The Juilliard School

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Reflections

Ani Kavafian is no stranger to New York music lovers. The Turkish-born violinist earned an M.S. in violin from Juilliard in 1971, where she studied with Ivan Galamian. After winning the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize in 1976, she performed with the New York Philharmonic, playing the Beethoven Violin Concerto under the direction of Erich Leinsdorf, and has since appeared with major orchestras around the world.

But Ani is perhaps best known as a chamber musician. In 1972 she began playing with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, becoming an artist-member in 1980. She has appeared at many prominent festivals, including the Santa Fe and Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festivals and Chamber Music Northwest. A dedicated teacher, she is on the faculties of the Yale School of Music and SUNY-Stony Brook. She lives in Westchester County with her husband, Bernard Mindich, and their son, Matthew.

Ani took time out of her busy schedule to answer a few questions about her Juilliard days.

Ani Kavafian (Photo by Bernard Mindich)

How does what you learned at Juilliard shape your daily life?

Attending Juilliard and living in New York City gave me backbone to survive in stressful competitive situations. My character was strengthened by not just surviving but actually doing well at school: becoming concertmaster of the orchestra, winning the concerto competition, earning top honors at graduation.

Do any specific moments or experiences at Juilliard stand out in your memory?

Several come to mind. Sitting in the back of the violin section of the Juilliard Orchestra, I remember the dean, Gordon Hardy, interrupting a rehearsal. After a consultation of a minute or so with the conductor Jean Morel, they pointed to me and asked me to follow Hardy to an adjacent rehearsal room where the Juilliard Concert Orchestra was rehearsing. I thought I had been demoted (the Concert Orchestra was the "second" orchestra). However, I noticed that the concertmaster chair was empty. Alfred Wallenstein, the conductor, had just gone through yet another student concertmaster. After I sat in the chair, sight-reading the music, Wallenstein put me through my test. He asked to hear a section with just the first violins. After complaining that we sounded terrible, he asked to hear us "stand by stand." He started from the back of the section; by the time it was our turn on the first stand, I had figured out a good fingering, passing the test. I stayed on as concertmaster for the rest of the year and became concertmaster of the "first orchestra" thereafter, until graduation. Unforgettable!

Another artistic experience that I will never forget is performing the B-flat Schubert Trio with Alan Marks (B.M. '71, piano) and Eric Wilson (B.M. '72, M.M. '73, cello) without music at the instigation of our coach William Lincer. Finally, another great artistic experience was the opening of Alice Tully Hall. I was lucky enough to be playing the solos in the Capriccio espagnole of Rimsky-Korsakov under Leopold Stokowski. He was inspiring to be sure!

What Juilliard teacher made the largest impact on you and what was that impact?

I can point to three teachers who made a difference in my musical life: Ivan Galamian, for giving me the technical equipment; Felix Galimir, for teaching me to play with great emotional involvement; and Robert Mann, for instilling a passion for chamber music.

What do you remember about your Juilliard audition?

A funny experience: Being quite nervous in front of violin faculty members Ivan Galamian, Dorothy DeLay, Paul Makanowitzky, Oscar Shumsky, and Joseph Fuchs, I took a little too much time tuning my violin, whereupon Fuchs grabbed my violin and tuned it for me! It actually made me laugh and relax.

When you were at Juilliard, what was your plan for the future? How has that plan turned out?

While at Juilliard, my dream was to become the concertmaster of a great orchestra. After a few years of an intense involvement with chamber music, I became obsessed with wanting a chamber music career. I would attend concerts of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and would think, "This must be the greatest job in the world." Now, after 26 years as an artist member of the Chamber Music Society, I can say that I was right—it is the greatest job! Being a soloist and now also teaching—full time at Yale and part time at SUNY-Stony Brook—have rounded out a fulfilling career in music.

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