2021 Arts Awards: Nova Wang

by Katy Gilmore ‘24

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Nova Wang

Major: Finance

Minors: Music and Sociology

Awards Ceremony Performer

Tell me a bit about yourself!

I grew up in Vermont in a pretty small town. Music has been a pretty big part of my life since I was a kid because I have an older sister named Jenna (who is a BC grad from the class of 2016) who grew up playing violin and piano. She’s about five years older than me, so by the time I was about six or seven I started picking up piano and violin. I really loved them from a young age. I put a lot of my time into it because I really enjoyed it.

When I came to college I was actually thinking for a while about pursuing music as a career but ultimately decided to pursue a more traditional career path and take music as more of a hobby. But music’s always been something I knew I wanted to do in college and pursue even after college. I major in finance here, but I also have minors in music and sociology. Music has been a large part of my college career: most of the time when I’m not in class I’m doing something music-related. 

I am a part of the BC Symphony Orchestra; I’ve been the concertmaster for a couple of years now. That’s been my primary focus— I was a violinist mainly growing up although I did play piano as well. I also started singing in college through the University Chorale. Singing was always something that I wanted to do in highschool, but due to the structure of my school I was only allowed to be in the orchestra, so I never really sang till college. I was kind of roped into auditioning here, and I’ve really come to love singing. For me, there’s less expectation for me as a signer, so I enjoy it a bit more than violin because there’s less pressure. I combine both with the Liturgy Arts Group where I sing from time to time but also play violin. I’ve been a part of a lot of music groups here on campus, and I think it’s really special for me because it allows me to continue finding that enrichment in music that I had growing up while not pursuing it fully as a career. I’ve been really fortunate to have that balance here at BC.

It sounds like you’ve been involved in a lot here at BC. Out of all of them, if you had to pick a most meaningful experience, what would it be?

I think it was my freshman year— we had the opportunity (both the Chorale and the Orchestra) to perform at Boston Symphony Hall for our conductor John Finney. It was his 20th anniversary here at Boston College. I remember as a freshman I was still pretty raw to BC, and it was my exposure to music groups here. I just remember it being such an amazing experience, and being able to work with a conductor like John was such a special experience for me. That experience really sticks out when I think about my time here because it was so early on and meaningful and impactful to see that the groups I was a part of were able to perform in such a large capacity with such notable people. 

What influences your work as an musician? What gets you excited to create?

For me, music is one of those things that is enriching both for the person creating it and for the person that gets to experience it. That’s something that has really held true throughout all my time as a musician. It’s very powerful to be able to create music that others can listen to. I really enjoy playing and creating. As an artist I really like putting my own mark on things, but at the same time it’s so rewarding to see that product and the impact it has on people. With a lot of my projects recently I’ve been able to see how meaningful it is even though it’s virtual or not even live. To me, it really speaks a lot of volume to say that music has this great power that I haven’t found in a lot of other places. Music is a dually enriching art that is so special to me.

Could you describe this virtual project and how you’ve managed to keep creating throughout the pandemic?

The first time I had heard about virtual choir was right around the beginning of the pandemic. Some groups have been creating them for a while, but now we’ve been kind of forced to do them because of covid restrictions. They are definitely challenging and a little bit weird because you’re so used to performing in these big groups (Chorale usually has somewhere around 150 members). For these virtual recordings, we ask everyone to record by themselves and then compile them altogether. But it’s just such a strange concept to isolate yourself when you’re used to singing with so many people. You really have to step out of your comfort zone and find your own voice. 

I’ve been fortunate enough to create these videos for some of these groups. It’s really special to hear the end product but also hear each voice slowly progress. It shows that the Chorale is not just a couple of people. I also create these for LAG where we have singers and instrumentalists. It’s just so meaningful to see each layer come in and eventually build a final end product that is something I never realized we could create in the beginning. They’re definitely time-consuming and maybe not the most fun to work on, but the end product is so rewarding to hear what sounds like a live performance. 

You mentioned your sister earlier, and I’m wondering if you have any other inspirations or mentors in the arts that you’d like to mention?

I have a few. Growing up, my sister was definitely one of them because she was a natural age above me where I could look up to her musically and follow in her footsteps. She didn’t end up pursuing music in college, but she was always one of the people that I looked up to.

In terms of mentors, I had a violin teacher growing up named Peter Miller who taught me from as soon as I began to my junior year of highschool when he retired. Even in my senior year he was a mentor to me. He was like a second father to me growing up. He taught me a lot of the greater things about music as well as the technical skills of playing the violin. He’s someone who’s been extremely influential to my development as a musician. As I said, I think music is a lot more than just playing. There’s a lot of deeping meaning to it, and he’s one of the people who really instilled those values in me. 

The third is my current conductor John Finney. He is, and I truly mean this, a world class musician. We as a college are so lucky to have him here. He’s taught me so much about music similarly to my previous teacher. Not even just skill, he’s taught me about the greater meaning of creating music and what that can look like. Along with my experiences here at BC he has been so influential in shaping me as a musician. I often reflect on the musician I was in highschool, and I feel that I have a greater understanding and appreciation for music now. I credit a lot of that to him.

I also want to mention Meyer Chambers, who is the director of the Liturgy Arts Group. I’ve been working with Meyer since my freshman year here when I joined the Liturgy Arts Group. I would say the music is a bit different since it is liturgical music that we perform at mass and different services, but he has been very influential for me in realizing that outside of music there is a bigger meaning. He helped me realize that it’s not even about the notes all the time, but it’s about the message and the feelings that you can create in other people. I’m someone who puts so much time into music and wants everything to be perfect, and Meyers has allowed me to take a step back and realize that’s not always what matters the most. It’s really about creating the emotion, the feeling, the art.

That’s really been my big realization about music in college: arts aren’t always perfect. It’s about delivering a powerful message and true meaning to other people. I think that’s something that I will take with me as I continue to grow up and play music.

Speaking of continuing to play music, has your experience with music at BC influenced any of your next steps after graduation?

Growing up I always knew that I wanted music to be part of my life forever. One of the things my parents said to me so early on was that you can’t play a sport when you’re sixty, but you can play a violin. That’s something I’ve remembered: the arts are always going to be there for me. I’ve always known that I wanted to continue music after this, but being at BC has taught me that music is so much more than the enjoyment of it or just achieving things. Due to the structure of how it is in highschool, it’s very competitive and accolade-based (at least for me). While I think that competitiveness made me a better musician, I think I missed out on a lot of the greater meanings of music growing up because I was so focused on becoming the best technical musician. BC has really opened my eyes to see that it’s about the enrichment of music and how it can impact both me and the people that watch me perform. That’s something I’m going to keep in mind as I move on to my career.

I really want to join an orchestra in whatever city I end up in to be able to give back to the community. For me, that’s really powerful. I did that in highschool, and it was really meaningful to me. It’s something that I hope I can continue to do moving forward. I also want to keep creating virtual videos that I can continue to share with those around me.

What advice do you have for students at BC who are involved, or are interested in getting involved, with the arts (specifically music)?

The first thing that pops into mind is to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

I’ve had to take a lot of leaps of faith here musically. Coming to BC I thought the only thing that mattered was playing the right notes, and realizing otherwise has been really influential for me. I think it takes a lot of faith for people in the arts to realize that it’s not necessarily about creating the best thing possible, but creating the best message possible. Get comfortable with experimenting, trying new things, and really finding out what strikes a chord with you. Art is so much about enrichment and passion. It’s all about finding that, and each person is going to look a little bit different. Be willing to try different things until you find that.