Student Testimonials

NCSA Piano students study at the American 
Conservatory at  Fontainbleau with 
artist-faculty member Clifton Matthews

I do not have to try to come up with any good things to say about my experiences at NCSA. They easily flood my mind and warm my heart when I look back at my last three high school years. That wonderful time I had the luck to spend there until my graduation in 1975 determined my overall development. By this I mean that not only the education and active musical life contributed to my growth as a professional, but also the rapport with teachers and fellow students from all over the USA and abroad played an important role in my personal growth . . . actually enhanced whatever general picture the Moscow jurors got from me, which, together with the repertoire prepared , eventually made possible my admittance to the Tchaikovsky Conservatory's Music College. 

I spent six valuable years studying at the North Carolina School of the Arts and without the caring guidance of my teacher I would not have the career as a concert pianist I am now enjoying. He opened up my vision as a musician and helped me achieve my life dream.

The North Carolina School of the Arts has something in common with the best American and European conservatories of music - it expects the students to work hard in order to achieve great results and trusts in the talent of all its students. At the same time NCSA has something completely different from all the other great schools - a very friendly atmosphere that affects not only teachers and students but everyone involved with the school to help make
it better. I think these are some of the reasons 
my piano classmates came to the school from 
all over the world (Japan, Korea, Spain, Russia, Bulgaria...) and these are also the reasons for which so many of them have today good careers as performers and teachers. Last but not least, that's why we are still good friends!

I attended the very first summer session at NCSA in 1967 when I was eleven years old. The campus was still in its original, embryonic lay-out, a few buildings punctuating the green lawns and thick stands of trees. I returned for the following three summers at which point my parents yielded to my entreaties to attend the full-year sessions through high school. Well I remember the bliss of throwing my luggage upon the bed in Moore Dorm (Composer and current faculty member Kenneth Frazelle was to be my roommate and best friend!), saying good-bye to family with utter delight, and becoming part of the artistic and social fabric of a student body that was sympathetic to my own interests. NCSA was still a small school in 1971-74 but grand in spirit. Administrative, academic, and student life had not yet evolved to run with the smoothness that comes with accruing years of trial and error (and success). This allowed for a great freedom and individuality which afforded us students, and teachers, the heady excitement of experiment.....Fortunately, I recall a majority of us driven to excel at our artistic disciplines. We had a faculty, both permanent and guest, that set a remarkable example. They urged us on and demanded our best. I went on to attend the Curtis Institute of Music after high school. I found myself at a great advantage having had all those previous years of working with other musicians. Additionally, my general education and grasp of theater, opera, dance, and stagecraft were leagues beyond my Curtis peers. Indeed, I was an "old-timer" when it came to so many of the roads salient to life as a musician among musicians. For this I have always been grateful. There was no other place aside from NCSA where I could have found sympathetic and enthusiastic friends and colleagues at such a young age; no other place where I could expand my knowledge and associations among the many branches of performing arts, and begin to test them out in a milieu of critical but encouraging teachers and peers. 

Being at the North Carolina School of the Arts as a student was an amazing experience. There were only 26 piano students so I never had to search for a practice room. You always had the opportunity to perform. Our studio was like a family - we knew each other very well. NCSA seems to have some kind of magnet that keeps you wanting to come back--I was at the Manhattan School of Music for two years and finally realized how many great things the School of the Arts has. Right now I work here and am very happy to see the school grow. All the students I know seem very happy here. It's a great place!

Artist-faculty member Eric Larsen with NCSA 
students after their recital at the
Rachmaninoff Hall of Moscow Conservatory.

Students:  Norris Norwood, Lori Carpenter, Tatsuya Nagashima
Cindy Hung, and David Foley

 
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