A little less than ten years after being cheated by his ex-girlfriend in a case that has been around the world, Montreal clarinetist Eric Abramovitz returns to the forefront, this time to present, in January, his first concert as a soloist, with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO).
Unless canceled following new health measures, his three performances Reform by Felix Mendelssohn, scheduled at Roy Thomson Hall from January 19, will be his first solo concerts as a professional musician.
In June 2018, the 28-year-old hit the world headlines for days after an Ontario judge ordered his ex-girlfriend, Jennifer Lee, to give him $ 350,000 in damages for preventing him from study at a prestigious conservatory in California.
On the strength of his exploits in Quebec, the musician from Dollard-des-Ormeaux had filed, in December 2013, an application for admission to the very limited Colburn conservatory in Los Angeles. Students admitted to this institution are offered a room and receive a full scholarship as well as a meal allowance. Eric Abramovitz, who was studying at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University at the time, had prepared for months for his blind audition in February 2014. “Every night I went to McGill and I spent a few hours in a room exercising, ”he told Duty.
A month and a half after the audition, Yehuda Gilad – the conservatory professor he wanted to work with – sent him an email informing him that he had been accepted. But the message, intercepted by Mme Lee, never made it to the student. It was only two years after the fact, during a second hearing in Los Angeles, this time at the University of Southern California – where Yehuda Gilad also taught -, that the Montrealer learned of Jennifer Lee’s ploy. .
Phenomenon in the media
Several of his close friends and colleagues were aware of this case, given the length of the legal process, but it was not until June 2018 that the public was able to read the misadventure of the Montrealer for the first time. CNN, BuzzFeed News, Tea Washington post : the phone has not stopped ringing. In Nashville, where he was working with the symphony orchestra at the time, passers-by would stop him to have their picture taken with him. “I was famous for a few weeks,” he says.
That said, if there’s one industry where social media fame doesn’t affect job prospects, it’s classical music, he says. “In any other profession, I could have used what happened to me to my advantage, but in classical music, not at all,” emphasizes the Montrealer. Auditions for orchestras are blind, and that’s what makes the experience difficult. Even if we win lots of competitions and have a very good CV, that doesn’t mean anything. “
By the time his name was circulating in the media, Eric Abramovitz was already preparing to leave Nashville for the Queen City. The TSO, where he won an audition as associated solo clarinet in the summer of 2018, was “the cream of the crop,” he says.
Follow in the teacher’s footsteps
His first position in the orchestra was the same that his former teacher at McGill University Alain Desgagné held with the Orchester symphonique de Montréal. “It’s like playing on the same team as your idol,” says Eric Abramovitz. Since the summer, however, the student has surpassed the master, since he was offered the position of solo clarinet, a higher rank in the hierarchy. ” [Eric] is a rare person to have of course immense natural talent, but also quite a few all the other ingredients for success, ”says the teacher.
“I have the role that I always wanted to have,” says Abramovitz. “I can see myself in this orchestra for the rest of my career. “
The shows will be “a highlight,” he said. “Me and my colleague Miles Jaques will be in front of the orchestra. We will have the spotlight », Adds the Montrealer.
This story is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.