It’s hard to find an ensemble at the Mount where you would be deprived of the musical talents of Rohan Gabay, a senior fine arts in music major. The bassist has played his way through the String Ensemble, the Lab Band, the Wind Ensemble and the Big Band. He also has formed ensembles with students, professors, and Provost Boyd Creasman. He even stepped in as the interim director of the Mighty Sound of the Mount last year, leading the pep band for basketball games at the Mount all the way to Atlantic City for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship
As a fourth grader, Gabay began playing the trumpet. He liked it but the instrument was frequently in music shops to repair the dents that resulted from his incessant idle twirling of the instrument. Stopping in for a routine repair, he saw a musician noodling at the bass. Rohan remembered saying, “Whoa, that’s a cool guitar.” Barely looking up and fingering away, the player responded, “This is no guitar, man. This is a bass.” In that moment, Gabay knew he wanted to play bass. When he graduated eighth grade, Gabay’s dad took him to that same music shop to buy him his first bass.
Gabay flitted between ensembles, playing bass and trumpet wherever needed. His musical prowess spoke for itself when he played for the first time with an ensemble as principal trumpeter hours before a performance. Even though he had been unable to attend rehearsals due to scheduling conflicts, he quickly integrated his part and solo. Gabay always rises to the challenge. He has had the good fortune of finding outstanding musicians to play with and attracting new musicians with his hypnotic rhythms. When recalling performances, he easily analyzes each of his ensembles, including every player, their style, their strengths and the personality of their playing.
Gabay started at the Mount during the pandemic when there were there no groups to play with, and it wasn’t safe for people to come together to enjoy music. “The pandemic rattled musicians everywhere. Music is made to be shared; playing and listening with other people makes up what we all love about it,” he commented, “You can practice a solo all day, but without the pressure, the tension, the anticipation in the room by the players and audience, there is no atmosphere.”
Eventually, he was sought out by Associate Professor of Music Mark Carlson, DMA, who had heard rumors of a highly skilled bassist looking for an audience. Ever since then, they’ve performed all kinds of music all over campus. The vibrations of his bass have moved every fiber of every building on campus, including the Mount Café, Knott Arena, the PAC, Horning Theater, Founders Plaza, McGowan Fountain and Knott Auditorium. He has loved being a musician at the Mount and is looking to take his talents to the graduate level to make or meet the next great group of musicians with which to surround himself.