Thanks to each of the music faculty…
(Heidi) …for encouraging me as I tackle challenging repertoire.
(Ingrid) …for guiding me in my creative process for fluxing, quivering, transforming.
(Prof. Freedman) …for critiquing my program notes and challenging me to think deeper.
(Nate) …for advising and mentoring me through difficult times.
(Edwin) …for helping me develop a greater appreciation for Latin American musics.
(Leo) …for exposing me to Renaissance counterpoint, which I hope to explore further.
(Curt) …for inspiring me to be more boldly political as a musician.
Thank you to my private teacher Anna Kislitsyna for your diligence and care in our many lessons together. And thank you also to my previous piano teachers: Claudio David Espejo, Kasia Marzec-Salwinski, and especially Randall Hartman.
Thank you to Amy and Nancy for helping with practice room and recital hall reservations. Thanks to Nancy also for making a beautiful recital flier and teaching me some new self-regulatory breathing techniques.
Thank you to John Conahan and Melissa Dunphy, both of whom I first met through accompanying PMEA choirs and who have been musical role models for me. Thank you to all my music teachers in Council Rock School District for believing in me and providing me many opportunities to grow.
Thank you to Gabriela Lena Frank for making the time for me to interview her on Zoom. And thank you to Marty Krzywonos for tuning my family's piano all these years.
Thank you to all those who have supported me, accommodated me, and cheered me on through the wild ups and downs of college in the convergence of global and personal crisis. A special thank-you to my CAPS therapist for helping me to slow down my anxious mind and find myself again.
Thank you to my friends for our life-sustaining conversations that have been at times deep and intense and other times joyful and humorous. Thank you to my brother Jerry for always being so open and supportive to who I am and am becoming.
And finally, thank you to my parents, who saw that toddler me did not like dolls but did like toys that made music, who then gave me music and supported my lessons and musical endeavors throughout my life because it gave me joy. I know I’ve been a challenging and surprising child to raise, but you did not do all wrong. 💜