The Carpenters '08, '06, '03: A musical trio

As a six-year-old beginning violin lessons, Sean Carpenter '03 wasn't allowed to touch the actual instrument. He had to stand on a mat with stickers marking where his feet should be, holding an empty Kraft Macaroni and Cheese box as a makeshift violin while "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" played from a cassette.

But when he began sawing away at a squeaky 1/16th size violin, his younger sister Lauren '06 and brother David '08 watched with interest — and a trio of virtuosos was born.

"I was the first to discover the qualities of music; they saw me taking lessons and were interested naturally," Sean said later. "Mea culpa."

A gift for music quickly became the Carpenter family reputation; a series of violins, each slightly larger than the last, became their hand-me-downs. Their mother Grace watched proudly as, one by one, her kids impressed judges in national competitions, dazzled thousands with solo performances in Carnegie Hall and eventually left for Princeton with instruments in hand.

Wherever they go, the Carpenters make their mark on the musical scene. At Princeton Sean is the only two-time winner of the concerto competition, performing with the orchestra as a sophomore and as a senior.

Lauren, currently co-concertmistress of the orchestra, will take the stage this weekend as the latest winner of the concerto competition.

David, who is the most accomplished of the three on paper, was invited to play with the University orchestra two years ago to help boost its viola section. He was 16 at the time.

"Any conservatory in the world would take any one of them in a minute," said Princeton University Orchestra conductor Michael Pratt. "Their respective techniques are basically complete . . . and they're now just growing in an artistic and musical way."

Citing Sean's junior recital as an example, Pratt said, "the level of musical maturity and the strength of the playing — you'd be lucky to hear that in a DMA [doctorate of musical arts] recital at Juilliard."

A family affair

As the first generation of musicians in their family, the Carpenters dismiss the notion of being born with talent. But they believe their ear came from their mother, who was proficient in nine languages by age 11.

Looking back, Sean said that when his mother enrolled him in music lessons "she had no idea what she was getting herself into."

But Grace has held the family together through it all, juggling a full-time job as a teacher with her children's demanding travel schedules — including driving several times a week from Long Island into New York City and traveling around the world to festivals and competitions.

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"She's Supermom to the 10th power," Lauren said. "She's where we get our inspiration for all our playing."

Because of their shared interest, the three are especially close. They followed each other around as kids, sat in on each other's lessons and often engage in debates about their ideal musician or work. They have always been each other's staunchest supporters and greatest critics.

"There was never pressure, never a sibling rivalry," David said. "We all supported each other to the utmost extent, and that's what allowed us to progress to different levels."

College choice

As teenagers, the three studied at Manhattan School of Music and The Juilliard School. When it came time for college, though, they chose Princeton over options that included the Curtis Institute of Music and a dual degree at Columbia and Juilliard.

"Going to Princeton puts something in music that you'd never get at a conservatory," Lauren explained. "The best musicians are the most intelligent and well-educated . . . It's a different approach to making music."

She noted the importance of having something to fall back on when you choose a path where "your whole career depends on your hands."

In their family, academics have always been considered the bedrock, music an accompaniment.

Sean, who just completed a master's in philosophy at Cambridge, is currently preparing for international music competitions and looking into applying to law school. Lauren wants to work in the music industry after graduation, while David, who travels to Philadelphia each week for lessons, hopes to pursue music professionally.

David, 18, won the 2004 National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts competition and was told last summer by Yuri Bashmet, widely considered the world's preeminent violist, that he could be the best violist in the world.

But he, too, wanted to avoid a singular focus on music. He noted that the University has one of the best orchestras in the country and a wealth of musical opportunities in addition to an academic program that is second-to-none.

For Lauren, that feeling was epitomized by a discussion she had freshman year with a German professor about a Goethe poem. "I came out of that class and it all clicked," she said. "I thought, 'This is Princeton. This is what I came for.'"

Caught up in the life of the University, the Carpenters often find they have little time to practice. Days go by, even weeks, and the violin cases lay untouched.

They dismiss the emphasis on practicing long hours to perfect technique.

"It's impressive for 60 seconds when a 10-year-old is playing perfect Paganini — but only for 60 seconds," Lauren said. "The question is, do they have anything to say? Perfect technique only shows so much — it only shows discipline, not a love of music."

Music in its ideal form, she explained, is not a display but a "unifying force."

It forges a link to composers of centuries past, brings onstage performers together with their audience and unites three siblings with a shared talent — one that started with a hollow Kraft box and now graces the stage of Richardson Auditorium.