Nation Ford grad from Fort Mill heading to Germany to study music history

A Nation Ford High School graduate is headed out of the country to pursue his passion – researching the history of music and the people who make it.

Ian Giocondo of Fort Mill, who graduated from Nation Ford High in 2013, has been named a Fulbright Scholar at the University of South Carolina. He is leaving Saturday for Berlin, Germany, for an all-expense paid year to research music.

The Fulbright program, established under former U.S. Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, awards more than 8,000 grants annually to students, teachers and professionals. Fulbright grant recipients are chosen based on their record of service and leadership potential in their field.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program gives fellowships to graduating U.S. college seniors, graduate students and young professionals to study abroad for a year. Giocondo was one of seven USC students awarded the fellowship, according to the university.

In May, Giocondo graduated from USC with a bachelor’s degree in music education. It was there he found his passion in uncovering stories behind music and composers.

Giocondo, 22, originally went to USC to become a music teacher.

“I wanted to follow in the footsteps of my band director,” he said.

In high school, Giocondo played arrangements from Mozart, Beethoven and other classical composers on his trombone and found a love for that style of music.

“I started getting interested in orchestral music,” he said.

Giocondo said his passion turned from playing music to uncovering the history behind it. He began researching music history and learning about different types of music through the time periods, something he continued in college.

A paper he wrote, titled “A One-Man Revolution: Stravinsky’s Metamorphoses of Style” and focused on 20th-century composer Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky, earned an undergraduate research award from USC.

“It made me realize this may be something I’m talented at,” Giocondo said.

He applied for the Fulbright program, a process he called “tedious” as it required a project proposal, multiple references, transcripts and a personal statement.

Giocondo will work with a professor at the Berlin University of the Arts, where he will study the influence American composers may have had on German musicians and experimental music after World War II.

“The U.S. government was pretty involved in shaping the cultural landscape of Central and Eastern Europe after WWII,” Giocondo said.

While in Germany, Giocondo will be attending seminars related to his research topic and keeping a blog featuring his research and concert reviews. For the first six weeks, he will receive language and culture classes.

“I’m looking forward to spending a year in Europe and seeing more of the world,” Giocondo said.

This story was originally published August 3, 2017 at 6:09 PM with the headline "Nation Ford grad from Fort Mill heading to Germany to study music history."