Is it possible to mix music and physics in your career?

Hi Vanessa!

Here is a course that gives you an example of mixing physics and music. There may be a similar type of program at a school located near your home.

http://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/undergraduate/degrees/index.php?action=view&code=FW33 - read the course description and see if it is interesting to you.

Here are some career areas that you also might want to study.

http://acousticalsociety.org/education_outreach/careers_in_acoustics

https://www.berklee.edu/careers-electronic-production-and-design

Send that you notes to those who help you. Enjoy your education and career and networking journey. Please keep me posted. I would like to follow your progress!

Hi. Great question. In my humble opinion, music goes with everything. The obvious answer would be acoustical engineering. You could learn how to best optimize sound in a concert hall, and even help design or build one with sound in mind. This might not be limited to concert halls either, it could be television and movies, and even home theaters or general acoustics. You could also work with companies that rehab older concert venues, or report on the quality of sound of existing venues. You could also get into recording engineering for artists but also for film. You could also study them independently and work in them independently. For example, have a "day job" in physics and play music or work with musicians at night. I think the two concentrations go very well together. There are a great many opportunities. Find a college where it is possible to study both -- usually a liberal arts school or a large university. You need to be somewhere where there is an orchestra, choir, concert hall, etc,. and a physics department and where your credits in both disciplines will count toward your degree(s). I think you'll find that as you begin your studies opportunities will open up for you. If adults ask -- "What are you going to do with that?" Just say I think I'd like to work with design of concert halls, perhaps an an acoutical engineer -- knowing that there are many other things you might end up doing. As your studies progress you'll meet people who may mentor you, you may have internships or temporary job opportunities or projects that help determine your direction, and then look up people who are working in similar industries and see how their careers progressed.

I will say one thing, music and engineering studies are two of the few disciplines where students start early in their college career. So make sure that where ever you go to study you can take courses in both from the very beginning, even if you don't have to declare a major.

You might want to research an Astrophysicist and Professional-level Musician named Beatrice Tinsley. Her 1966 PhD Thesis at the University of Texas was a significant discovery about the evolution of the Universe.