Stanford Daily talks to three Music majors

Timothy Dai recently talked to three music majors for a Stanford Daily "Arts & Life" feature. Sonja Johnson-Yu ('18, computer science coterm), Nnamdi "Papa" Odita-Honnah ('20, flute performance), and Joss Saltzman ('20, composition) all provided perspectives on being music majors. Dai points out that this academic path is not a common one:

At Stanford, the rarity of music majors is so acute that they’ve become almost mythical.

All three of the interviewed students turned out to be effective ambassadors for the Department of Music, highlighting the faculty, the performing ensembles, and the availability of music lessons, among other opportunities for those studying at the department. Joss Saltzman makes it clear that the Department of Music brings a lot more to the campus community than might be known if you hadn't noticed the busy performance schedule that the department offers throughout the year.

You’ll never be in a place where there’s so much music going on in one place again. You might not get exposure to the vibrant musical culture on campus if you’re not directly a part of it. It’s there for you if you want to experience it.

A recently announced Music minor is helping the department reach students who want to study music simply to have it in their lives, even if their degree plans are aiming elsewhere. "Papa" Odita-Honnah enthusiastically suggests this option:

If you’re even slightly interested in the Music department, I would encourage people to look into the new Music minor that just came out this year... I know some seniors who were not minoring in music until this year and are able to do so very easily.

See the whole article here, and thanks to the Stanford Daily for getting to know some of our students!