They first met as students at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. Now, they form half of the Yale Percussion Group — a tight-knit ensemble comprising the six students in Professor of Percussion Robert van Sice’s percussion studio.

“There are only six spots for percussion at Yale,” van Sice said. “So I have the luxury of a group size that is so small and focused, allowing me to do a kind of bespoke teaching.”

The word “bespoke” comes up often when students talk about Van Sice’s approach. Rather than an established curriculum, he tailors his teaching to each student’s projects, talents, and musical and technical needs. 

According to his students, this environment makes the learning experience “warm” and “built on trust.”

“It’s just more effective to find a focused way to get the best out of each young person than to pour information over their head and say, ‘Here’s what I teach,’” van Sice said.

Boyle described it as a “custom-tailored” learning experience and said that van Sice allows them to follow what they’re passionate about.

Van Sice, who began his career in Europe, drew inspiration from Europe’s highly developed chamber music culture. When he joined the Yale faculty in 1997, he brought with him the belief that chamber music should be the centerpiece of a percussionist’s training.

“Chamber music informs everything else,” he said. “An orchestral musician is just a kind of overgrown chamber musician… even a soloist is a sophisticated chamber musician who knows how to listen across the room.”

In Yale’s percussion studio, students learn and experience everything — from performances with the Philharmonia to solo repertoire to individual chamber endeavors — and often a combination of all in a single week.

Beebe described it as “trying to shove five pounds of stuff into a three-pound bag.” Still, he and his colleagues try to carve out around four additional hours daily for practice.

Unlike some instrumentalists — like violinists or pianists — percussionists don’t have centuries of repertoire behind them. While there are arrangements of pieces by Bach or Chopin arranged for percussion, many of the instruments’ core works were composed only in the past 40 to 50 years.

Several pieces were composed for van Sice, including commissioned pieces by leading composers Peter Klatzow, Alejandro Viñao and Martin Bresnick.

These works can be written for endless combinations of instruments — from marimbas and vibraphones to gongs and cowbells. Much of the joy of percussion comes from this experimentation, said Beebe.

However, there’s still a long way to go to expand the musical universe of percussion instruments. Judy Hu MUS ’26 noted that even for the marimba, the percussion’s most popular instrument, there are only about a dozen works considered “standard,” or commonly played, repertoire.

Chiang shared that lyrical, tonal percussion works are relatively rare, making new compositions especially valuable. She and other group members frequently collaborate with student composers at YSM to help expand the repertoire available to performers.

What results is a studio that doesn’t just learn how to perform percussion music, but helps shape it.

“The pace of growth is extraordinary,” van Sice said. “I can’t even imagine where the future of percussion is going. Every composer in the world is writing percussion music — and good percussion music.”

This wasn’t always the case. When van Sice began performing in the early 80s, the percussion world was just being born. Marimbas were unfamiliar to most concert presenters, and percussionists were often left out of the mainstream performance scene.

Today, much of percussion’s visibility is thanks to ensembles born out of YPG — including Sandbox Percussion, a recent Grammy nominee, and Sō Percussion, which won a Grammy this year.

When the award was announced, van Sice sent them a note acknowledging how proud he was of them, likening his letter to one that “someone’s grandfather would write.” 

Now, nearly three decades into his tenure at Yale, he’s writing down some of the most prominent memories from his career, currently contributing a chapter to “Marimba Masters,” a book set to come out this summer.

The opportunity has provided him with an unlikely source of reflection. While he has commissioned major works and performed at prestigious venues worldwide, “nothing beats teaching.”

Van Sice described his current students as having “so much talent and potential.” He is confident that they will thrive in any path they choose, whether in teaching, chamber music, or orchestral performance.

Van Sice founded the Yale Percussion Group in 1997.

The post Yale Percussion Group shapes future of the instrument appeared first on Yale Daily News.

After finding out about NLE Choppa’s withdrawal, almost two weeks before the event, the Spring Fling committee scrambled to find a replacement act. Despite this last-minute line-up change, the committee is still confident that Ken Carson is the “right choice for the student body,” said Morris Raskin ’26.  

“Carson’s music is stylistically very different from NLE. It’s so energetic,” said Raskin, talent chair of the Spring Fling committee. “They’re both rappers, but on two very opposite sides of the rapper continuum.”

Even before his arrival to Yale, Ken Carson had already associated himself with the school through the eponymous single, “Yale.” This made Carson an “exciting and immediate choice,” Raskin said.  

