Striking the Right Chord at a Summer Internship
In seventh grade, a band teacher handed Danny Marczewski ’27 a bass guitar, and that moment changed everything. As he spent hours mastering the instrument, feeling the strings move beneath his fingers, a deep passion for music took hold. While he grew up in a family of pianists—his father and sister both dedicated to the piano—Marczewski found that the bass guitar resonated with him in a way the piano never did.
Now a psychology major and music minor, Marczewski proudly considers himself a bassist at heart. Though he’s taught himself guitar and is taking lessons in upright bass, the bass guitar remains his true love. As a member of both the Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ Jazz Band and the Modern Band Project, he combines his passion for music with his studies in psychology, aspiring to become a therapist to support others through the healing power of music.
This summer, Marczewski channeled his passion into an internship with the Salem Jazz and Soul Festival in Salem, Mass. Now in its 18th season, the festival is a showcase of soulful melodies, jazz rhythms, and music education clinics for the community, and features craft booths and artisan vendors. Marczewski worked closely with the festival organizers, offering behind-the-scenes support and assisting the stage crew during the festival.
Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ’s mission is to inspire leadership through transformational learning, and a key element of this is our enhanced internship model—the Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ Experiential Edge. This program ensures that students like Marczewski gain valuable hands-on experience in their chosen fields, so they graduate with a degree in one hand and a strong resume in the other.
After his internship, we sat down with Marczewski to learn more about his role with the Salem Jazz and Soul Festival, his experience, and what he’s learned from the internship.
How did you acquire your internship with the Salem Jazz and Soul Festival?
I managed to network my internship through my internship professor. The festival director is childhood best friends with my teacher. I mentioned that I was in the Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ Jazz Band, and the conversation led to this internship. After a good interview, I secured the spot as the festival's first intern. It sounded like such an interesting internship—I couldn’t pass it up.
What was your role and what did your day-to-day responsibilities look like?
My role was to help out with any tasks my boss needed. At the start of the summer, I focused on music education. The festival raised money for the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Salem and had a music program with the kids there. Toward the middle of the summer, I was much more focused on gathering materials from all over the North Shore for the festival. For the last two weeks, I focused on stage crew and researching grants.
This was your first internship at Î÷¹ÏÊÓƵ. Were you nervous going into it?
I was absolutely nervous. Being the festival’s first intern, I knew I would be left figuring a lot out alongside the head of the festival. The event was easily the best part of the internship. My first meeting was in late April, and my entire summer led up to that point. I loved being that close to the artists performing, and being on stage crew was something I didn’t expect I would like so much. I had family and friends come to the festival, and everyone enjoyed themselves. It was easily one of the highlights of my summer.
The festival took place in August. What was that day like?
The day of the festival didn’t feel real at first. I tried to get sleep the night before, but knowing how early I would have to get up kept me from getting any good sleep. My alarm was set for 5:45 a.m., and I knew the day would end by 10 p.m. I had energy drinks to help me get through the day, but I had to focus on a billion different things.
I had my internship professor, family, and friends show up, and juggling that while working with the stage crew and helping set up was overstimulating. I was always moving, seeing who needed what, asking questions, and making sure I didn’t miss a text or email from someone. However, I also enjoyed the festival while balancing all these things. After the festival, the entire week finally caught up with me. It was a very unique and rewarding experience. Being around such interesting music like that made it not feel like work at all. I would do it over again; it was such a good experience.
What skills did you acquire during your internship?
Flexibility. I would have tasks thrown at me randomly, so I had to adapt to new details of my responsibilities quickly. I didn’t know where to pick things up or what I would be researching. I didn’t have anything previously to work off of, so I had to be ready.
How did your classes prepare you for this role?
Time management was the biggest thing I got from my classes that helped with the internship. I knew going into this that I would have to find a way to make it structured. This is because it’s not its own business—the festival is run on the side of everyone else’s careers. The festival was run on whatever time people had away from their jobs, and it made it a lot more sporadic with when I would get hours. Learning to manage my time was the biggest help I got when working with the Salem Jazz & Soul Festival.
What are your future career goals? How has this position impacted your goals?
Just like everyone else, I'm trying to figure out what it is I want to do in life. Music makes the most sense to me, and I want to incorporate that into my life regardless of what I do. Psychology comes very naturally to me, and I think I can help other people by mixing both of those things. At the moment, I plan to study to become a therapist. I want to incorporate music into the way I help people cope and heal. Not in the same way music therapy or expressive arts therapy incorporates it, but instead in a way that focuses on music as a coping mechanism.
What advice would you give to someone pursuing a similar internship in the future?
Prepare to be flexible—especially with how much goes into planning any festival, especially a music festival. Things can come up out of nowhere, so be ready.