufts students go on tour, but not all of the students can afford to travel,” Solomon said “We try to offer some scholarships, but we’ve recently lost a lot of the funding. We will be selling raffle tickets at the event, and we’re also securing a lot of sponsorships from local institutions.” 12