Carson, whose real name is Kenyatta Lee Frazier Jr., is an Atlanta rapper and producer known for his high-intensity music, electrifying performance style and unique blend of musical styles. 

He rose to fame in 2015 after signing to 808 Mafia, and later solidified his fame after signing with Opium — a label owned by Playboi Carti, who performed at Yale’s Spring Fling in 2019. 

“It was very surprising and disappointing because we were very excited to have NLE come, but now that we have a new option, we are excited,” Raskin said. 

Finding and securing an artist usually takes months of work, but committee members expedited this process to select Ken Carson in a matter of days. 

The process of recruiting Ken Carson was an “uphill battle,” according to Raskin, especially as late April marks a busy time for college music festivals. 

“We’ve already had a lot of reps and experience of trying to figure out who to book, so it was just about getting right back into the flow of thinking about who our school would want to see and who would please the most people,” Raskin said. “I’m very proud that we were able to pull this off.” 

With the new lineup locked in and the event fast approaching, the committee looks forward to seeing the campus’s reaction. The concert has been a “long time coming,” said Raskin. 

Yale’s Spring Fling will take place on April 26 on Old Campus. 

The post Ken Carson to replace NLE Choppa as Spring Fling 2025 headliner appeared first on Yale Daily News.

According to an email to the student body from Karen Blake, senior assistant director at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, the admissions office will welcome what will likely be the largest-ever group of visiting prefrosh — over 1,300 as of April 11.

The admissions office did not disclose how many students have signed up to host.

“Things are tracking very consistently from previous years,” said Mark Dunn ’07, senior associate director for outreach and recruitment. “But always from previous years, we find that we need to do a lot of reminding and requesting.”

Bulldog Days, a three-day program that offers admitted students an opportunity to explore life at Yale, will run from April 21 to April 23. With the date fast approaching, the admissions office is encouraging more current students to volunteer.

Skylar Cobbett, assistant director of admissions and director of Bulldog Day, noted that student hosts play a key role in helping admitted students decide whether to enroll.

“We know that the most important factor for many admitted students while making their college decision is the people with whom they make connections,” she said.

Rohil Mohan ’28, who is hosting three students, told the News that Bulldog Days was where he met some of his closest friends and, for the first time, could see himself at Yale. Coming from a high school where very few students went to Yale, the event helped convince him to attend.

In response to recent opposition to hosting, including a YCC-led boycott over changes to lunch menus, Mohan remained critical. 

“Hosting is about helping another person,” he said. “To place your dining experience over a student who’s scared about which college to attend is pretty selfish.”

Dunn added that while the office of undergraduate admissions offers plenty of other opportunities for prospective students to get involved, none compares to Bulldog Days. 

“A student who’s able to visit campus, stay overnight, eat in the residential colleges, and get that full three-day experience is going to have the best exposure to the Yale experience that we would want to make their best-informed decision about the next four years,” he said.

To make Bulldog Days accessible, the admissions team also covers the cost of travel for admitted students with demonstrated financial need.

Dunn added that the financial aid travel program is coordinated with the Office of Undergraduate Financial Aid. Once a student’s financial aid award is finalized and meets the eligibility threshold, the admissions team books flights and transportation for the prospective student.

According to Dunn, the admissions team has already invited over 550 students to participate in the Yale Travel Program.

Despite the large number of expected attendees, Dunn expressed confidence that the team would be able to secure enough hosts in time.

“It’s not atypical to need more hosts a week ahead of Bulldog Days,” he said. “I’m always super grateful that so many students open up their suite.”

Dunn also encourages anyone, particularly students who came to Bulldog days themselves, to consider hosting as “a really nice way to pay it forward,” and even a small interaction like letting an admitted student sleep in their room “makes a big difference.”

Registration for Bulldog Days remains open until April 16. 

The post With over 1,300 expected attendees, Yale pushes for last-minute hosts for Bulldog Days appeared first on Yale Daily News.

According to Mark Dunn, senior associate director for outreach and recruitment at the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, Yale College’s yield rate typically hovers around 70 percent from year to year and is not prone to significant fluctuations. Over the past 10 years, the yield rate has not dipped below 67.1 percent or risen above 72.2 percent.

“The yield looks very encouraging and very similar to previous years, with the caveat that we don’t really pay too much attention until we’re on the other side of the May 1 deadline,” said Dunn.

