4th year, part two

Major part of the program was covered by rehearsals and concert with the Philharmonic. Within nine days we had four orchestra rehearsals and concerts with Alan Gilbert conducting. The program was made of Ravel’s Dances Nobles, Nielsen’s Clarinet concerto and the Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky. Beside that we worked in chamber groups with the members of the philharmonic and at the end of the Academy we had a chance to perform pieces by Beethoven, Schubert and Stravinsky.

Another important part of the academy was to understand how the orchestra works behind the scenes. We were invited to attend meetings with tour and orchestra committees, educational sessions and several other activities. We joined some of the philharmonic members and taught alongside them in elementary schools and musical courses for advanced. It was an amazing experience to be part of an orchestra like this for even such short period and realize that there is much more to it than just rehearsing and playing.

As I am graduating this year, beginning of February I started the madness period of Grad School auditions. I applied to four schools; The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, The Colburn School of Music and University of Southern California Thornton School of Music. At Juilliard and USC I applied to regular master degrees in Violin performance, at Manhattan School of Music I chose the Master of Music in Orchestral Performance, which is the only program of such kind in the country and it is very selective. About only two violinists are accepted a year. At Colburn School I applied to Artist Diploma which would allow me to have lot of free time and focus on performing. Now I have to wait until April 1st for the results of these auditions and then I can make a decision about what I am going to do next year.

This semester I have only two classes, French and Music History. In history class we deal with the problematic of authenticity of styles and historically informed performance. We seem to be making lot of progress in French as it no longer looks like a language class but more like liberal arts. My mid-term assignment was to write a four page essay about racism.

As this may be my last year at The Juilliard School, I am trying to enjoy it as much as possible. It was definitely great four years.