Resilience for Rising Seas through Music: A Conversation with Davon Fuentes
Davon (far right) with his classmates, upright bassist Katie McGann and flutist Bronwyn Pearson.By Charlotte Van Voorhis
Davon Fuentes first picked up a trumpet in fifth-grade band class and has been playing ever since. Born and raised in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, Davon is now in his fourth semester at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth studying music education.
On the first day of his Creative Sound Arts class with Professor Jing Wang, he heard about the Envision Resilience Challenge. Professor Wang had added an optional assignment to her syllabus that included composing an original piece inspired by the climate crisis and the community members working hard to mitigate its effects. Davon gamely took on the challenge and pulled from his near decade of musical experience to complete the assignment.
When Davon began playing music in school, there were several teachers that helped him realize how he could put his talents and passion to work one day. One teacher at Dartmouth High School in particular, Mr. Bill Kingsland, who inspired Davon to become a music and band teacher himself.
“I loved my experience in band during high school,” Davon said. “That’s when my plans to be a music teacher solidified.”
For the Envision Resilience assignment, Davon composed his piece based on the video montage created by Professor Mark Millstein, and pretty quickly had picked out his bandmates in his head. Professor Millstein’s video included scenes of fish swimming and turning into undulating sea vegetation and incorporated the movement of blood through veins and trees swaying in the breeze.
“As soon as I saw the video, I knew exactly who I wanted to write the piece for and the feelings I wanted to emote,” Davon said. “The ideas came actually quite quickly to me; faster than when I normally compose. My go-to musical squad is upright bass major Katie McGann and flute major Bronwyn Pearson.”
“Ultimately, I want to use music to help the world.”
Davon asked his two classmates if they would participate and then got to work writing the piece with their musical strengths. Also in mind was band-mate Austin Packard. He incorporated melodic sounds as well as dissonant, metallic and mechanical moments.
“I’ve lived on the coast my entire life,” Davon said. “I see very plainly how much of an issue pollution is to the ocean and I wanted the dissonant parts to reflect the rigidity of plastics and the anger when thinking about trash and plastics in our waterways.”
Davon’s piece premiered at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s Harbor of Hope event in December, which featured the entire range of art students’ partnerships with the Envision Resilience Challenge. Davon’s piece was played while Professor Millstein’s video was projected on the College of Visual and Performing Art’s walls and Professor Anna Dempsey’s student, Allison Morones, conducted a performance art piece using a marionette whale and a light projected backdrop created by other students in her class. The audience stood captivated by the combination of visuals and musical accompaniment from Davon’s group.
Davon, who played piano for the performance, revealed that the musical group had only had time for one rehearsal before the show, something no bystander could tell from the professional poise and grace displayed by each musician during the evening.
“I remember I had a Professor Wang’s class the day of Harbor of Hope,” Davon reflected, “and she let us leave early, so I got into my concert attire and we had our first and last rehearsal an hour and a half before the concert.”
About coordinating a musical performance with his peers, Davon said, “it was a bit stressful, but challenging in a good way. At the end of the day it was really fun. I haven’t had the time or the reason to write that style of music and I enjoyed hearing my own composition, because normally in school, we only listen to the more typical classical music. So it was really fun to work with my peers and hear something I haven’t really heard in school.”
Throughout the entire semester of Envision Resilience, Davon enjoyed composing his piece as well as learning about climate change and the mitigation efforts on the South Coast.
“I certainly learned a lot more about what’s going on in my area with climate change,” Davon said. “I knew it was an issue, but I didn’t know the steps being taken and how I could contribute to it and learning about that was really cool.”
Davon, whose musical inspirations include Alison Balsom and Queen, has been composing music since he was in 10th grade. He hopes to continue publishing music and making a name for himself while on the way to reaching his goal of becoming a high school music teacher working in underfunded youth programs.
“Really, I just want to create interesting music using ideas that aren’t often featured,” Davon said. “The Envision Resilience Challenge gave me more of an idea of other things I could do in a school to get my kids out of the classroom and helping the environment. Ultimately, I want to use music to help the world.”
Right after high school, Davon had the opportunity to work in a teaching position for a year, which influenced his career aspirations.
“I learned I’d rather be uncomfortable and make a change in the music world,” Davon said. “Instead of being comfortable as a gear in a well-oiled machine. I used to think having a career was all about money, but my mind changed after being in that teaching position.”
You can listen to Davon’s piece here.
