Student Spotlight

A Lasting, Last-Minute Musical Connection

Interview by Sarah Achenbach

When Peabody unexpectedly announced on the afternoon of March 10 that it was sending students home due to the global COVID19 pandemic, Layan Atieh sprang into action. The move meant the cancellation of the next evening’s Peabody Symphony Orchestra performance of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5. But in a few hours, Atieh, who plays the French horn, led her fellow orchestra members in organizing a celebratory, bittersweet replacement concert: in the Peabody cafeteria at 10 pm. The impromptu performance, which drew a standing-room-only audience of students, faculty, and staff members, underscored just how powerful music can be.

How did the concert come about?

When we got the email that school was closing, I started asking my friends, what if we played the concert? People said it was a crazy idea. I emailed our conductor, Maestro Joseph Young (AD ’09, Conducting), who immediately replied, “What time?” People were calling friends and telling them to come play in 30 minutes. The whole school came to help. We had people from every major put chairs up. We printed music, and students from the Recording Arts program — Justin Cheung, with David Sexton (BM ’19, Voice; BM ’20, Recording Arts), Tea Mottolese (BM ’20, Saxophone), Lara Villanueva, Jasmine Galante, Isaac Friedenberg, Henry Armfield, and Jenny Fan — recorded the concert. And Todd Oehler (BM ’20, Music Education, Trumpet) set up a live stream on Facebook and Instagram.

Why was this such an important moment and concert for you and your fellow musicians?

We’d been working on the piece for a long time. It’s such a wellknown piece. At our first rehearsal, we were all super-excited to play it. What I love most about that concert was that it wasn’t just the musicians. People were waiting for something to bring them all together, and we just didn’t know if this was our final goodbye, or if this would be the last time we would see and play with our graduating peers.

How are you and your fellow students connecting during the pandemic?

Sometimes we open Zoom and practice at the same time or record ourselves playing with a click track and then a recording artist compiles them. I play [virtually] with my teacher, with him playing and me muted, and we post videos of ourselves playing, but it’s not really the same as playing live. We hang out on Zoom, play online games, and send letters, so in a way, I’m more connected with my classmates now than I normally am during the summer, but I’m very much deprived of playing with other people. My summer festival was canceled.

What inspired you to pursue a double major — in political science at Homewood and French horn performance at Peabody?

I love debating and arguing, and I love social policy. I enjoy going to Homewood and interacting with completely different people who don’t know the nitty-gritty of playing an instrument.

You were elected president of the Peabody General Assembly in April. What are your plans in that role?

After the concert, I started considering student government seriously because I felt like I was already having an influence on my peers: I am a Community Fellow in Peabody’s student affairs office and a resident assistant this fall, but being president allows me to have a wider impact. Right now, I am focused on creating a safe space at Peabody for people of color. We’re thinking about creating a concert series that features non-Western works or making a commitment to showcase the works of people of color in more concerts. We’re also involved with welcoming first-year students, and I am working with the Homewood student government on cross-campus connections.

What did you learn about the power of music to form connections through the concert?

Sometimes it feels like classical music is becoming increasingly irrelevant. That concert reminded us that classical music, and the arts in general, are not marginal. If anything, they are more relevant than ever before. Part of an artist’s job is to ensure the well-being of the soul, to shape who we are and how we feel. I don’t really think about this every time I pick up my horn, but for the concert, a lot of us had this feeling. It was a moment of peace.