Music Plus Math = Emily’s World

By KAREN LEIGH Palisadian-Post Contributor Don’t tell Emily Morgan and her fellow musicians to “go back to the orchestra pit.” Because when Harvard University’s Gilbert and Sullivan Players perform the opera legends, great masterworks, well, there is no pit. “We play in front of the stage,” says Morgan, 19, a violinist who served as orchestra manager for a recent production of “Princess Ida,” and it’s like we’re in a supporting role. Really, shows need music!” And she’s happy to provide. A lifelong Palisadian, Morgan has been playing her instrument since second grade. Now a junior mathematics major at Harvard University, she is one of its more versatile students’numbers whiz, classical and operatic violinist, and co-chair of “Vericon,” the Harvard-Radcliffe Science-Fiction Association’s annual convention. “It’s a fun place to be,” she says of the school’s Boston campus. “The people at Harvard are really interesting…everyone’s just very excited about what they’re doing.” Morgan included. At age seven, when she accidentally discovered the violin during a weekly music class at Palisades Elementary School, it was love at first note. Today, “I like listening to different instruments, but I have more appreciation for the violin because I’ve been playing for so long!” During high school at Harvard-Westlake, she joined the orchestra for drama department musicals such as “Gypsy” and “Into the Woods” and pulled double duty as a singer in the school’s bel canto choir. Still, “I was more attached to violin.” That passion followed Morgan to Harvard, where she became involved with two top on-campus music groups. With the Mozart Society Orchestra, she and 30 other students perform traditional classical concerts. “It’s intricate, it’s complex.” And it’s a commitment’two practices per week, four recitals per year, not counting Morgan’s freshman-year duties as the group’s art director. Her other gig, The Gilbert and Sullivan Orchestra, provides accompaniment for operas mounted by the renowned Harvard-Radcliffe Gilbert and Sullivan Players. Favorites thus far include “Gondoliers,” “Iolanthe,” and the venerable “Pirates of Penzance.” “I like the fact that this is a stable orchestra. We’re established, and we play all the time,” Morgan says. “The composers aren’t bad, either. The music we play is light-hearted and playful…. I like it!” When she’s not strumming, the multitalented collegian can be found on, yes, treasure hunts. A member of Harvard’s Science-Fiction Association'”an umbrella organization for people involved with anything sci-fi, such as books and games”‘she assists in creating its popular Puzzle-Hunt. “Basically, we send students on a treasure hunt. Except instead of finding clues, they’re solving word and logic puzzles to reach the ultimate goal.” She also co-chairs the annual on-campus Vericon convention, at which attendees browse sci-fi wares, watch foreign animation, and attend author panels. This year, Morgan wrangled famed scribe George R.R. Martin as the event’s guest of honor. To keep afloat, Vericon relies on club dues. And it’s become a community event, with several Harvard Square businesses making donations. “Simply a great social experience,” Morgan adds. “And yeah, I do read my fair share of sci-fi novels!” When she’s not studying, that is. “Always interested in computer science,” Morgan was a founding member of Harvard-Westlake’s prize-winning Robotics team, which designed and constructed simple robots. At Harvard, the mathematics major has thrived in courses such as topology (“kinda like geometry”) and advanced logic and problem solving. “I’m planning on attending graduate school,” Morgan says. “I’m interested in studying the overlap between math and comp-sci.” Between classes, the humble, friendly student decompresses with an unlikely collegiate activity’bridge. “It’s fun,” she protests. “I love, love gaming.” Supporting these myriad interests are mother Ginny, an archaeologist, father Greg, who works for a charitable foundation, and younger brother Peter, a junior at New Roads School. It was Ginny, in fact, who bought Emily her first violin, “a really cheap one I got way back in elementary school, which is safely stored for posterity in the family’s Via de la Paz-area home. “I have a better one now,” her daughter jokes. It’s a good thing, too, because tunes will always be important to this mathematician. “My favorite thing about music is it’s beautiful to hear,” Emily says quietly. “It’s exciting to make beautiful music.” (Editor’s note: The author, Karen Leigh, formerly known as Karen Wilson, is a former Palisadian-Post intern who offers her editorial expertise on her school vacations.)