Life has loveliness to sell,
All beautiful and splendid things,
Blue waves whitened on a cliff,
Soaring fire that sways and sings.
When Joe Paquin read the opening lines of the poem “Barter” by Sara Teasdale (1884-1933), he knew he wanted to use the text for the choral piece he was composing for the Music Department’s annual New Music Concert.
“Some days, I look at the news and I just want to dig a hole and bury my head,” says Paquin, an honors sound recording technology (SRT) and music studies double-major from North Andover, Massachusetts. “But as I was looking through her poetry, that one spoke to me. There is hope and good things in life.”
Paquin’s musical tastes are “all over the place,” but rock-metal might be his favorite genre. In middle school, he began dabbling with writing and recording music on his laptop. In high school, he joined the choir, marching band and “whatever else I could sign up for.”
He’d never tried writing a choral piece, however. After taking a course called “Arranging” with Director of University Bands Dan Lutz, Paquin decided to answer Choral Director Jonathan Richter’s open call for New Music Concert compositions.
Once he chose the text of “Barter,” which is in the public domain, Paquin began “noodling around” on the piano, thinking about how lines might sound melodically and experimenting with different ideas. When an idea became tangible, he made a voice memo or wrote it down, later sifting through the ideas and making connections. In a matter of weeks, he submitted his “contemporary American” choral composition.
“Barter” debuted at the New Music Concert at the Moloney Performing Arts Center in the spring semester of his senior year. It was performed by the 24-member UMass Lowell Chamber Singers, of which Paquin is a member.
“The fact that I actually composed a whole piece on my own for choir that was actually performed at a concert was phenomenal,” says Paquin, who took a bow on stage as Richter introduced the piece.
Paquin earned an associate degree from Northern Essex Community College before transferring to UMass Lowell as an SRT major in 2020.
“I was looking at sound recording technology, music production and audio engineering, and UMass Lowell was No. 1 on my list,” says Paquin, who added a second major, music studies, a year later.
“Part of me wants to be qualified as a certified educator, so adding the second major was a perfect combination,” says Paquin, a commuter student who works as a freelance recording engineer and teaches voice lessons at a local music school to help pay his way through college.
While Paquin is unsure which career path he wants to take (“I love doing both things”), his immediate plan is to continue at UML for a Master of Music in Music Education.
“I’m so grateful for everyone here. All the faculty are super-supportive and kind, and I can’t say enough good things about the community in general,” Paquin says in the bustling lobby of the Moloney Performing Arts Center.
“There were some weeks where I probably spent more hours in this building than I did at home, recording sessions and rehearsing,” he says. “It’s like a second home for a lot of people, including me.”