Colleges routinely admit more students than they expect to enroll, predicting that many applicants are weighing offers from multiple institutions.

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions was unable to provide specific counts for this year’s yield rate, as the “numbers are moving targets,” according to Dunn.

Dunn emphasized that April is the most important time frame for Yale to make an effort to connect with admitted students.

The team at Office of Undergraduate Admissions continues to prioritize in-person visits, with the three-day Bulldog Days program remaining the most popular option, alongside Bulldog Friday, Yalie for a Day, and local receptions hosted by the admissions team. At the same time, virtual programming — such as the 30 Bulldog Days of April — has remained popular since its launch in 2020, offering a month-long series of online panels and events for admitted students.

This year, the admissions team made 2,346 total offers of admission, aiming to hit their target class size of 1,650 for next year’s first-year class — a change from their previous target of 1,550 after increasing their class size by 100 students starting with the class of 2029.

Dunn explained that higher yield rates decrease the likelihood of students being admitted off the waitlist, and in many years, the office is interested in making some additional offers to students in May.

“The attitude in the admissions office is that we are absolutely thrilled when we have a chance to admit students on the waitlist because we know that there are so many exceptionally strong students,” Dunn said.

According to a News survey of the class of 2028, of the 541 respondents, 8 percent were also admitted to Harvard.

The News spoke with students who faced, or are currently facing, the decision between peer institutions, Harvard and Yale. While some students found the decision to be simple, others struggled to choose.

After being admitted to both Harvard and Yale, Powell Munro Holzner ’27 wrote that choosing Yale was “the easiest decision in the world.”

After attending Vistas, Harvard’s two-day admitted students program on campus, and Bulldog Days, Munro Holzner quickly came to a decision.

“Yale as a place and people was so much more heartfelt, optimistic, and open than Harvard,” Munro Holzner wrote to the News. “I have friends at both places, and I hear over and over how much this tracks with student experience. All agree Harvard is more formulaic, instrumental, and internally separated.”

“Yale keeps vibrant your love for what you do; at Harvard, you may find yourself wringing it out, lifeless by the end, in service of some distant future,” Munro Holzner added.

For Dana Ko ’27, the decision between Harvard and Yale was initially less clear-cut. However, like Munro Holzner, Bulldog Days made the difference.

Ko applied for admission to Yale during the restrictive early action round and was accepted.

“I had spent months imagining myself at Yale and getting really excited to come here,” Ko wrote to the News.

In March, Ko was also accepted to Harvard, leaving her with the difficult decision of which school to choose.

She made lists of pros and cons, comparing departments and clubs and weighed the advantages of living in New Haven versus Cambridge. However, none of these lists provided the deciding factor. Instead, Bulldog Days proved to be the reason Ko chose Yale.

“It wasn’t until I got to Bulldog Days and felt an inexplicable sense of feeling at home that I was reminded of the reasons I loved Yale,” Ko wrote. “I loved the residential colleges, the debate and political spaces, and focus on the arts at Yale and knew it was the right place for me.”

Miro Raj, a newly admitted student from Lower Merion High School in Pennsylvania, is also torn between Yale and Harvard. An accomplished violinist, Raj said that the arts culture has played a significant role in his consideration of Yale.

In contrast, he cited the name of Harvard and “better opportunities in the Boston area” as persuasive reasons for possibly choosing Harvard.

Dunn emphasized the importance of ensuring that all students, regardless of their background, have opportunities to engage with the full range of communities that make up Yale. Student groups — such as the Rural Students Alliance and many organizations affiliated with Yale’s cultural centers — play a large role in outreach by organizing events that represent their unique communities. 

“The best thing we can do is make sure all of our students have a chance to see the full diversity of communities that make up the larger Yale community,” Dunn said.

The yield rate for Yale’s class of 2028 was 69.8 percent.

The post Yale anticipates steady yield rate as national recruitment efforts expand appeared first on Yale Daily News.

In an Instagram post, organizers cited the rapper’s “health complications” as the reason for the cancelled performance and said that they are searching for a new headliner. 

“We know that this is disappointing news for many, and we share in that disappointment,” the committee shared on Instagram. “That said, our team is already hard at work securing a new headliner for Spring Fling 2025.”

NLE Choppa’s cancellation follows a string of dropped performances in recent days, including at Vanderbilt University, where the school’s Programming Board told attendees on April 2 that Choppa would not perform due to “extreme dehydration and exhaustion.”

