Carpenter '08 serenades NYC

David Carpenter '08 filled Carnegie Hall with his rich viola music last night in his solo debut at the storied concert hall, and the audience responded by filling the hall with rich applause.

About 35 students made the trip to New York to watch the performance. Their trip was made slightly easier because of a bus chartered by the USG and the Class of 2008 officers.

Senior class president Tom Haine '08 was among those students who attended. "It was brilliant," he said. "Only a couple of things can distract me from my thesis, and this did so, which is high praise."

Haine said that the sold-out crowd was "very excited about David's talent" and responded with a total of four standing ovations to complement Carpenter's two encore performances.

Carpenter is not just a student who happens to be a talented musician. He is what University Orchestra conductor Michael Pratt calls "an international-level performer."

Last night's performance was part of the prize for winning the 2006 Walter W. Naumburg Viola Competition, but Carpenter first performed at Carnegie Hall four years ago as a violin soloist with an orchestral accompaniment.

Carpenter was the youngest of the Naumburg Competition finalists. The competition is a prestigious under-31 international challenge that rotates by instrument each year. The previous viola prize was awarded in 1991.

Carpenter was also selected as winner of the Rolex Mentor and Protege Arts Initiative 2006-07. Through the initiative, he has collaborated with Pinchas Zukerman, music director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa and a two-time Grammy Award-winner.

Carpenter is the first American to be named a Rolex protege since the initiative began in 2002 and is the youngest winner to date.

In a video on Rolex's website, Zukerman lauded Carpenter's potential. "There are degrees of talent, but when you have a David Carpenter — that's unique," he said. "And the question is, how far can he go?" Zukerman pointed his finger upward for emphasis and answered his own question, saying, "Way, way up there, and I hope I'll be able to meet him, that's all."

Carpenter has won other honors in the past, including the 2004 Presidential Scholars Gold Medal, and he served as concertmaster and principal violist of the Julliard Pre-College Orchestra before entering the University in fall 2004.

The Carpenter family has a musical tradition at Princeton. Sean '03 and Lauren '06 both played violin for the orchestra. All three Carpenters are winners of the University Concerto Competition. Pratt said that Carpenter's family connection meant "David came and played with us when we needed a violist for a big performance" while still in high school.

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Though Carpenter began playing the violin at age six, he picked up the viola when he was 12 in order to play ensembles with his older siblings. In an email, Carpenter called his siblings his "musical life support for all of these years." He added, "I still believe I wouldn't be where I am without their guidance."

It will be decades before Carpenter's professional career can be fully judged, but his impact on the University music community is already apparent, Pratt said.

"A talent like David just has ripple effects. It raises the bar for everybody. On a concrete level, when you get to play with someone like that, it affects your play. And that's all aside from the general excitement of having a talent like that around."

Carpenter views his ability to thrive despite time constraints as a result of his hectic life. "Fortunately, since my freshman year of high school, I have been almost impelled to learn how to balance both music and academics as a full-time student," he said in an interview on the Rolex award website. He was too busy preparing for last night's performance to be interviewed for this story.

Carpenter has gained musical prominence since getting to campus, Pratt said. "During his time at Princeton, David has suddenly bloomed into an international-level performer."

Pratt explained that this is a "truly impressive" feat given the amount of time that world-class musicianship requires. "It's harder [to get a career going] at Princeton than it is in high school or after graduating because of the time demands," he said.

Pratt knows that being a performer is "a dreadfully hard profession." "But," he said, "if anybody's got the goods [to succeed], he does. When he can focus on his career, he can accelerate that." He added that Carpenter "has the potential to do really great things, to have a significant career."

Carpenter aspires to change perceptions about the viola. "My goal is to present the instrument's amazing ability to move people and communicate at a level higher than merely filigree," he said in the Rolex interview. "There are so many new qualities to explore about this mystifying instrument, and with the Zukerman 'sound' and approach to the viola, I hope to make a compelling case for revitalizing this amazing instrument."