{"id":76203,"date":"2021-05-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-10T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/commencement-2021-music-chemical-engineering-double-major-plans-for-a-future-in-an-orchestra\/"},"modified":"2021-05-10T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-05-10T00:00:00","slug":"commencement-2021-music-chemical-engineering-double-major-plans-for-a-future-in-an-orchestra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2021\/05\/commencement-2021-music-chemical-engineering-double-major-plans-for-a-future-in-an-orchestra\/","title":{"rendered":"Commencement 2021: Music, chemical engineering double major plans for a future in an orchestra"},"content":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 May 10, 2021 \u2013 Faares Deeb has been practicing a balancing act between talented musician and dedicated engineering student for so long that it\u2019s become part of his muscle memory. The long hours perfecting both have become routine.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s probably something I\u2019ve gotten used to over the years,\u201d says Deeb. \u201cSometimes I realize I should remind myself that it\u2019s been a lot of work. But going forward, it\u2019s opened up options for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

This month, the hard work pays off as Deeb graduates from the 溏心vlog免费B站 with degrees in two very different and demanding majors. A cellist, he is earning a bachelor of music in orchestral music performance and bachelor of science in chemical engineering.<\/p>\n

Deeb knew he wanted to study both fields when he entered college. Growing up just down the road in South Kingstown<\/strong>, Deeb was attracted to 溏心vlog免费B站 because it was affordable and it gave him the opportunity to pursue both in competitive academic programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe music faculty are very good and I knew the teachers,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd my older sister is an engineering student so I knew it was a good engineering school as well. So, it just worked out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Deeb<\/a>
Deeb performs last month during his senior recital in cello.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The dual majors, Deeb says, have opened two potential paths for him. His plan is to pursue a master\u2019s degree in music in about a year, while using his chemical engineering degree to finance his education. His goal is to eventually play cello with an orchestra.<\/p>\n

During his four years, the requirements of two professional degrees have meant a heavy course load. Most semesters he\u2019s taken 19 class credits, but he\u2019s had three or four semesters when he\u2019s had to apply for a credit override. This semester, he\u2019s carrying 24 credits, but says the workload has been manageable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the most hectic time was probably last year because I had a lot of test- and homework-based classes in both majors,\u201d says Deeb, who also works out regularly and tutors in math and physics. \u201cOn an average day, it was three hours of studying. That\u2019s not wild necessarily. I guess I\u2019ve just calibrated over time so that I knew what I should do so the work wasn\u2019t piling up.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has excelled in both majors. In chemical engineering, he carries a solid B average, and recently completed a senior capstone project in which students designed a system to produce hand sanitizer.<\/p>\n

\u201cFaares has a good grounding in chemical engineering fundamentals,\u201d says Angelo Lucia, chair of the department of chemical engineering and head of the capstone project. \u201cHe’s conscientious, hard working and personable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deeb\u2019s interest in the cello began the first time he heard it and knew it was the instrument he wanted to pursue. After a year of violin, he started cello at age 9 and quickly advanced. As a teenager, he won the junior and senior divisions of the Rhode Island Music Educators Association all-state competitions, was co-winner of the concerto\/aria competition at the Rhode Island Philharmonic Music School, and performed a Haydn concerto with the philharmonic\u2019s youth orchestra.<\/p>\n

At 溏心vlog免费B站, Deeb, who performs with the University symphony orchestra and a string quartet, added awards, including earning the Kingston Chamber Music Festival scholarship, which is voted on by music faculty; and winning the department\u2019s concerto competitionHe\u2019s also soloed with the orchestra on Haydn concertos.<\/p>\n

\u201cFaares is very talented and has a lot of natural playing ability,\u201d says Scott Crowley, a visiting artist and Deeb\u2019s private instructor. \u201cAlthough cello requires intense focus and discipline, it should allow complete freedom in musical\u00a0expression.\u00a0The better one becomes at expressing oneself musically, the more effectively one can also communicate with others.\u00a0I can tell that Faares\u00a0enjoys playing the\u00a0cello and finding meaning in his music.\u00a0 Since our first lesson, I have seen\u00a0him\u00a0develop a greater sense of communication through his playing.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of Deeb\u2019s favorite experiences at 溏心vlog免费B站 was getting a chance in 2019 to take a master class with internationally known cellist Sophie Shao during the Kingston Chamber Music Festival, which is held each summer on the Kingston Campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had great music professors in all of the areas I\u2019ve studied,\u201d he says. \u201cOn the surface, the Fine Arts Center [now scheduled for a major upgrade] might make people think the department\u2019s not that great, but the faculty is very good and have a lot of great connections with well-known musicians. It\u2019s been wild to experience more things because of the great faculty.\u201d<\/p>\n

After graduating, Deeb plans to follow his interest in green technologies to find a job and save money for graduate school, while also staying active as a musician and applies to graduate school.<\/p>\n

Even with years of work on the cello, Deeb knows there\u2019s still a lot of work ahead to earn a spot in an orchestra, including building his personal repertoire and perfecting orchestral excerpts that are common audition materials.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really enjoy the atmosphere of an orchestra and the ability to create vast music,\u201d he says. \u201cPlaying in an orchestra is essential to a musician because it\u2019s one of the main avenues of performance that we have available.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 May 10, 2021 \u2013 Faares Deeb has been practicing a balancing act between talented musician and dedicated engineering student for so long that it\u2019s become part of his muscle memory. The long hours perfecting both have become routine. \u201cIt’s probably something I\u2019ve gotten used to over the years,\u201d says Deeb. \u201cSometimes I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76205,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}