Concerto Winners: Etasha Srinivas
  
Images of past Concerto Winners
Inspired by Yanni at a young age, junior Etasha Srinivas began playing the violin at the tender age of five, after watching her older sister learn about the stringed instrument. Although Etasha was not interested in practicing the violin at home during her years in elementary school, she enjoyed participating in the school orchestra and performing in quartets. She attended the School for Strings in Manhattan for six years, then went on to continue her studies at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music. Reflecting on her late elementary and early middle school years, Etasha says that she became very motivated to excel in her study of the violin after she was offered a wonderful solo opportunity in fifth grade. She played Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nach with two teachers from her school. She says, “I was passionate about the piece and thrived off the excitement I got from performing for others.”
Upon entering middle school, she was forced to choose between the violin and the piano because of the increase in schoolwork coupled with her other activities such as tennis, show choir, and track. Etasha chose to embrace the violin, and “since then [she has] really played.”
The violinist entered the Concerto competition for the first time during her freshman year with Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 in G, Allegro piece. Since then, she has switched violin teachers, and believes that she is “just starting to learn how to play the violin now.” Previously trained with the Suzuki method, which teaches a musician to play by ear, Etasha was not strong in rhythm and counting. Her current teacher works on many types of technique with her, but stresses rhythm, counting, and bow technique. Before deciding on the piece, Etasha knew she wanted to partake in the concerto competition this year. This past summer, she attended a recital at Tanglewood where Itzhak Perlman performed all three movements of Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto in G minor, Op. 26. She decided that she would like to play the first movement of the concerto, and began working on the movement with her teacher.
In the future, Etasha hopes to continue lessons with her current teacher in college. When considering a prospective university, she will make sure that the school has a strong music program. Wanting to branch out and play different styles of music, she plans to form a group to experiment with her violin and the electric violin.
Watch for Etasha at the Concerto Concert on March 11th in the LHS Auditorium! Also, check back next week for an interview with Concerto Winner, Michael Suo.
- Abha Gallewale
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