Yale’s Spring Fling committee did not immediately respond to request for comment. However, in an Instagram post, the committee encouraged Yale students to be on the lookout for further updates and announcements in the coming days. 

Students the News spoke to expressed disappointment at the cancellation and hope that the Spring Fling committee will be able to find an exciting replacement. 

Fidah Kabwita ’26 said that it was “shocking” given the event’s close date. She also shared her optimism that the committee will be able to find an equally popular talent on such short notice.

“I hope Spring Fling can come through,” Kabwita said. “It’s in two weeks and it’s giving very 11:59 due date, but I trust that the committee can pull something together.”

Favour Akingbemi ’26 invited her friends from home to come to the event, and said that she was dismayed at the news. She also expressed hope that the Spring Fling committee will be able to “find someone who is at the same level or maybe better,” even if she is unsure how possible it is.  

In a joint statement to the News, members of the Yale student Band “Clementine,” which performed at Spring Fling’s Battle of the Bands in 2024 and their Tiny Desk series, wrote that NLE Choppa cancelling was “honestly a tragedy.”

Soleil Piverger ’27 said that while she was upset that NLE Choppa would no longer perform at Yale, she was glad the artist was thinking about his health. 

“We were thrilled to have him, but we will be even more thrilled to know he’s in good health,” Piverger said. 

Meka Rucker ’28 said she’s “sad to hear” that NLE Choppa is not feeling well, but noted that he was never one of her favorite artists. A last-minute replacement could be “even more hype,” she added. 

Spring Fling’s most recent cancellation occurred in 2019 when the committee announced three days before the concert that Playboi Carti would replace Lil Uzi Vert as the headlining act.

Last-minute cancellations aren’t uncommon, with Chance the Rapper canceling his 2014 Spring Fling performance just four days before the show.

Last year, Swae Lee headlined Yale Spring Fling.

The post NLE Choppa no longer performing at Spring Fling appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Moyn described the Q&A as an informal, non-partisan conversation about legal claims surrounding the new Trump administration. 

“I’m personally not neutral, but what I think is really important to understand is that the law is about having two sides,” Moyn said. “We should try to understand the way the other side is interpreting the same law.” 

Alex Moore ’26, the event’s co-host, began the session by asking several questions that addressed constitutional interpretations and the role of other government branches in checking presidential authority.

Moore first asked about the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, specifically about the legality of the recent firings of tens of thousands of government employees. 

Moyn began by explaining the “unitary executive theory,” a longstanding legal argument on the political right. The theory stems from a clause in Article II that states that all executive power is vested in the president. 

“If you believe in the unitary executive, you believe that the President doesn’t have to tolerate employees who he didn’t choose or doesn’t want anymore,” he said. 

Moyn also touched on how historically, under the spoils system, presidents could appoint loyalists with little legal restriction. In the 20th century, the Supreme Court began to set limits on this power for agencies such as the Federal Reserve.

Another argument against the unitary executive theory is the civil service protections, which allow Congress to protect government employees from firing.

However, Moyn expressed that recent Supreme Court decisions seem to indicate a shift towards the Unitary Executive theory. 

According to Moyn, Trump v. United States, a case that decided whether Trump would be provided immunity from certain criminal indictment after leaving office, leans into the theory.  

“Some people are saying we missed the point of that decision. It wasn’t about immunity. Chief Justice John Roberts literally wrote that the President is a branch of government in the constitutional system, and if you believe that, then it seems like a lot of the firings are possible,” said Moyn. 

Following the discussion of DOGE, Moore moved to the recent deportation of hundreds of U.S. residents to a large prison complex in El Salvador. 

“This is heavily disputed in the courts around whether that’s legal, especially regarding the residency status of the people who were deported,” he said. 

Moyn began his response by sharing his most pressing concern with current political dynamics. 

“My bottom line on all of today’s topics, and this one is the most flagrant, is that it is extraordinary how much power the presidency has been given,” said Moyn. 

He explained that there are laws on the books that have never truly been invoked — such as the power given to Congress to declare war, even though the president has bestowed that power in practice since World War II — but are now being invoked by Trump. 

In the case of recent deportations, Trump invoked a law passed after the American Revolution that grants the president enormous authority to deport enemies during times of geopolitical strife, even though the law was initially meant for enemies of states at war with the U.S.

