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In the hushed darkness of the auditorium, Suzanne Ciani ’64 begins playing an original composition,
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her bespectacled face a balance of calm and concentration, hands and fingers constantly in motion. The music emanating from the quadraphonic speakers is otherworldly - shifting from ethereal to rhythmically mechanical, before shifting again to something almost extraterrestrial, then followed by notes evoking a sort of underwater soundscape. Though nearly impossible to describe adequately with words, the overall totality of Ciani’s 30-45 minute auditory experience could best be summed as being both preternatural and sublimely beautiful. Yet even more awe-inspiring is the instrument on which Ciani performs. The object of her constantly moving fingers is unlike anything anyone has ever witnessed in a concert venue: essentially, set before the artist is a box of knobs and leads and screens and inputs, with dozens of variously colored, seemingly haphazardly placed wires sprouting forth. This is the Buchla (or Buchla Electronic Musical Instrument) - an instrument whose very existence both encapsulates and encompasses the pioneering career and incredible life of the Grammy-nominated artist.
It’s a life which Ciani fully recognizes has come full circle. The beginnings of her musical journey actually have significant (and appropriately unconventional) roots at Thayer. One of six children - all of whom went to Thayer - Ciani notes that her first real music teacher of import was Mr. Bill Cowperthwaite P ’78, ’82 - who was actually an Upper School math teacher. “He was so fascinating because I heard he was building and reconstructing a pipe organ in his barn,” recalls Ciani. “Though I never saw the organ, he had an eccentricity about him that drew me; but more importantly, he was passionate about music.” Cowperthwaite saw something altogether promising in Ciani and agreed to take her on as an extracurricular project of sorts. From him, Ciani learned about harmony and counterpoint, giving her “the first understanding that I ever had of the language of music - something that I have always been grateful for.” “I was lucky, too, because I had a lot of support from a lot of people at Thayer,” she continues. “It’s like a big family. You’re in a very supportive environment, and that gives you the freedom to look at your own ideas, because you’re safe there.” As a result, she has given back over the years to Thayer - not only visiting campus for reunions but also gifting electronic music equipment, giving a commencement address, and performing during the opening of the Center for the Arts in 2008. After graduation, completely determined to make her mark in music somehow, Ciani attended Wellesley College. She studied piano and music composition and excelled to such a degree that upon graduation, she had a choice between going to Paris to learn under the tutelage of internationally renowned music pedagogue Nadia Boulanger (who taught Philip Glass, Aaron Copland, Quincy Jones, etc.), or pursuing a very different, much less certain path on the other side of the country at UC Berkeley, where she had been granted a full fellowship and, thus, the chance to be financially independent. Her
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Thayer Magazine /// Winter / Spring 2019
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