A living, breathing melting pot
In his extracurricular time at Amherst, Lane was both serious and rambunctious. Sometimes, he was both at the same time: He directed the DQ his junior year, bringing dedication, musicianship and an incredible baritone bagpipe impression to the co-ed ensemble. He sang in Concert Choir for most of four years, this time as a bass. Lane also played soccer for two seasons and rugby for three. He is a singer, an athlete and, in some DQ skits, both.
But Lane is also an academic, someone who brought a desire to learn and a keen insight to philosophy and music, his two majors at the College. "Rob," notes Associate Professor of Music Eric Sawyer, "quietly and confidently marches to his own drum." Associate Professor of Philosophy Joseph Moore speaks of him similarly: "Rob is like the Columbo of philosophy students-only nicer. He's always unsure and humble about what he knows, but his determination and intelligence usually turn up a worthy philosophical insight or argument." Lane kind of "backed into" philosophy, Moore notes, mainly because he was interested in the classes and happened to take enough courses.
His "real" major was music: Lane knew he wanted to major in music after taking Music 31, where he studied counterpoint and harmony through chorales, exercises and compositions. It turned him on to writing music-for his composition thesis, Lane was a co-recipient of the Eric Edward Sundquist Prize, a prize for a senior who writes and perform an original piece of music.
For his thesis, Lane picked two films, one from 1912 and one from 1915, each running between 10 and 15 minutes, and composed accompanying symphonies. The writing was difficult, Lane notes, and the performance was like a "second thesis," gathering together all the musicians, coordinating them with the films and putting on a concert. The idea-to write soundtracks to old movies-was a bit of a novelty in the department, but one that resoundingly succeeded. "His original live scores for old silent films were a personal vision unfazed by difficult challenges of style and coordination," Sawyer commented. "Rob persuaded us of the value of the project in how he did it, and certainly improved the films in the process."
Inspired and inspiring
Lane is, so to speak, addicted to music. He'll be in the department for his first post-graduate year at Amherst, singing with the Concert Choir and teaching ear training sessions to undergrads, along with Dunham. Lane's a quintissential camp counselor-he's been one for three summers, including a stint as head counselor at his camp in Maine-and ear training will only add on as more teaching experience, or, to Lane, job training. He wants to be a high school teacher.
High school teaching takes full advantage of Lane's versatility and talent. He can teach music, but not exclusively, keeping his academic interests broad. He can coach a sports team and maybe get involved in high school drama, opportunites "you can't take advantage of" as a college professor. In keeping with his responsibility at camp, he'd like to go into administration, perhaps becoming a principal one day. Lane has a nurturing quality that shows even to his casual associations, but he has the clever whimsicalness of a Mrs. Frizzle. He has the early makings of a "favorite teacher."
Looking back, Rob thrived at Amherst. For him, Amherst was about "the people [he] met here," a potentially trite statement made genuine coming from Lane. And as they've influenced him, so has he influenced them. "I've lived with Rob for four years now and been in the DQ with him for three," noted Jon Wemette '05. "After all this time, he continues to impress and surprise me with his generosity, patience, and talent. I know he works hard at everything he does, but watching the ease with which he pulls it off, it's hard to believe. He makes difficult things-physical feats, academic accomplishments, artistic creations-look effortless. ... The respect he shows to people around him is really genuine, and it inspires deep respect for him."
Wemette smiles, expressing his inability to say enough about Rob. He's "an ideal friend and roommate," Wemette concluded. Luckily for Amherst College, he's a roommate who's staying on one more year.