Moore also raised questions about Mahmoud Khalil’s case as a free speech issue and Trump’s Executive Order to end birthright citizenship. 

After Moyn finished providing thorough responses to Moore’s questions, the hosts opened up to the guests. 

Towards the end of the session, the conversation shifted to the withholding of funding from Ivy League universities. 

Henry Wykoff ’28 asked Moyn whether the movement to cut funding from elite universities is a movement against broader education and that the Trump administration “would prefer to see the government’s long-held idea of upholding and supporting education demolished.”

Moyn did not provide a concrete answer to the question, but shared his concern with this proposition. 

“What’s ‘Make America Great Again’ in a trade war with other countries when you’re not educating workers,” he said. 

Moyn was appointed as the Grace Hopper Head of College in 2024. 

The post Hopper Head of College talks Trump presidential actions during second term appeared first on Yale Daily News.

After graduating high school, he enrolled in the Navy, where he served six years, including two deployments in Afghanistan. It was during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 that he experienced a turning point. Witnessing the complexities of the situation firsthand, he realized that creating lasting impact would not just come from the battlefield but also through shaping policy. 

That moment sparked his decision to pursue a career in government — and ultimately led him to Yale’s Eli Whitney Students Program.   

“We betrayed a lot of people that helped us overseas, and a lot of people lost their lives because of that, and that’s weighed on me ever since,” Lomax said. “I made a vow to myself at the moment that I would never let something of that nature happen again.”

Lomax was admitted to Yale through the Eli Whitney Students Program, designed for non-traditional undergraduates who have been out of high school for at least five years and have not yet earned a bachelor’s degree. Students in the program hail from diverse backgrounds. Many are veterans; others are entrepreneurs, Olympic athletes and artists. 

While Eli Whitney students integrate into undergraduate life much like traditional undergraduate students do, they make distinctive and significant contributions to the Yale College community and enhance the strength and diversity of the undergraduate student body, said Jeremiah Quinlan, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions.

According to Quinlan, most Eli Whitney students have had unique professional and personal experiences, with around 50 percent having served in the armed forces.

The News spoke to three Eli Whitney students about their journeys from military service to Yale and how their unique experiences shape campus life.

Paul Lomax turns military experience into civic ambition 

Lomax, a political science major at Yale, plans to work in the Department of Defense after graduation, focusing on national security with the possibility of pursuing a political career down the line. The week before entering Yale as a first-year student, he was still on active duty, completing full mission briefs in Virginia. 

“The abrupt change from that environment to the classroom was quite a bit for me, and at the beginning, adjusting to Yale was difficult,” he said.

Lomax shared that this led him to remain passive in discussions and be cautious about speaking in class. Over time, he found value in sharing his thoughts confidently in classroom discussions and has taken impactful courses, such as “Nuclear Politics” with Alexander Debs.

Karolina Burtell finds her voice through service and storytelling 

Karolina Burtell ’27 grew up in a family with eleven children. College did not seem like a “promising avenue,” so she joined the Air Force.

Burtell first worked as a weather forecaster, where she studied hard, earned distinctions from her peers, and was awarded “Senior Airmen Below the Zone” for her efforts.

“I didn’t really know what I wanted to do while I was in the Air Force, so I just trusted my gut and did what was interesting to me,” she said.

After experiencing sexual assault while in the Air Force, Burtell taught “sexual assault yoga” to survivors. Leading these exercises was incredibly important to her, allowing her to give back to people in the community that she was a part of.

Burtell played with the idea of going to college for a while, but it was only after meeting her mentor through a nonprofit organization called Service to School that she realized it was still a possibility. She completed her application and essays while deployed in Saudi Arabia, lodged in a dusty tent library, and watched videos from the “College Essay Guy.”

“I love writing journaling, and I think writing application essays was honestly a creative outlet for me to just write a story about myself; I’ve always dreamt of writing memoirs,” she said.

Burtell shared that her experiences in the Air Force helped her truly listen to other people’s needs and be aware of the people around her.

Burtell is majoring in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. She describes her experience as transformative, mentioning her work with supportive faculty, exciting course material, and inspiring peers.

Similar to Lomax, adjusting to civilian and college life was initially difficult. Even the simplest things, like figuring out her style, were new to her. During her time at Yale, she has continued to discover the importance of self-improvement and mental health and believes that although she is older than most undergraduates, she is “still figuring out a lot and growing too.”

