Ending on a High Note
It’s Oldham’s second experience of a lifetime. The first was her senior year at the College when she performed with the College’s Orchestra at the Kennedy Center.
“We had two standing ovations,” she says. “It is something I will treasure all my life. What a great way to graduate!”
Now she will complete her artist residency (a two-year program designed to allow recent graduates to enhance their skills) with a similar crescendo.
Oldham knew the violin had her heart at the age of 5, when a one-quarter-size violin was placed in her hands. When it came time to go to college, she chose the College because of Yuriy Bekker, conductor of the College of Charleston Orchestra and violin instructor.
“I had heard about the talented Yuriy Bekker,” explains Oldham, “and knew I had to study with him.”
Upon arriving on campus, she went to see Bekker and told him she wanted to be part of the College’s orchestra.
After listening to Oldham play, Bekker assigned her second violin fourth chair.
Her music education expanded as Michael O’Brien, professor and chair ofthe Department of Music, worked with her to ensure she took the right classes for a comprehensive music experience. Still, she wanted more, which is why she is currently an artist resident, taking lessons and coaching from Bekker and Tomas Jakubek, adjunct faculty in the music department, serving as orchestra librarian and playing first violin third stand with the orchestra.
“Emily has made tremendous progress in the last five years,” says Bekker. “The violin is everything to her, and every week I see improvement. I am so proud of her dedication and commitment to having a career in music.”
For the past two summers, Oldham attended the Nelli Shkolnikova Academy in Sèvremont, France (Loire Valley), where she took daily lessons and coaching in Château de la Flocellière while making friends with students from around the world.
“The diversity of lessons and coaching has helped me improve,” says Oldham. “I am constantly learning something new, and every day I can feel improvement. I always want to raise the bar so that I continue to grow as a violinist.”
To that end, in addition to classes and playing in the orchestra, Oldham plays violin for patients and staff at the Medical University of South Carolina and for the congregation at St. Francis by the Sea Catholic Church. Through the Charleston Academy of Music, she is a music teaching assistant at the Meeting Street Academy.
MUSC is particularly grateful to Oldham. “During her three years with us, Emily has graced us with more than 290 hours of violin playing,” says Kelly Hedges, system director for volunteer and career exploration services at MUSC. “Patients, guests and care team members alike gather in the lobby to hear the sweet melodies coming from her strings. No matter how brief a time they spend listening, this gift of music sends them on their way a little lighter and a little brighter.”
That’s music to Oldham’s ears.