Aron Ammann
Staff Writer
Parkland Professor Curtis Shoaf lectures on the physics of music during his presentation as Parkland Professor Dave Wilson plays the trombone to demonstrate harmonies for the Free Music Series on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2014 in the SOAR room of Parkland’s Student Union.
The Parkland Honors Program and the Department of Fine and Applied Arts are presenting
a series of lectures and live music performances every Thursday at noon throughout the fall.
Alternating between lectures on a musical topic with a live musical performance every other
week, the new Student Union will be a music minded destination throughout the semester.
Have you ever wondered why you can’t seem to remember where in the world you put your car
keys when you got home yesterday, but you can remember the words to a song that you haven’t
heard for years? Or maybe you’ve wondered why music affects you the way that it does. The
Free Music Series might just have the answers for you.
From the end of August until the first week in December, every Thursday something music
related will be happening in Parkland College. Upcoming lectures include the topics of evolution
of musical scales and auditory illusions, psychological influences of music, musical composition
and digital music.
On the live performance side you can expect to hear jazz, punk, ukulele and dance music over
the next few months as well as student recitals in choral music. The live performances take place
on the beautiful new stage located in the sitting area of the Student Union’s cafeteria area.
This event is a spin-off of previous Parkland Honors interdisciplinary seminars. In the past these
seminars covered subjects like cancer and diabetes, and would go over the topics from many
different angles such as the biology and the sociology of the issues.
David M. Wilson, Professor in the Natural Sciences Department at Parkland and one of the
organizers of this event said the main goal of this series is to explore a topic from several
different angles in order to explain and understand it.
Curtis Shoaf, Physics Professor at Parkland suggested that music be the core topic of this
semester’s series because he already lectures on the physics of music in his classroom.
“Anything different in music is good,” Shoaf stated during his part of the lecture series that
covered the physics behind music.
In a collaborative effort from many departments on campus, the Free Music Series was born.
Most of the presenters for the series are instructors here at Parkland and are sharing their love of
music with the student body, even if music isn’t their field of study or their profession. There is
also a tie to Parkland with many of the performing acts as well, with them either being former or
current students or faculty members.
Radio Director Deane Geiken of WPCD, Parkland College’s own alternative radio station was
very excited to see live music here on campus.
“To see live music on campus is great, especially live local music,” Geiken said. “To see a band
like Badge 212, a local band that we have in our rotation at WPCD and have had in studio is a
great thing.”
Parkland student and Entertainment Technologies major Chad Myler was also thrilled to see live
music on campus.
“This is something I would expect to see at the Krannert Center that would cost money to go to,
but it’s here at Parkland and it’s free and open to the public,” Myler said.
Myler also added that everyone shares a common interest in music even if they don’t share the
love of the same kinds of music,
“It brings people together and gives you a sense of community on campus.”
The lecture series takes place in room U142, otherwise known as the SOAR room in the Student
Union. Those lectures are designed to fit into a student’s schedule with a 12-12:50 p.m. time slot.
“It’s to allow students to attend and be able to get to their next class on time,” Wilson said.
For more information and a calendar of events pick up a copy of the 505, a Parkland College
publication for community education or visit http://www.parkland.edu/communityed.
