Alumni Update – Chester Udell

Graduated: 2005
Major: BM in Digital Arts
Websites: grove.ufl.edu/~cudell/

After graduation, Chester applied to the graduate music program at the University of Florida. In 2008, he was awarded a Masters of Music in Composition and continues his studies in pursuit of a PhD. He is teaching Introduction to Music Technology at UF, and has created a lab with 8 undergraduates in the electrical engineering department to develop new wireless interfaces for musical instruments. His electroacoustic music has been featured at NYCEMF, SEAMUS, SCI Student National Conference, SCI Region IV Conference, Electroacoustic Juke Joint, and Art Basel.

Q: Did you ever see yourself doing what you are doing now when you  took DIGA 101?
A: I suppose the desire to do what I am engaged with today has stemmed from the discoveries made in the introductory courses in DIGA.  With  each new concept I became exposed to while in DIGA 101, I began to  realize that this was a medium I wanted to engage with for my professional and artistic undertakings.

Q: What’s the best thing you learned studying Digital Arts @ Stetson?
A: The digital artistic community is a diverse collective of musicians, visual artists, computer programmers, electrical engineers and everyone in between. The dynamic collaboration between these fields, facilitated by the Mobile Performance Group, were some of the most influential experiences for me as a developing musician.

Q: What advice do you have for someone thinking about a Digital Arts major?
A: If you have a genuine interest in any facet in this field, the Digital Arts and Music Technology majors are well worth the effort to pursue. I would also encourage taking advantage of the advanced course offerings in generative art/music.