I got around the university at once

I arrived at school with a slight delay – of almost one week – due to Hurricane Katia, as all flights to the East Coast were cancelled and nothing in New York was working that day.

I took several initial tests before the actual beginning of the academic year, and based on the results I enrolled in the following subjects: Arts (Ethics, Conscience and the Good Life), Music Theory, and Ear and Rhythm Training. In addition, I have Orchestra, Chamber Ensemble, Piano and, most importantly, Violin. For Arts, we started with discussing the topic “Universal Values”; we completed the “Good Life” topic last week; and we are currently working on the “Evil” chapter. Actually, the subject is all about reading books such as the Bhagavad Gita, Tao Te Ching, the Apology of Socrates, Shakespeare’s Othello, etc., and we have to write an essay on each chapter. I have a lot of work with the subject because, miraculously, I “tested out” of English and thus skipped 4 semesters of learning English, which foreigners usually have to go through, and jumped right into the middle of Ethics. But so far I have been able to manage. Music Theory is divided into three parts: Harmony, Counterpoint, and Forms. At this point, we have only covered harmony, and in fact this was the only subject for which I have taken my mid-term exams. And we just practice rhythm and intonation at Ear and Rhythm Training.

Orchestra lessons will start in two weeks; so far we have had several “reading” sessions. The first one was with our (and the New York Philharmonic) Chief Conductor Alan Gilbert, and we played Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1. We played pieces written by the Composition students at the second session. The last session was with the legendary conductor Kurt Masur, with whom we worked on Brahms’ Symphony No. 4. It was a marvelous experience and I’m happy, as I was probably the only first year student selected.

Our chamber lessons are with a member of the Juilliard Quartet, Earl Carlyss, and we are currently working on quartets by Haydn and Mozart.

I study Violin with the New York Philharmonic concertmaster Glenn Dicterow, and I love these lessons with him – I just have a blast.

I live on the 27th Floor of The Juilliard Residence Hall, the school’s only dorm, which is situated right next to the school’s building at Lincoln Center Plaza. My roommate is a dance student in his first year. Our room is quite small, but recently redone. Jeffrey is nice; we’ve been getting on well so far – he is always so tired after his ballet practice and lessons that we tend to go to bed quite early compared to the schedules most people seem to keep here (around 11 pm), and that suits me fine. I eat my meals at the same building; we have quite a broad range of meals to choose from, ranging from hamburgers to pizza to healthy food. It’s not bad, though it took me some time to figure out how to avoid eating the same stuff over and over.

Leisure time: If I have some, I go to see my brother or just go for a walk, but I spend most of it practicing violin and reading books for the Arts lessons.

I am grateful to The Kellner Family Foundation for its support, thanks to which I have been able to study at such a renowned school and live in the greatest cultural hub. It never occurred to me in my dreams that, in studying for just two months, I would have the opportunity to meet so many great personalities – and to study with them on top of that.