Patrick McGrath trades missions for Wall Street dreams 

Patrick McGrath ’26 graduated from high school in 2013 and immediately enlisted in the Coast Guard, serving on active duty for seven years.

McGrath said that service was fun for a while, but eventually, the work got repetitive. As he moved up the rankings, he found that he was pushed away from executing missions and more into material roles.

“I figured if I was just going to manage people, I didn’t want to do it in the military,” he said.

After his contract ended in 2020, he enrolled in the City College of San Francisco and eventually decided on a career in investment banking. McGrath landed the job he wanted but soon realized that to break into top Wall Street firms, he needed to attend a target school — an elite university where leading firms are actively recruiting students.

Like Burtell, McGrath also learned about the EWSP through Service to School, where they recommended Yale as the school that “treated veterans the best.”

After his acceptance, McGrath spent a day touring Yale and reached out to Eli Whitney students to get a meal and talk about the program.

“Around ten Eli Whitney students came to the dinner, and I was really surprised. They were all super eager to meet me, and hear my story,” he said. “That experience, to me, spoke volumes about the community here.”

Now, in his second year at Yale after entering as a sophomore due to his community college transfer credits, McGrath describes his experience as “overwhelmingly positive.”

While he initially faced challenges adjusting to the academic rigor, he was quickly able to adjust due to the “extensive resources” at his fingertips.

Socially, his experience has lived up to his original tour. He described the Eli Whitney community at Yale as incredibly close, where he often hosts poker nights and has gone on trips to India and the United Arab Emirates with fellow students in the program.

McGrath has also formed strong relationships with traditional students, whether through study groups, investment clubs or the Jonathon Edwards dining hall.

He said that the biggest social barrier between Eli Whitney students and traditional undergraduates is often age, but hopes to dismantle this as “Eli Whitney students are eager to connect.”

The Eli Whitney Students Program was introduced in 2008.

The post “Literal war heroes that walk around campus”: Veterans chart new paths through Yale’s Eli Whitney Students Program appeared first on Yale Daily News.

This Wednesday, Asher and his father, Jason Pascal, flew to Denver to spend time with the team and watch Thursday’s game against No. 4 seeded Texas A&M from the sidelines. Although Yale will head into the game as clear underdogs, Asher is optimistic about the Bulldogs’ chances.  

“If we play like we played versus Cornell in Ithaca this season, we can beat anyone,” Asher wrote to the News.

Asher’s passion for Yale runs deep. His parents, Jason and Victoria, and his sister Olivia shared in a written statement to the News that Asher has been following the team for a few years. However, being welcomed into the Yale basketball family “deepened his love for the game, gave him a sense of belonging, and created lifelong memories far beyond the court.”

Since signing last season, Asher has been a constant presence within the team. According to Assistant Coach Brandon Sherrod, Asher can be seen at practices, chatting with the players during pregame meals and participating in locker room talks. 

When Asher first signed with the team and had the opportunity to visit the media room with coaches, Sherrod recalls being immediately struck by his “smile, joy and contagious energy.”

Asher’s family added that the players and coaches embraced Asher as one of their own from day one and that the energy of game days and his bond with the team have been life-changing. That connection has only strengthened as Asher has spent more time with the players and coaches. 

On game days — both home and away — Asher cheers from the bench and gives the players high-fives as they step onto the court. 

According to Head Coach James Jones, Asher was a huge presence after Yale’s upset victory against Auburn in last year’s NCAA Tournament, even leading a goodbye cheer with the team, singing a song from the movie “Remember the Titans.”

Director of Yale Athletics Victoria Chun, also shared fond memories of Asher’s reaction to the team’s win against Auburn. She’ll “always remember” the look on his face when the team beat the likely favorites in the first round, she told the News. 

“He was smiling ear to ear and jumping up and down. He was with us all the way,” she said. 

While the team has had a tremendous influence on Asher, Sherrod believes that the relationships between Asher and the players are two-way.

“I don’t think any of us knew how important the relationship would be for both the team and Asher, but it was something that was really special in the moment,” said Sharrod.

Now a second-year member of the team, Asher was on the sidelines when the team qualified for the NCAA tournament two years in a row for the first time in program history. 

However, his favorite memory was last year’s championship win, when he got to cut the net after winning the tournament. 

He dubbed much of the team’s success to his favorite team quote: “You can’t cheat the grind,” which serves as a motto not only for the players but for Asher as well, who his family described as “resilient, passionate, and inspiring.” 

