Fernando Hartogs (’24)

Fernando Hartogs (’24) said he has always loved music and finds sound is the best medium for him to express himself. He finds inspiration through his background and looks up to other saxophonists, such as Sonny Rollins.

“I grew up listening to Brazilian music in my house and a few very influential teachers in my life,” Hartogs said.“I just listened to a lot of music, and I wanted to reproduce it with my own choices.”

However, Hartogs said one aspect he does not like about the study of music is learning about genres that are not interesting to him.

“[I dislike] studying things that I know are good for me but are painstakingly annoying, like classical music,” Hartogs said.

Nevertheless, Hartogs said even the mundane parts of learning music pay off when he improves at playing and finds a community of artists. 

“Being able to get up and just play with anybody really, and just connect over music, that’s probably my best accomplishment so far,” Hartogs said.