Meet MIT graduate student Sarah Rumbley ‘12. She will be the piano soloist with the MIT Symphony Orchestra on March 14 performing the first movement of Schumann’s Piano Concerto. Sarah is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT. Her research focuses on photon-efficient computational imaging and her coursework is primarily concentrated on artificial intelligence.
As an undergraduate student at MIT, she studied piano with David Deveau via the Emerson Scholarship/Fellowship Program for Private Study and performed a solo recital every year. She performed as part of the MIT Chamber Music Society almost every semester and in addition accompanied many of her musician friends on the piano. She also played violin in the orchestra for a semester.
So how did she find the time for music at MIT?
“I came here with a lot of anti-engineering angst and a stubborn determination to someday go to grad school for piano. That’s how I found the time—because piano took priority. In undergrad, the option of cutting back on piano to make time for academics never really crossed my mind, but now I try to be a little more realistic/balanced. Of course, the workload at MIT gets pretty intense sometimes, so I try to practice efficiently and not waste time in the practice rooms. I think efficient practicing involves a lot of the same problem-solving and debugging skills that are used in engineering. But even so, I do spend a significant chunk of time practicing, and that means less time for a lot of other things. Usually, I enjoy piano enough that the tradeoff is worth it, but sometimes I like to have a bit more variety in life, “ she said.
Standouts
When asked if there is anything that stands out in her musical experience at MIT, Sarah replied: “Yes, definitely. There are lots of great musicians here, both students and faculty. Music at MIT definitely benefits from a very active music scene in Boston. I’ve probably had more performance opportunities at MIT than I would have had if I’d gone to a music school. I think the music program here maintains a good balance of selectivity and inclusiveness, so that there's a high standard for those of us who really want to put the time and effort into music, and there's an open door for people who want to be involved more casually. The fact that our livelihoods don’t depend on music also takes off the competitive edge that you find at some conservatories. There’s a lot of really fun collaboration and camaraderie among musicians here. I’ve met most of my friends at MIT through the music program or just hanging out in the practice rooms.”
Early onset
The seed for Sarah’s interest in music and love for the piano was planted at a very early age. She was already taking piano lessons at the age of three, but it wasn't until her early teenage years that her passion for piano playing blossomed. She studied piano with David Korevaar (University of Colorado) and attended many summer music festivals. She also had opportunities to play with orchestras. She recounts: “The first time I played with an orchestra, I played the first movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto in A Major, K. 414 with my high school’s orchestra, and I snuck the Star Wars theme into the cadenza (which, in retrospect, was probably incredibly embarrassing). In my last year of high school, I played the first movement of Mendelssohn’s Concerto No. 1 in G minor with two local orchestras (Longmont and Niwot, CO) as a result of winning a couple of concerto competitions. At the end of my sophomore year at MIT, I played the Mendelssohn Concerto No. 1 (the entire piece this time) with the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall.”
Why Schumann?
On this occasion, Sarah chose to perform the first movement of the Schumann Piano Concerto. When asked why, she explained: “The Schumann concerto is a beautiful piece that’s been on my list of favorites for a long time. By the time I decided to enter the concerto competition, I knew I would only have enough time to prepare one movement. The first movement of the Schumann concerto works well as a stand-alone movement, and was actually initially written as its own piece—it would have been a single-movement Fantasy for piano and orchestra.
Learning this piece has been a good challenge for me and I’ve learned a lot through it. I’ve never played Schumann before, and every composer has a different way of writing for the piano that takes some getting used to, both technically and musically. It’s been challenging not so much because of this particular piece itself, but because this is the first solo piece I’ve worked on after spending more than two years away from the piano. I’ve been doing a lot of finger exercises to get my technique back. I also realized that putting together a cohesive, convincing musical performance requires a very unique sort of mental exercise and stamina. This only became apparent to me because I got out of practice over the past couple years, and had to make a concerted effort to build up that kind of mental focus again. The concert with MITSO will be my first solo performance in almost three years, and nervousness always makes unexpected things happen, so I guess all I can do is keep practicing and eat a banana before the show!”
Event Details
MIT Symphony Orchestra, Adam K. Boyles, music director
8pm, Saturday, March 14, 2015
Kresge Auditorium, MIT
Admission: $5; Free in advance to MIT Community
Tickets: Via Eventbrite and at the door
Program: Schumann, Piano Concerto, Mvt. I and Mahler, Symphony No. 4 with soprano Catherine Noe'Rourke and Kevin Noe, conductor
About Kevin Noe
Kevin Noe Professor of Music, Director of Orchestras and Graduate Orchestral Conducting at Michigan State University College of Music, has commissioned and premiered over 50 works in the last ten years. Noe serves as conductor, stage director, actor, writer, and filmmaker for a wide range of mixed-media, operatic, and theatrical productions. He is the executive artistic director and conductor of the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble and appears regularly at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University as conductor of operas, symphonies, and ballets.