Trombone and TV
By Melanie Mitcheson | Observer Contributor
From trombone practice to filming TV news, Ian Dolan has an impressive range of skills. Initially interested in computer-generated imagery (CGI), Dolan, a 19-year-old Mount Wachusett second year student, now works at his town’s cable access outlet, where he conducts interviews and films the nitty gritty of his local town meetings. Dolan has a full schedule. His five MWCC classes and two workdays
with Templeton Community Television (TCTV) don’t leave him much time for his passion: the tenor trombone, a rewarding chance encounter that all started back in elementary school.
When the band director was assigning instruments, fourth grader Dolan signed up to play bass guitar, already imagining himself taking the stage as the school band’s rock star bassist. Unfortunately, all the other boys harbored similar ambitions. “We went down the list,” Dolan remembered, “and trombone was the only other option.”
A decade later, Dolan plays classical and jazz tenor trombone with the Fitchburg State Symphony Orchestra and the Fitchburg State Concert Band and describes music as a “huge part of my life.” From jazz to Eminem to Taylor Swift, he appreciates a wide range of genres depending on his mood but affirms “classical is where my heart is: both playing and listening.”
An openness to hear out all the options seems to be a Dolan characteristic. While he is conscious that some students have their end goals and life paths already decided, he questions where his future and his affinities will take him. But his current job may hold a clue: after working in community television, Dolan discovered a desire to be “on the front lines of the news” whether as a producer, director, or the journalist chasing stories. “I kind of love all of it,” he admitted.
Although he aims to become a well-rounded pro, comfortable on or offscreen, for now Dolan feels most at ease behind the scenes, which in his case means behind a camera filming or in front of a computer editing footage. His classes at the Mount are the next step on the academic journey toward a career in
journalism. After earning an associate degree in Liberal Arts: Media & Communications from Mount Wachusett, he plans to transfer into Fitchburg State’s media program (“I don’t want to break the bank,” he explains).
Qualifying the cost of rent and the housing market as “absolutely absurd,” Dolan reflected on living at home while trying to put money aside. “I’d like to feel a lot more secure, both financially and within,” he remarked. With the costs of education and housing prohibitively high, his eventual goal–finding his own place, graduating with a bachelors, and “becoming more established”– is, for now, a dream deferred.
But with Dolan’s flexibility, hard work, and a measure of philosophy, it remains to be seen for how long. “Every moment definitely has challenges.” said Dolan, commenting on the trombone and the journey he embarked on from the unknown to mastery of the instrument. “But that’s just like everything in life, really.”
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