“Watching his confidence grow and how much the team values him has been incredible,” his family shared. 

Asher himself told the News that he learns “so much about the game and about working hard” when he’s around the players and coaches. 

Now in Denver, Asher is excited to see an NBA locker room inside Denver’s Ball Arena and “sending the Aggies packing.” 

Asher attends Bedford Middle School in Westport, CT.

The post Yale Men’s Basketball’s youngest team member: twelve-year-old Asher Pascal appeared first on Yale Daily News.

Friday’s program opens with Carlos Simon’s “Holy Dance” from “Four Black American Dances,” followed by the Mozart and Brahms’ Fourth Symphony in the second half. “Four Black American Dancers” reflects Simon’s engagement with Black musical traditions through contemporary classical music. 

“We just had our first rehearsals this week, and Tobias and Erin sound amazing,” said Keeley Brooks ’25, president of YSO. “I think the orchestra is really excited to get to play with them on Friday, and on tour as well.” 

Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante was written for violin, viola and orchestra and has remained one of the most celebrated fusions between symphony and concerto.

According to Liu, the piece is special because it is not merely an arrangement for two solo parts and an orchestra accompaniment; it fosters a “passionate” dialogue between violinist, violist and orchestra. 

“The piece is able to capture such a deep range of emotions in the way that’s almost more like his operas — really pushing the boundaries of what the concerto was at the time,” Liu said. “Mozart really takes the piece away from a pure virtuosic show-off to a way of storytelling that is evident in the piece.” 

While Nishi and Liu first performed the concerto together last year for the annual William Waite Concerto Competition, their connection with the piece and to each other spans many years. 

Despite playing viola in the concerto, Nishi’s primary instrument is not viola. Over the past month, she has juggled preparations for her upcoming viola performances alongside auditions for master’s programs on the violin. 

“I definitely think that playing viola makes my violin playing better: it teaches me to listen for a bigger sound and a warmer sound,” she said. “It makes me use the violin in a way that’s not for granted, making me think about the constraints and balances of the instrument, and how to listen.”

Nishi first picked up the viola for her first-year class, “The Performance of Chamber Music,” when there was a shortage of violists. She was first introduced to the Mozart piece when she was invited to perform it with the Berkeley College Orchestra that same year.

As a first year in YSO, Nishi grew close to Liu’s sister, Phoebe Liu ’23, a former managing editor at the News, her stand partner who became a mentor for her musical journey at Yale. 

“She left a super strong impression on me because she was super kind and welcoming,” said Nishi. “Tobias is the same way.” 

Liu called Nishi his mentor and described her as someone to look up to at both a musical and personal level. Rehearsing for a duet performance in Woolsey and preparing for the upcoming tour, Nishi and Liu have been rehearsing together frequently. 

Throughout his time at Yale, Liu said that he has grappled with the challenge of finding time to rehearse while managing a rigorous academic course load. 

“Sometimes in music, you can spend eight hours in the practice room and feel like you get worse. One of the strategies my teacher taught me was to force yourself to set aside at least one hour every day and commit to that hour regardless of what else is going on in my life,” he said. 

Recently, said Nishi, the group has been doing a lot of slow intonation work, which “lets their musical preferences come out” and allows them to listen to each other more closely. 

While the soloists have been working particularly intensely, the entire orchestra has been rehearsing to prepare an extensive amount of repertoire for the upcoming tour.

After the competition last year, the programming committee and Boughton decided to take two separate programs, including the three pieces at Friday’s concert. 

The first program, which they will perform in Skopje and Volos, consists of Richard Strauss’ “Don Juan,” the Sinfonia Concertante, John Williams’ “Star Wars,” Aaron Copland’s “Billy the Kid” and encores by Simon, Duke Ellington and Erich Wolfgang Korngold. 

The second program, to be performed in Thessaloniki, Giannitsa and Athens, includes Korngold’s “Sea Hawk Overture,” Simon’s “Four Black American Dances – Waltz,” Duke Ellington’s “River Suite” and the Brahms symphony from Friday’s concert. 

According to Boughton, the repertoire is a diverse mixture of American and European music. 

“As an ambassador of Yale and an American university, I think it’s important to take American music, and I’m interested to see how that’s received in Greece,” he said. 

