University of Rochester

Rochester Review
July–August 2010
Vol. 72, No. 6

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Double Duty As more Rochester students expand their studies to include a second—and sometimes a third—major or degree, we ask a few members of the Class of 2010 why they went that extra step. By Kathleen McGarvey | Photographs by Adam Fenster
Dale McElhone
Tuckahoe, N.J.
Degrees: BM, Applied Music; BS, Applied Mathematics; BA, Physics
double_mcelhone (Photo: Adam Fenster)

When Dale McElhone attended graduation ceremonies in May, he collected not one degree, but three: a bachelor of science in applied mathematics, a bachelor of arts in physics, and a bachelor of music from the Eastman School in applied music for saxophone performance.

“I feel like people who want to do dual degrees are generally the organized type,” says McElhone, with perhaps a touch of understatement. He completed his music degree in four years and spent an additional year completing requirements for his other two degrees.

“It’s been an ideal situation because it allowed me to pursue everything at the same time, to try everything and see where it took me.”

It has taken him interesting places: London’s Royal College of Music, where he studied saxophone and harpsichord; the research laboratory of Mark Bocko, a professor of electrical and computer engineering; the stages of the Eastman School, where he studied under Chien-Kwan Lin, an assistant professor of saxophone who “made me the musician I am today”; and soon, the campus of Penn State, where McElhone will pursue a graduate degree in acoustics.

With Bocko, who is conducting research on digital signal processing technology in music, McElhone has worked to find ways to recreate electronically all the things a musician can do with a saxophone. What began as a summer research project grew, and Bocko “gave me an awesome opportunity with this research,” he says.

McElhone’s not sure where the study of acoustics will take him, but he’s willing to follow his curiosity. He’s interested in concrete issues surrounding sound, like how to direct airport noise away from neighborhoods. Physics gets pretty abstract, he says, and he likes problems he can wrap his hands around.

His dad’s a carpenter, and he can see some of the same inclinations in himself. “Picking up a saxophone—a machine you make music with—has always fascinated me.”

He and his father are working on plans to build a harpsichord themselves, and ultimately McElhone says he may decide to try his hand at designing speakers, or musical instruments.

“I like the idea of being able to figure things out.”