Patrick O'Neil (1987)
As a child, right up until my junior year of high school, I honestly never even imagined or considered the possibility of studying music, let alone pursuing a career in music. My music interests began in middle school, where I played trumpet in the wind ensemble. This carried over to high school where I played trumpet in concert band, jazz band, and marching band; however, even with my big involvement in the school's (Sprayberry High School) music program, I still always assumed I would attend Georgia Tech and become an engineer or computer scientist. Music was simply a childhood hobby that I thought would pass.
Half-way through high school, I became very interested in producing techno music, of all things. I would post my music online, and eventually I became noticed, and one of my tracks "Sail Away" was aired on WRVU 91.1 FM in Nashville. After finding out that people enjoyed my music, I set my sights on becoming a techno producer; however, after experimenting with writing orchestral music (and finding that I was very good at that as well), I turned more and more away from dance music and more towards acoustic music. Two of my pieces "Awakenings" and "Efflorescence" were performed in concert by my high school wind ensemble in my junior and senior years, respectively.
After discovering my love and ability for creating music, I considered the idea of going to a music school more and more.
Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer (Ewing's Sarcoma) during my junior year. During my treatment, (10 months of chemotherapy, 5 weeks of radiation, a few surgeries, etc)I was probably more musically active than I had ever been before, because it was a momentary escape from the cruelties of cellular biology. Although I had a developing interest in choosing a musical career path, only after my cancer treatment was it set in stone: overcoming a life-threatening illness will force you to realize what you want out of life.
Fortunately for me, I was accepted at Berklee (my top and only choice of schools), and I have been studying continuously since then (technically my 8th semester if you count the internship). The end of Berklee impending, I have developed significantly since attending, and am at the point now that I am starting to look for jobs. Last summer I took advantage of the opportunities that Berklee has to offer and had a summer semester in Los Angeles (the internship program) where I worked with composer/pianist Tamir Hendelman (member of Jeff Hamilton Trio, Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, Barbara Streisand touring band,etc). After my remaining two semesters, I plan on returning to Los Angeles to pursue a career in composing/producing for media (features, television, video games).
