Music at WPI

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.

V.J. Manzo, Ph.D. is 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.

Mitchell Lutch was appointed Assistant Teaching Professor of Music and Director of Wind Band Activities at WPI in 2020. He directs the Concert Band, coaches chamber ensembles, and teaches conducting, music theory and aural skills, and performance practice. The WPI Concert Band performs on and off campus, including Mechanics Hall, the metro region's top concert venue. In 2022, upon the invitation of Colonel Jason Fetting, Professor Lutch served as a guest conductor with "The President's Own" United States Marine Band at Mechanics Hall.

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.