The orchestra’s goal of bringing American music to more audiences seems to be working. On Wednesday morning, the orchestra received news that the concert in Giannitsa was sold out. 

The performance is set to be displayed on a large screen in the city square. Proceeds from the ticket sales will be used to buy a new piano for the local music school. The orchestra also plans to invite over 150 school children to attend the dress rehearsal of the concert. 

In addition to playing at larger music venues, the orchestra will perform at least three outreach concerts, including one for children. 

“It’s great for the Yale students because they will get to learn more about Greek culture and get to know people, rather than just performing in big concert halls and staying in hotels and visiting tourist sights,” Boughton said. 

YSO returns from tour on March 21. 

The post Competition winners Erin Nishi ’25 and Tobias Liu ’26 to perform Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with YSO appeared first on Yale Daily News.

According to committee members, the lineup of artists captures the current moment in music at Yale.

“Our committee is super excited about this year’s lineup and I feel we put together a group of musicians that gives Yale students songs they know, love, and can dance to,” said Morris Raskin ’26, talent chair of the Spring Fling Committee.

Headliner NLE Choppa has amassed over 5 billion streams across various music platforms; his first Billboard Hot 100 hit was “Shotta Flow.” Since then, he’s since released a handful of hit songs — “Slut Me Out,” “Gang Baby,” “Walk Em Down” — and has accrued a combined following of over 18 million across social media platforms.

The Spring Fling stage will also be shared by New York City dream-pop band Cults and British electronic music duo Snakehips.

Describing Choppa as a “hustler,” the committee said that they chose the artist due to his continued relevance.

“We’ve been keeping our eyes out for what he’s doing and who’s listening,” said Kristin Meola ’26, hospitality and outreach chair of the Spring Fling Committee. “We’ve been to so many parties and events throughout the school year where we’ve heard him being played and that to us, was an indicator that he’s someone very current.”

Cults are best known for their hits “Always Forever” and “Bad Things” — which was sampled by rapper J. Cole in his 2013 single, “She Knows.”

According to Raskin, the group came onto the music scene in the early 2010s and recently had a “total resurgence” on the internet, reintroducing them to a new generation of college-age listeners.

“They have this very musically diverse and rich catalog, but also so many hit songs that a lot of people recognize. We really have fallen in love with the Cults’ music since,” he said.

Similar to Cults, Snakehips is a musical act that meshes many genres together. According to Jenna Chow ’27, chair of production of the Spring Fling Committee, the duo has worked with notable artists and has remixed hits, from The Weeknd to Tinashe and Chance the Rapper.

Their most-listened-to song, “All My Friends” featuring Tinashe & Chance the Rapper, has more than 600 million listens on Spotify.

“I think that they’re going to contribute a lot to the energy of the headliner, and are going to incorporate EDM into pop in a way that is singable and danceable, and also really crazy and fun,” Chow said.

The Spring Fling committee, consisting of around 25 members, hit the ground running in August and September in search of prospective artists. The committee chairs have described booking as an “arms race” in terms of timing, as many schools fight over a very limited number of artists — whose schedules are busy and fees costly.

Last year’s lineup consisted of Swae Lee, Dayglow and Coco & Breezy.

When selecting the lineup, the chairs said that they prioritize creating a festival that appeals to Yale students. As part of the search process, the committee sends out a survey asking students for their preferences and artists they’d want to hear.

According to Raskin, the survey received thousands of responses. Meola said that students consistently want songs that “they’re familiar with and know the words to.”

The committee also spends a lot of their time reviewing concert footage from potential performers to reach final decisions.

“You can love the music of someone, but at the end of the day, if they don’t have good stage presence, or they’re not a good live performer, they’re not going to have a good show,” said Willa Hawthorne ’26, Spring Fling’s creative and marketing chair.

Committee chairs have also expressed excitement to involve new members, whose roles will prove instrumental in preparing and executing this year’s concert.

“It was really wonderful to see our new class of Spring Flingers get closer throughout the year, and be so passionate about the festival itself and all the acts,” Chow said.

Although members of the committee are usually busy preparing and do not get to partake in Spring Fling festivities, Chow shared that being able to contribute to this tradition is something special.

Prior to Spring Fling performances, students can see performances from three student group winners of the committee’s “Battle Of The Bands.” Performer applications for the competition close this Friday, March 7.

Students can register for and pick up wristbands the week leading up to Spring Fling. Each attendee is allowed to bring one guest to the festival. Tickets are free.

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