21 Questions with ... Mark Dancigers GS
WHEN HE'S NOT ROCKING OUT ON THE ELECTRIC GUITAR WITH THE PRINCETON UNIVERSITY ORCHESTRA (BUT ACTUALLY), GRAD STUDENT MARK DANCIGERS LOVES KE$HA, MUSCLE MILK, AND PRINCETON UNDERGRADS (awwwwww). Name: Mark Dancigers, Ph.D candidate in Music CompositionWhat was the best part of playing your electric guitar concerto with a hundred-person orchestra?What wasn't the best part?! The experience was fantastic. I had a great time working with Michael Pratt, the conductor. And it was really cool to actually feel the sound of an orchestra behind me. But feeding off the energy from the musicians on stage was the best part.What's the weirdest advice you've ever gotten from a composition professor?One lesson that really stuck with me was when I brought a teacher a set of electric guitar etudes I was working on. His advice was to play through what I was writing very, very slowly. He then went to the piano and started playing the first Chopin etude through very slowly, which was so weird because you always hear etudes played so fast; that's the whole point, isn't it? It was a kind of otherworldly experience but eventually I think I figured out what he was trying to tell me: calm down!What's been the biggest surprise coming to Princeton from Yale, where you did your bachelors and masters degrees?Princeton has electricity and running water! I heard otherwise.Who’s your favorite Princetonian, living or dead, real or fictional?I know this is cheating, but my students are really my favorite Princetonians (I'm precepting Music 106 this semester and taught 105 last semester). They are the most focused, curious, and creative people you could hope to meet.What’s the best meal you’ve eaten in Princeton?I had the chance to eat lunch at the Institute for Advanced Study the other week. The food and conversation are both as outstanding as you might guess.In one sentence, what do you actually do all day?Compose, practice, think, discuss, learn, and teach music, interspersed with working out and hanging out with my fiancée.What is your greatest guilty pleasure?KE$HA! That gurrl can write a chorus.Do you know all the words to Old Nassau?No, but ... do you know all the keys of the Beethoven Symphonies?What is your greatest fear?No particular fears at present.What do you hate most about Princeton?That it doesn't last forever. And the gym could use towel service.What’s your drink?Muscle Milk. That stuff is delicious.What's the next non-academic book on your reading list? Apollo's Angels: A History of Ballet, by Jennifer Homans.Where do you do your best thinking?On walks around Princeton, particularly through the neighborhood on Wiggins Street where I live.When’s bedtime?Midnight.What's the most interesting thing you've learned at Princeton?That there can be orange and black squirrels. Also, learning tips and tricks from Prof. Steve Mackey on incorporating the electric guitar into classical music environments.What’s your personal anthem? Everybody needs a personal anthem! Mine switches frequently; for a while it was a track from Daft Punk's Alive in Japan album, before that it was Warriors by The Good Natured, now I'm back on Beethoven's Waldstein Sonata, which has been a recurrent one.Who is your mortal enemy?He knows who he is, and he is scared.In 25 years, I will be … Teaching at Princeton! Wouldn't that be awesome?What makes you laugh?My brother always makes me laugh.What makes you cry?The Olympics, every time. So many dreams in one space.What makes someone a Princetonian?The dedication to find out what life is asking of you, and the follow-through to make it happen once you find out, that's what makes someone a Princetonian.