Home base: Charleston, S.C.
Playing on the track: “Myself on piano, Lonnie Root ’08 is the cellist, Ben Wells ’07 plays the upright bass and Stuart White ’08 is on drums. Unfortunately, Javier Orman ’05, who plays violin in Entropy Ensemble, couldn’t make it back from Los Angeles for the recording.”
Recorded at: The Marion and Wayland H. Cato Jr. Center for the Arts, Rehearsal Hall (room 234)
Musical roots: “I didn’t start studying music until I was 20. I had this burning desire to play piano, and took a lesson from jazz pianist Tommy Gill ’93, who teaches jazz piano at the College. He started improvising during my first lesson, and I knew that’s what I wanted – needed – to do. I got really involved in music theory and composition, so I had to focus to catch up because I felt like I was late to music. I studied classical, jazz and modern, and simultaneously put together my first concert, Musical Reworkings of Radiohead, which was a tribute concert to my main inspiration for studying music, world-renowned pianist Christopher O’Riley.”
Founding Entropy Ensemble: “We formed in July 2009. Entropy sums up our philosophy of art – that although things in the universe at times seem disorganized, chaotic and disconnected, there is a close connection between all things, given they originate from the same source. In our current project, we have indirectly managed to reveal the interconnectedness of different styles of music through performing original arrangements of the music of Radiohead. Our main goal is to continue creating projects that give us an opportunity to collaborate with artists outside of what we know, so that we can continue to grow and present fresh and inspiring performances.”
Musical highlights: “We worked with Christopher O’Riley, sharing a stage with him last fall. We’re currently touring our Radiohead project, which features original instrumental arrangements of various Radiohead songs. It’s been really successful with very diverse audiences. We’ve been to Los Angeles, New York, Tampa, Orlando, South Orange (N.J.). Probably the smallest and coolest show we did was in Arden (Del.) at the Guild Hall – an old barn with room for about 250 people. But it was the most moving show we’ve done.”
(l to r) Stuart White ’08, Andrew Walker ’08 and Lonnie Root ’08
The story behind “Full Circle”: “Musically, I’m a mix of things, so I went into this project hoping to show what my ensemble is capable of. I wrote the piece to go through different styles and genres of music. In the writing process, I dug deep. My actual experience at the College was very rich and I was exposed to many different styles of music, which I tried to encompass in ‘Full Circle.’
“I thought about how much you’re exposed to in college and if you decide to take the wheel and are not just along for the ride. I certainly did – I took control. When you’re in college, you just have to do it – there is a lot there. The College was my testing ground, and I encourage everyone to do that – try everything out, because there is no such thing as failure.
“The song is about this process, this idea that no matter where you start or what happens along the way, you always return to the underlying passion that keeps moving you forward – coming full circle.”
Check out more music by Andrew Walker and Entropy Ensemble.
Listen to all of the songs on The Soundtrack.
– Photos by Sully Sullivan
