Personal
Statement
I have been fortune
in my life to have had so many opportunities to immerse myself in
music. From 2002 until 2009 I attended summer music festivals in
Tennessee, North Carolina, Indiana, and Colorado. Each summer was an
incredible learning experience working with outstanding musicians,
and nothing has been as satisfying as the creation and performance of
beautiful music.
I worked during the
summer of 2010 in order to save money for my semester abroad that
fall. Studying abroad in Vienna was life changing. Barbara Gorzynska,
teacher at Prayner Konservatorium in Vienna, pushed me to excel and
exemplified what it means to be a passionate artist. I immersed
myself in the culture by attending many concerts and visiting as many
museums as I could.
My first time
attending a concert at the Konzerthaus proved to be the most
influential concert of my life so far. Die Deutsche
Kammerphilharmonie Bremen performed Beethoven Symphonies 5 and 6, as
well as the Coriolan Overture. A friend and I were lucky enough to be
able to sit behind the bass section, literally 10 feet away from the
orchestra. Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen is well known for
its interpretation of Beethoven, and we were blown away. I will
always remember the looks of pure joy and excitement on the faces of
the first stand violas. It was an amazing display of the highest
level of artistry. My friend and I returned the next night to see
them perform Beethoven Symphonies 3 and 4, along with the Overture to
The Creatures of Prometheus.
While I have the
most experience in large ensembles and I have enjoyed playing in
orchestras at all my summer festivals and in the Vanderbilt
University Orchestra, I also love both chamber music and performing
in opera pits. I have studied chamber music with Professor John
Kochanowski, former member of the Concord String Quartet, as well as
with Professors Amy Dorfman and Kathryn Plummer. In Vienna I was
coached by Barbara Gorzynska, playing Navarra and first violin in
Beethoven String Quartet, op. 18 / 1.
I have played in
the Vanderbilt Opera performances of Kurt Weill's Street Scene
and Mozart's Le nozza di Figaro.
While at Aspen Summer Music Festival, I played in their production of
Don Giovanni. I saw
several world class operas at the Vienna Staatsoper, including a
performance of Der Rosenkavalier
by Richard Strauss on the last night of my time abroad. Upon my
return to the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt I took a course on
opera with Dr. Joy Calico, Associate Professor of Musicology. I hope
to continue to study and play opera in the future.
I
believe that during my time at the Blair School of Music and abroad I
have grown as a musician, developing the tools necessary to hone my
craft further. As an artist I want to continue to surround myself
with creative, like minded individuals in a culture that values music
and the fine arts. Ultimately I hope to play professionally in a
major symphony orchestra or opera orchestra. To that end I wish to
delve even deeper into music, learning all that I can so that I may
engage with the music I perform on multiple levels. At the University
of Colorado Boulder School of Music, I will continue my study of
music, building on the solid foundation of my experiences at
Vanderbilt University and in Vienna.
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