My wonderful 3 weeks in the Heifetz International Music Institute

Показать описание

It’s really pleasant to have the opportunity to participate in the Heifetz Institute of Music. During the three weeks in the junior division (used to be known as the PEG division), I’m very happy to meet a lot of new friends from different countries all over the world.

The Heifetz Institute of Music is open to string players under the age of 30. Younger students like me are assigned to the Junior Division. We are all assigned roommates, practice partners, chamber partners, and teachers for both chamber and private lessons.

The Heifetz Institute’s headquarter is located in the downtown of Staunton, VA. I had private lessons and chamber coaching two times a week. My teacher for private lessons is Ms. Jennifer Liu. She helped me with the techniques, intonation, and the direction of the music. My chamber coach, Ms. Caeli Smith, is also a member of our chamber group. We worked on the flow of the music, color changes, the tempo, and how to play together as a group. I also had communication classes four times a week with other junior division students. We had three topics: drama, movement, and speaking in public. All of these are aimed to make our performance speeches wonderful and confident, and make our daily practice free of injuries and more efficient. Every junior division student is also assigned a practice partner from the senior division, who will give you advice on your playing.

There are seven concerts a week we are all encouraged to attend. Two of them are performed by the faculty and the celebrities. The rest are performed by the Heifetz students.

During these days, we practice hard and attend lessons. But in the evening, we just sit back and relax. We hangout in the lounge, chat in our rooms, and play games everywhere. Many friends and I became very close during the three weeks. Everyone here is really nice and supportive. It has been a wonderful experience which I would never forget.