28 May These Badgers play classical music to tap creativity, teamwork
Presley Hansen’s favorite pieces to play on the bassoon include Carl Maria Von Weber’s Andante and Hungarian Rondo. Submitted photo
By Serena Wang
(Editor’s note: Serena Wang, a rising senior majoring in journalism who’s an intern for the Office of Strategic Communication, has played viola for 10 years and has performed with the University Symphony Orchestra and the Medical Sciences Orchestra.)
When she’s not working on her biomedical engineering coursework, University of Wisconsin–Madison junior Presley Hansen finds it refreshing to play bassoon in the UW Symphony Orchestra and in the Magnolia Quartet.
It allows her to tap into her creative side, balancing out the analytical work she does for engineering, she says. She makes sure to take at least 3 credits of music courses a semester.
“It’s a way for me to relax and take a brain break from the more STEM side of things,” Hansen said, “It’s a way for me to collaborate with a bunch of people in a way that I don’t usually get to and a way for me to expand my creative side because I don’t always get to do that.”
Classical music has been around for centuries, and it continues to thrive at UW–Madison, where music majors together with music aficionados from other majors study and perform classical music in various ensembles throughout the year.
“You get to see the music in a new light, because listening to it is completely different than playing it,” Hansen says.