Student Musician-On-Campus Spotlight By Aliya Schneider
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tudent Musician-On-Campus Spotlight (400-600 words) Writer would reach out and interview a student musician on Barnard campus to ask about their work and how they incorporate their music into their daily life on campus whether socially (i.e. in a club) or academically. Is this student looking to pursue music professionally? What genre(s) does this musician explore and what do they hope to convey through their music? When she was in 3rd grade, Annie Nikunen wanted play the cello like her brother. When her mom said that the instrument was too large for her tiny frame, she started to play the flute. She ended up thriving in her school’s notable music program, and went on to pursue a conservatory program in high school. Nikunen is a singer, composer, and flute player. She spent 12 years dancing ballet, and now dances recreationally. Originally, she sought to pursue dance, but found it difficult to balance the physical demands of ballet along with her music commitments. As a result, she has integrated dance and music by accompanying the Columbia Ballet Collective show, Jerome Robin’s Antique Epigraphs, and even using dance to find inspiration to compose. “Sometimes I dance to nothing and see what kind of music matches to it in my head,” she said. Since the age of five, Nikunen’s music educators have always inspired her. She refers specifically to Frank THE BULLETIN -
Doyle, a member of the 70’s band Meatloaf, who she says “lived nine lives.” He taught her the importance of dedication to her craft and having a vision for herself. She keeps in touch with her childhood music teachers and plays with them in a community band in her hometown of North Port, Long Island. Nikunen enhances her Barnard and Columbia college experience as a member of the Manhattan School of Music exchange program, where she has been taking lessons with Tara O’Connor, who has transformed the way she thinks about playing the flute and approaches pieces. “She’s a wizard in terms of both technicality and musicality and she knows how to connect the two,” Nikunen says, eager to talk about her teacher’s alcolaids. O’Connor has taught Nikunen to focus on the “story of the piece” and think about what she is trying to communicate to her audience. “You want to get the image of the composer to the
52 - Dec. 2019/Jan. 2020
