2020 Arts Award: Dan Saillant
by Ally Lardner ‘21
Senior Dan Saillant reflects with us on his time in the Boston College Music community.
Dan Saillant ’20
Major: Biology and Music
University Wind Ensemble: Bassoon, E-board member
BC bOp!: Jazz Bass
Marching Band: Electric Bass, Percussion
Pep Band: Electric Bass, Percussion
How have you been involved in the arts at BC?
My first experience at BC was actually in the arts! I joined the Marching Band freshman year, so I was on campus with the band a week and a half before everybody else had even moved in. I’ve been in the Marching Band all four years, I’ve been in the Wind Ensemble all four years. I’ve been in the Pep Band three years and I've been in BC bOp! two years.
Dan playing Electric Bass for the BC Marching Band.
What’s been your most meaningful arts experience?
Dan performing with the University Wind Ensemble.
Overall, my experience with the Wind Ensemble has been most meaningful. Primarily, I play the bassoon and the bass. Coming into BC, I liked playing bassoon, but I didn't love it, love it. With the Wind Ensemble, I loved almost all of the music we played, and that was inspiring for me. It inspired me to practice more and become a better musician across the board. I loved playing all the concerts — whenever we played a piece and absolutely killed it, people starting to clap was always a really rewarding feeling.
How has your work in the arts informed your next steps after graduation?
I came into BC as a Biology major. I wanted to do something in the life sciences initially, but my experiences in all the music ensembles here has made me want to pursue music as a career.
Dan performing with the BC Marching Band.
I can remember writing out basic guitar or piano songs since way, way, way back, in 6th or 7th grade. But I didn’t get super serious about it until I took a class in the Music Department called Seminar in Composition, which was all classical composition. We did a classical art song, we did a theme in variations piano movement, and we wrote a string quartet. I liked the experience of that so much that I decided to keep going along that route, and I've been basically composing forever since then.
Have you seen ways that your studies in biology and music interact?
That’s always a question! I don't entirely know the answer, but I think what's going to happen is that I'm going to end up on the eternal search for some way to interact with both fields. There are so many intrinsic connections between music and biology, I’ll find a way to make them connect.
What advice would you share with underclassmen about getting involved in the arts?
I would say get out of your comfort zone. There are so many different opportunities for the arts.
My primary area of interest is music, obviously, but there are so many other things. There’s theatre—I played in the pit for Pippin (2019) and Little Shop of Horrors (2020). There’s so many cool visual arts programs too—there’s apparently a pottery class that I didn’t know existed until like a week ago that I would have taken, if only I knew it existed. There's so many different fun things that you can do, and the only way to know if you enjoy it is to try it.
Joining BC bOp! was actually way out of my comfort zone. I’ve played electric bass forever, but for BC bOp! it’s almost entirely upright bass. Technically they’re very similar instruments, but the playing style and technique are completely different. I auditioned without really having any clue what I was doing. But they helped me out, they got me lessons, and bOp! ended up being one of my favorite things ever.
Dan with BC bOp!
Do you have a mentor or an inspiration in the arts world or at BC?
I’m a big fan of the guy who nominated me for this award, Sebastian Bonaiuto. I’ve known him since my freshman year but I think I got closest with him in the last two years. This year, I joined the executive board for the Wind Ensemble so I’ve worked with him closely pretty much all year. He’s always very encouraging of me! When I told him that I was interested in doing composition for grad school, he gave me a list of pointers. He’s always got good recommendations, and if there’s something I'm interested in trying, he’s always open to it. I'm glad I got to know him.