In her dorms, DemiRae quickly made new friends. She was closest to her roommate, a horn player. They would gather with other students on the steps of Lenfest and sing together for fun. After partying during the first week, she joined a group that organized its own masquerade ball over the holidays.
During the semester, she also finished a string quartet she began writing on the flight from Turkey. As she rehearsed, she realized how open she was to having her music transformed in other people's hands, the kind of lesson that can't be taught in a classroom. “I was reminded that everything in music is a matter of perspective,” she said.
Few Curtis students really get a break during the month between semesters. Back in Ankara, Demiray read Kant and watched movies, but he also continued composing. Gleason got an early start on his spring job, taking on a conducting project with the Dallas Opera. At least Chun had time to see friends and family in Seattle and go skiing.
Scott struggled to escape the stressful, exciting autumn semester. Life at home felt like a “vacuum,” he says. At first, he had trouble sleeping because he felt like he had to do something. After a few days, he started going for long walks with his Rhodesian Ridgeback, Nandi, and found he could relax.
Tacchino returned to France, but as resident coordinator she had to return early to prepare for Lenfest for the spring semester, and she also took a tour to Florida, a place she'd never been before. She saw more alligators than she expected and it was uncomfortably hot, but she felt refreshed when she returned to school for more auditions and landed the lead role in Poulenc's one-act opera, “Les Femmes de Tiresias.”