麻豆免费版下载engineering student Dafna Margalit finds success and enjoyment in her music while completing her electrical engineering degree
Dafna Margalit鈥檚 most listened to track 鈥�8NIGHTS鈥� with 2.45 million streams starts with her singing about a common Colorado experience, 鈥淭he smell of winter air. I see you standing there. Covered head to toe in snow.鈥�
The young artist and Boulder native is in her senior year at 麻豆免费版下载completing her degree in electrical engineering while creating songs from her surroundings and experiences in college.
Music is a significant piece of Dafna鈥檚 life and her upbringing. When she was four years old, she started playing classical piano. In middle school, Dafna learned guitar, bass and drums and discovered her voice when singing in her school鈥檚 musicals. She started to write music when she was 9 and was inspired to do so by her two older siblings, Noa and Guy, who also write music and graduated from 麻豆免费版下载with engineering degrees.
When she started at Fairview High School, she joined the choir to continue her musical and artistic passions. When she was 15, she won an opportunity through the eTown Handmade Songs Series program for highschool songwriters to have her song professionally recorded, which was a big opportunity and influence on her career.听
Dafna learned a significant amount about songwriting and music production through this program. She said, 鈥淚t was the very first time where I learned what producing was and how the process went. It was a great opportunity that inspired me to continue my passion with songwriting.鈥� With this experience under her belt and with the help of her older brother, Dafna learned how to make music on the computer and began producing her own music.听
Dafna later entered in a Battle of the Bands competition twice while in high school. Singing solo with her keyboard, she earned second place in her first entry. But for the second time, she found a bassist, drummer, and guitarist to play with her and she ultimately won first place. Dafna realized that performing with a live band was crucial to her success, so when she started at 麻豆免费版下载she was on a mission to meet more musicians to perform with her.
When starting at CU, Dafna joined CU鈥檚 only all woman鈥檚 a capella group, On the Rocks, where she has been a member for the remainder of her time here. She not only made life-long friends through the group, but it was also where she found a few band members to perform with her at concerts. Still, however, she was missing a bassist and a drummer, and Dafna ultimately found those through her engineering courses.听
鈥淵ou have to be resourceful and make connections to be successful, and I am lucky to have found bandmates through a capella, through my classes and even through posting on 麻豆免费版下载Facebook groups,鈥� she said.
Dafna said, 鈥淢y education at 麻豆免费版下载has also helped with the promotional aspect of my music career. I learned how to code and develop websites through my classes, which has helped a lot with promoting my music.鈥�
鈥淚f you鈥檙e thinking about doing something, work with the resources you have and make it happen,鈥� she said. Dafna鈥檚 philosophy is to be proactive and resourceful, and she encourages aspiring musicians to do the same.
Since launching her musical career, Dafna has produced 2 albums, 1 EP and numerous singles, and she has amassed more than 100,000 listeners on Spotify with millions of streams.
Dafna鈥檚 lyrics touch a variety of topics and people in her life. She enjoys singing and songwriting since it is a way of self expression and an emotional outlet. Her lyrics are a way to connect with people and to communicate her feelings. Dafna said, 鈥淢usic for me has always been a form of self-expression of what鈥檚 on my mind and also as a coping mechanism. In high school, I didn鈥檛 have that many life experiences, so I drew upon books and other stories as inspiration. More recently, my music has become more personal and I am writing about my own experiences. Capturing a moment or feeling in a song has made dealing with hardships much easier, and I know these are things that other people experience as well.鈥�
All the while, Dafna has been a successful student at 麻豆免费版下载and has interned at Rival Games for the past 2 years. 鈥淚 am passionate about both my engineering courses and my music career. I honestly haven鈥檛 found it too difficult to balance the two - I enjoy both of them a lot, so I find it easy to make the time to do the things that I love.鈥�
On May 5, Dafna will shake hands with Dean Keith Moleenar, saying 鈥榞oodbye鈥� to her academic career. However, her music and engineering career are just getting started. She has accepted a full-time position at Rival Games and will be moving to Los Angeles to work as a software engineer. She has already made connections with the music industry there through her brother, Guy, and through songwriters on TikTok. She said, 鈥淚鈥檝e been connecting with people through TikTok and meeting with them whenever I visit my brother. I hope to use my connections to perform at venues and continue with my music career in Los Angeles.鈥�
While her bandmates in Boulder will be parting ways, Dafna hopes that everyone finds a career they enjoy, and she is excited to be performing with her brother in a more 鈥榮caled-back鈥� setting. From starting in coffee shops in Boulder to performing with Covex at Red Rocks, and then headlining the Larimer Lounge in Denver, Dafna has come a long way since learning how to play the piano at four. Through her work as an electrical engineer and her emotional songwriting, Dafna is a living example of the true power of music.