Tucker Donelan

Tucker Donelan is a half Japanese, half American senior at the Berkshire School in Sheffield, MA, although he currently lives in New York City. Tucker has had the privilege of living in four continents and has thus cultivated a multicultural and multidisciplinary approach to everything he does. From the bustling metropoles of Johannesburg, Tokyo, and New York to humbler towns in Spain and Massachusetts, Tucker’s own experiences have become the fuel for his creativity. Tucker’s musical journey began at the age of three at the School for Strings in New York City. A classically trained violinist, Tucker learned the foundations of music theory at a young age. Those lessons helped not only in his ability to learn a variety of other instruments over the years, but also in composing and arranging music for chamber music ensembles, a capella groups, and, eventually, theatrical competitions. In addition to music, Tucker is a devoted academic, graduating Cum Laude with honors this spring and heading to Tufts University in the fall where he hopes to study conservation ecology and climatology in addition to continuing his musical passions. However, he also enjoys studying poetry and prose fiction, a testament to his love for the written word and his emerging lyricism. The culmination of academia, his upbringing, and his musical influences are what have created Tucker’s tailored musical style. In global citizenship, Tucker found a desire to seek out and understand the social issues of his communities that he grew up fortunate enough to avoid the consequences of. In school, Tucker found an abundance of legendary writers to learn from. In both the intensive study and performance of music, Tucker found a desire to create and a toolbox of harmony, rhythmic variation, and chord building. However, what is perhaps most important and certainly most relevant to this competition, Tucker has recently had the opportunity to see the music that he wishes to create be accepted into mainstream theater. Tucker has been following Lin Manuel Miranda since Mr. Miranda was performing with his New York based rap group, Freestyle Love Supreme. Mr. Miranda’s recent success in bringing rap to Broadway theaters has empowered Tucker to realize the sum of his musical and academic parts and write music that he believes he is good at writing. Tucker loves music and understands that he has much to learn. He is deeply appreciative of this opportunity and is excited to see what becomes of it.