Venezuelan connection boosts C-N Strings Program

^{Ana Oliveros, Edward Pulgar, Mrs. Oliveros and Paula Oliveros are pictured at Ana’s junior recital at C-N in 2015.}

by Kimary Clelland, courtesy of The Standard Banner

(Jan. 12, 2016) – Why would young talented violinists who have the strong national support from their own country come to the United States to study music?

All three Venezuelan violinists attending Carson-Newman and their professor who is also a native of their country say, unlike Venezuela, America provides the opportunity to get a college degree.

With numerous other universities in America such as the well-known Juilliard in New York, why did these three students select Carson-Newman? Sisters Ana and Paula Oliveros and Euclides Andrade Silva all had violin teachers in their country who knew Edward Pulgar, a violin teacher at Carson-Newman.

Pulgar says he can see himself (over 16 years ago) in these three young violin students he teaches. He won his first violin competition in his country at age 13 and made his conducting debut by age 20. In 1999, he received a scholarship to study violin in the U.S.

“I was inspired to leave my country and come to America because of the desire to learn … to improve as a violinist and as a conductor,” he recalls of… [click to read more]