Engineering, physics and all that jazz Members of Blue Theory blend jazz and labs to create the soundtrack of their college years.
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hen Ari Howard came to the Case School of Engineering from Jacksonville, Florida, he brought his guitar—hoping. Ryan Buechele, who had registered for a full course load in math and physics, arrived from Dayton with a trumpet. Little did the two young men know, their choice of college placed them at the center of a music scene as eclectic and high-performing as their university. Both found outlets for their artistic ability as members of Blue Theory, a science-savvy jazz band made up of students from CWRU and the nearby Cleveland Institute of Music. As they acclimated to freshman year, the bandmates squeezed in rehearsals between lectures and labs, performed at area music clubs and
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restaurants, and finished an album. Case has been a little more fascinating than they imagined. “I really like the environment here,” said Buechele, a double major in math-physics and music. “There’s a nice music scene around campus. It’s amazing being by the orchestra.” Both Buechele and Howard hold season passes to the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall. But they get around. By the end of the school year, they had performed three times at Happy Dog at the Euclid Tavern, one of Cleveland’s most historic live music clubs. The array of stages within minutes of campus both amazes and energizes the pair. Proximity to a cultural scene is, they came to realize, one of the perks of a Case education.
Ari Howard (left) and Ryan Buechele.