Nathaniel (CFA’26) (left) and Ian (CFA’26) Aistrup, two of a set of musical triplets, enrolled in the College of Fine Arts School of Music together to study cello and viola, respectively. On Commencement Sunday, they’ll graduate BU side by side. Photo by Sister City Photography

Student Life

Brothers Graduating from College of Fine Arts School of Music Excited to Go from Ensemble to Solo

Nathaniel and Ian Aistrup reflect on their time together in the strings program—and look ahead to their separate careers

When Boston University students Ian (CFA’26) and Nathaniel Aistrup (CFA’26) were growing up, music was a constant presence in their home. Along with their brother, Halden (the three are triplets), they were often practicing in their rooms, while their mother, Nicola, played violin or viola, and their father, Robb, practiced double bass or cello. Students might stop by for a music lesson, or friends might be over, leading to an impromptu chamber session.

“If you were trying to do homework, there would be this cacophony going on at all times,” Ian recalls. “It’s pretty amazing, because we were literally surrounded by music at all these various stages of expertise.”

All three brothers were familiar with BU, first from their days performing in the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, which uses the University’s campus for rehearsal and performance spaces, and later while attending the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. When it came time to apply to college, Ian and Nathaniel both chose to enroll in BU’s College of Fine Arts School of Music, while Halden enrolled at the Cleveland Institute of Music. 

Though they all play different string instruments these days—with Nathaniel on cello, Ian on viola, and Halden on double bass—they all started out playing violin as young kids. 

“I think my parents saw that we weren’t into it,” Ian says with a laugh, “but I think we all gravitated pretty naturally to our instruments.”

The brothers believe that the instruments they ultimately chose bear some resemblance to their personalities. The viola, Ian says, may not be at the forefront of the melody, but its job is to uphold the middle harmonies, making it a crucial component to the arrangement. 

Halden, the tallest of the three, had the right frame for a double bass, and the right temperament. “He’s a little bit soft-spoken and understated, but he can be very strong and stable,” Ian says.

“Cello fits really nicely in between those,” says Nathaniel. “Oftentimes we take the role of the bass, especially in a chamber music setting, but we also have our fair share of melodic material, and I think that complements my personality really well.”

While pursuing separate concentrations in the School of Music, Nathaniel and Ian lived together their senior year and played together frequently in extracurricular ensembles at BU, most recently as part of the Heron Quartet, which in April performed at Office for the Arts’ Music Mondays series at the Dahod Family Alumni Center. In their free time, they worked out and went for runs together, played video games, and read chamber music with friends. They also enjoyed attending concerts together at Symphony Hall and the New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall and discussing them afterward. Those discussions would occasionally turn into debates; as the two matured in their instruments, their ears began to diverge.

“We’ve performed in a lot of chamber groups together, where we’re playing absolute pillars of the repertoire—Shostakovich, Dvorak, Mozart, Beethoven,” says Ian. “The way those composers have tapped into the human experience, [using] this universally applicable and resonant art form, is something I’m striving [to emulate].”

Nathaniel—not so much. 

“I think it’s so important to nurture the art form as it is today,” he says. “The tradition is important, but the music that’s being written now is equally as important and vital to the health of the art form. That’s definitely been a focus of mine at BU.”

Like a complex harmony, the Aistrup brothers often complement each other with their differences—deviating at points and coming back together in ringing resolution.

“Back in junior year of high school, I really wanted to go somewhere far away from [my brothers]. I guess I was tired of being one of a set,” Ian admits. “But there are only so many programs in the country. So we came to the conclusion that it’d be great if we went to the same place.”

“I definitely remember that mindset from you in high school, and I’m glad you came around,” says Nathaniel.

Now, on the eve of Commencement, they’ve come to a reverse consensus: they’re in agreement that it’s time to split up, at least for a while. This fall, Ian will begin pursuing a graduate degree in viola performance at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, while Nathaniel will study cello at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. (Brother Halden plans to remain in Cleveland for another year.) But before then, the three plan to reconvene in Colorado this summer and perform with the National Repertory Orchestra, where they studied the previous summer.

“We have to do what’s best for our own careers—we can’t just hinge them around each other,” Ian says. “If we do end up in the same place for a program or a summer festival, then we’ll see it as a perk, because we’ll still have built-in close friends. The music world is so small, so odds are we’re going to bump into each other professionally down the line.”