Last month I completed my first year as a student of Almita and Roland Vamos at the Music Institute of Chicago Academy. I had a wonderful year, learning and growing from some of the best students and artist faculty in the country. With only 31 students, the MIC Academy maintains a warm and friendly environment, while preserving very high standards. To read about the first half of my year, see my previous blog post.
The second half of the year was just as fabulous. I had the opportunity to perform live on WFMT Chicago’s program “Introductions.” We performed all three of the Trios we learned this year – by Beethoven, Schubert, and Copland. It was very exciting and inspiring to perform live on Chicago’s classical radio station. The audio archive of the performance is here.
As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I participated in Chicago’s Youth in Music Festival Orchestra, which was a weekend workshop at Symphony Center in February. The final open rehearsal was originally going to be conducted by Maestro Riccardo Muti, but due to a surgery, Russian conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky stepped in as the guest conductor. Rozhedestvensky knew Shostakovich personally, and it was quite inspiring working with someone of such history and experience.
The Academy Orchestra presented its 10th Anniversary celebration concert in May. We were joined by winds to perform Beethoven Symphony no. 1, and by Rachel Barton Pine and Academy Alumnus Matthew Lipman to perform Mozart Sinfonia Concertante. It was a thrill to perform with such expert soloists.
I would like to conclude by thanking each and every one who made a financial contribution to my cause of attending the MIC Academy this year. I can assure you that the return on your investment was enormous – I improved a great deal this year and came home with a much higher artistic intelligence. The MIC Academy exceeded my expectations, and I feel humbled and honored to have had the opportunity to attend. I sincerely appreciate your gift.
I am looking forward to attending the Chautauqua Summer Music Festival this summer to continue studies with the Vamos’.