Philip Carl Smith
Class of 2008
Major: Music
Supplementary major: Philosophy
Oakland, California
I played the harpsichord and other instruments as a child, but I was truly captivated by music in high school when I began to play the Irish flute and to sing folk songs, Gregorian chant, and Renaissance polyphony. I also began to read books about counterpoint and music history and knew by the time I graduated that I wanted to study music.
My advice: take as many upper-level electives as you can. The sequence of history and theory classes at Notre Dame has been excellent for maturing my knowledge of classical music development. I have also greatly enjoyed singing in several music ensembles at the university, and the experience that allows students to understand particular works of music intimately has been incredible. I even had the opportunity to study traditional Irish music in Ireland one summer under a University grant. Needless to say, it was an amazing experience, one of many that have been given to me at Notre Dame!
