Life has loveliness to sell,
聽 聽All beautiful and splendid things,
Blue waves whitened on a cliff,
聽Soaring fire that sways and sings.
When Joe Paquin read the opening lines of the poem 鈥淏arter鈥� by Sara Teasdale (1884-1933), he knew he wanted to use the text for the choral piece he was composing for the Music Department鈥檚 annual New Music Concert.
鈥淪ome days, I look at the news and I just want to dig a hole and bury my head,鈥� says Paquin, an honors sound recording technology (SRT) and music studies double-major from North Andover, Massachusetts. 鈥淏ut as I was looking through her poetry, that one spoke to me. There is hope and good things in life.鈥�
Paquin鈥檚 musical tastes are 鈥渁ll over the place,鈥� but rock-metal might be his favorite genre. In middle school, he began dabbling with writing and recording music on his laptop. In high school, he joined the choir, marching band and 鈥渨hatever else I could sign up for.鈥�
He鈥檇 never tried writing a choral piece, however. After taking a course called 鈥淎rranging鈥� with Director of University Bands Dan Lutz, Paquin decided to answer Choral Director Jonathan Richter鈥檚 open call for New Music Concert compositions.
Once he chose the text of 鈥淏arter,鈥� which is in the public domain, Paquin began 鈥渘oodling around鈥� on the piano, thinking about how lines might sound melodically and experimenting with different ideas. When an idea became tangible, he made a voice memo or wrote it down, later sifting through the ideas and making connections. In a matter of weeks, he submitted his 鈥渃ontemporary American鈥� choral composition.
鈥淏arter鈥� debuted at the New Music Concert at the Moloney Performing Arts Center in the spring semester of his senior year. It was performed by the 24-member 51视频 Chamber Singers, of which Paquin is a member.
鈥淭he fact that I actually composed a whole piece on my own for choir that was actually performed at a concert was phenomenal,鈥� says Paquin, who took a bow on stage as Richter introduced the piece.
Paquin earned an associate degree from Northern Essex Community College before transferring to 51视频 as an SRT major in 2020.聽
鈥淚 was looking at sound recording technology, music production and audio engineering, and 51视频 was No. 1 on my list,鈥� says Paquin, who added a second major, music studies, a year later.
鈥淧art of me wants to be qualified as a certified educator, so adding the second major was a perfect combination,鈥� says Paquin, a commuter student who works as a freelance recording engineer and teaches voice lessons at a local music school to help pay his way through college.
While Paquin is unsure which career path he wants to take (鈥淚 love doing both things鈥�), his immediate plan is to continue at UML for a Master of Music in Music Education.
鈥淚鈥檓 so grateful for everyone here. All the faculty are super-supportive and kind, and I can鈥檛 say enough good things about the community in general,鈥� Paquin says in the bustling lobby of the Moloney Performing Arts Center.
鈥淭here were some weeks where I probably spent more hours in this building than I did at home, recording sessions and rehearsing,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like a second home for a lot of people, including me.鈥