| Phil Dupont |
Phil Dupont will return to Bowling Green to perform his senior honors thesis recital "American
America" Dec. 28 at 4 p.m. in the Wood County Public Library.
The concert, which was presented earlier this month at Amherst College in Amherst, Mass., features
Dupont, 21, performing compositions by American composers from the last 60 years as well as
improvisations inspired by the structures and theoretical content of the pieces.
The recital will also include dramatic readings by Scott Regan of excerpts from interviews given by
philosopher and composer John Cage.
"In this way, the concert – or event, really – is a sort of a freewheeling mash-up of everything
I’ve learned at liberal arts college: analysis, composition and performance," Dupont said in a
press release issued by Amherst College. "I feel that, despite this thing taking the form of a
traditional recital. There’s going to be a certain theatricality to it."
Dupont is a double major in music and theater and dance at Amherst. He was introduced to theater through
the Horizon Youth Theatre, which was founded and directed by Regan.
Dupont studied from fourth grade through his senior year in high school with Dr. Laura Melton, of the
Bowling Green State University College of Musical Arts. In high school he won a number of regional
competitions, including the young artist competitions of the Perrysburg Symphony Orchestra and the
Toledo Symphony League. He performed with the Toledo Symphony in January, 2007. He also was a
semi-finalist in the Oberlin International Piano Competition in 2007.
It was after that summer that Dupont, a National Merit Scholarship winner, decided not to pursue a degree
in classical piano performance in favor of attending a liberal arts college. At Amherst he explored
several disciplines, before deciding to major in music composition, later adding a second major in
theater and dance.
The senior recital brings together Dupont’s various interests. He said when he arrived at Amherst he
decided: "I’m not going to focus on classical piano anymore. I’m going to do composition, and
theory, and improvisation. So it’s been a little like coming home, to spend so much time back in the
practice room preparing these pieces."
In the recital he will perform pieces by Milton Babbitt, David Lang, John Adams, Morton Feldman, and Eric
Sawyer, of the Amherst College faculty.
From an early age he balanced his classical studies with an interest in Japanese video game music, jazz
and popular music, including performing in a progressive metal rock band. He took lessons with Bill
Budai and Clint Fox, now of Perrysburg, before studying with Melton. At Amherst he studied musical
improvisation with Mike Vargas, of the Smith College faculty.
The performance marks a return for Dupont to the library atrium, where he often performed both as a
soloist and accompanist.
His most tecent performance in Bowling Green was at the 2009 gala performance marking the acquisition of
the grand piano for the Bowling Green Performing Arts Center.
He is the son of Linda Brown and David Dupont, of Bowling Green.
