By: Nick DiBerardino ’11, Provost and Dean of Curtis Institute of Music; Chair of Composition Studies; Director of Curtis New Music Ensemble
Hello class of 2025! I’m Nick DiBerardino, class of 2011, and I’m a composer.
It’s an honor to be with you all today. It’s inspiring to hear what you’ve all accomplished, and you’re only just about to enter the period of terrifying possibility and potential that awaits you in your lives after Princeton.
Fourteen years ago, I was wrapping up my senior year. I remember trying to finish a piece and spending three days eating nothing but apples and peanut butter in my dorm room. I was trying to finish a piece. I remember sleeping under a desk in East Pyne next to my unfinished dean’s date essays. And the thought of graduating, with all my Princeton friends parting ways to start lives around the world, really made me an emotional wreck.
Fourteen years ago, I did not have it all figured out. And that’s part of what made it difficult for me to leave.
Princeton is an extraordinary place. It’s extraordinary because of your uniquely generous and open-minded professors. It’s extraordinary because of those alumni at the front of the P-Rade who come back to shotgun beers in their golf carts. It’s extraordinary because of the people sitting next to you today. Those people you had precept with; the people you hung out with on Thursday and Saturday nights; the people you made music with. It’s the people in this room that make Princeton so special.
You all are very weird people. You’re weird because you had all the aptitudes, achievements, and well-roundedness the Princeton admissions office covets. You got into Princeton, and every conceivable life path became available to you, ready to unfurl with every step you took — not a red carpet, but a black and orange one that would lead wherever you wanted it to go. You could have been reasonable. You could have been practical. Instead, you studied music.
You, like me, are weird. You could have chosen anything, and you chose music.
Why? Why did you choose music?
I didn’t. At least not at first. When I eventually declared my music major, I was very responsible. I told myself I’d get a “real job” after Princeton. My parents appreciated that plan.
I really had no idea what a life in music could look like. When I finally did commit to music, I panicked. I showed up in Steve’s office one day feeling completely overwhelmed. I was stressed out that I’d never been to summer festivals, and I didn’t really have any recordings, and I needed to build a portfolio for grad school, and I didn’t have enough pieces, and it was impossible to get in, and even if I did get in, it’d be impossible to get a job afterwards. And I’ll never forget what Steve said to me. He said, “Nick, do you play tennis?”
And I said, “What?” He said, “Well you know in tennis, there’s lots to think about: which angles to take, where to be on the court, planning several shots ahead, where to put your right foot when you hit a forehand. But all of that stuff, ultimately, is about getting your racquet moving in the right direction in that tiny instant, that fraction of a second, when the ball is touching your strings. It’s all about that one little moment. And Nick for you, that moment is when you’re writing music. You just have to focus on that, and eventually the rest will take care of itself.”
Steve was right. If you focus on the moments where you’re making music, a great many things can take care of themselves. I don’t know what you’ll do next. You might go into music. If you do, you have every opportunity to build a successful career – music majors from my tiny little graduating class are music-directing grammy-winning ensembles, writing music for film and television, and winning Tony Awards on the Broadway stage. You might not plan to go into music. But because you studied music here, you’ll go into the next chapter of your life awake to your creative potential which you chose to invest in.
Whatever comes after Princeton, don’t stop making music. There are going to be days where you feel like you don’t have it in you. There are going to be times where you feel like giving up. There will always be a voice in your head that can very reasonably tell you that you don’t have time, or you’d better focus on another project, or you just aren’t really in the mood today.
What I’ve learned in my life as a professional musician is that you can’t wait around for inspiration. You need to actively cultivate your creative life. You are the only one who can.
My advice to you is simple. It’s really the same advice Steve gave me. Keeping creativity alive is as simple, and as difficult, as showing up and making a little bit of time every day for music. It doesn’t have to be a lot of time, and it doesn’t have to be good music. In fact, I suggest you entirely avoid the trap of trying to make “good” music! You just have to show up, swing your racquet, and make some music. The rest will take care of itself.
At Princeton you’ve been immersed in a community of imaginative, intelligent creators. They inspired you, they supported you, and they helped you make things happen. They taught you how to listen more deeply, more generously, and more widely – to others and to yourself. They showed you what it looks like to connect with people, to share understanding, to collaborate to make music happen. These are highly transferrable skills.
When you graduate, I suggest you take the spirit of this department with you. Bring it everywhere you go. Remember that you are weird. You came to Princeton and you chose music. That means when you graduate, the person in the room who can inspire others, who can support people, and who can make things happen — that person will be you.
And we need you. You will be the advocates for this art form and the generous, creative, collaborative spirit at its core. We need you now more than ever before.
Why did you choose music?
Please stay in touch with your answer. Invest in that part of yourself. You can better the world by nurturing the creative spirit that brought you to this room in the first place.
And you must. You chose Princeton. You chose music. Please don’t forget it.
Thank you.
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