Music at WPI
Music by the Numbers
Blending music and STEM is nothing new at WPI, which is why we’ve created an at-a-glance look at different musical extracurriculars offered on campus:
- 9 symphonic ensembles and quintets
- 9 choir and a cappella groups
- 3 jazz groups
- 2 orchestras
- 2 drumming and percussion groups
- 1 musical theatre group
- 1 student rock association
- 1 radio station
Music News
DIY Music Technology
The Electric Guitar Innovation Lab was founded nearly four years ago by music professor V.J. Manzo as an informal space to experiment with new ways of evolving the guitar. In both 2020 and 2021, it received funding from the Les Paul Foundation for its work on projects that address the needs of performers, instrument makers, and others who work with guitars or guitar innovation.
Robotic Music to Our Ears
Associate professor of music Scott Barton worked with his students to produce a first-of-its-kind concert pairing human musicians with artificially intelligent musical robots at nearby Mechanics Hall. Called Sound Fusion, the concert ranged from Bach to rock, and was an event that Barton hoped would allow people to “experience musical pieces they have known in a whole new kind of light.”
Open-Ended Art, Serendipitous Results
After five years of research, associate professor of Interactive Media and Game Development and Humanities & Arts Joshua Rosenstock unveiled the Fermentophone—an edible musical instrument—at the Harvard Museum of Natural History in February of 2020. Read more about his research and how, in his words, “Different foods provide different grooves.”
Meet the Music Faculty
V.J. Manzo, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Music at WPI. He is a composer and guitarist with research interests in theory and composition, artificial intelligence, interactive music systems, and music cognition. V.J. is author of several books published by Oxford University Press including Max/MSP/Jitter for Music, Foundations of Music Technology, and co-author of Interactive Composition and Environmental Sound Artists.
I compose, perform, record, mix and produce electroacoustic music; I am interested in how we can use the tools and techniques of audio production to explore new musical territory. I build mechatronic and robotic musical instruments; I am interested in how we can free electronic music from the world of speakers through computer-controlled automatic mechanical instruments. I conduct research and experiments that explore how our cognitive and perceptual processes affect our musical experience; I am interested in how we can use such research to guide our compositional and analytic activities.
Professor Frederick Bianchi works in the area of music technology. As the director of music technology research, Bianchi works with students from all disciplines. His particular focus is Virtual Orchestra technology, multichannel sound design, and neuroscience research. In addition to overseeing the Media Arts Group Innovation Center (MAGIC), Professor Bianchi is also the director of the Bar Harbor, Maine Project Center and the Glacier National Park Project Center.
Douglas Olsen has been a free-lance trumpeter for over 25 years performing jazz and world music. He has played solo and/or lead trumpet with many national acts including Scary Pockets, Aretha Franklin, Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, USAF Band of Liberty, the Smithsonian Masterworks Jazz Orchestra, Berklee College of Music Faculty Bigband, the Ayn Inserto Jazz Orchestra, the Brian Thomas/Alex Lee-Clark Bigband, the John Almark Jazz Orchestra, the Big Apple Circus, and Little Anthony and the Imperials.
Dr. Joshua W. Rohde is the Director of Choral Activities at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where he conducts all four of the university’s choral ensembles – Men’s Glee Club, Women’s Alden Voices, Festival Chorus, and the Chamber Choir. He is also the Music Director of both the Rhode Island Civic Chorale & Orchestra and the Quincy Choral Society, and performs as an active professional cellist throughout the Boston area.
