Class of 1999

KEVIN FINDLAN strives to capture the "sound" of music.

With its high ceilings and clerestory, 19th-century neoclassical Reid Concert Hall in Edinburgh, Scotland, allows for a gorgeous rolling sound—in the wee hours between II p.m. and 4 a.m., when the adjacent plaza finally empties of skateboaders. So that's when Findlan trains his finely tuned ear—and his recording equipment—on both classical and contemporary Scottish musicians in an effort to capture the symbiotic relationship between the acoustics Of a place and the music being played there. After graduating from Dartmouth with a degree in music and English, Findlan pursued a Ph.D. in musicology at the University of Edinburgh. There he met Paul Baxter, who was concentrating in recording technology. Over a few whiskies, Findlan and Baxter formed Delphian Records, to produce CDs in places such as Reid Concert Hall or the lone Crichton Castle in Midlothian, chosen specifically for how certain instruments or styles of music will sound there. The resulting recordings, "Like Hildegard's feather on God's breath...will float into the ether," music review- er Norman Lebrecht wrote in the LondonEvening Standard last year. For a listing of Delphian CDs, go to www.delphianrecords.co.uk.