63 FOLLOW UP ! C AREERS A ND EM P LOYABI LI TY
UNIVERSITY LIFE A VIEW FROM ACROSS THE POND
Aristo Sham (Moretons 2010³) is a young classical pianist born in Hong Kong. He has won an impressive array of awards on the international stage: he has been a laureate at the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, Viotti International Piano Competition, Vendome Prize at Verbier Festival and many others. He has collaborated with numerous orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and the English Chamber Orchestra. Aristo has also performed for many heads of state, including the Queen of Belgium and former Chinese President Hu Jintao. He featured in the Channel 4 programme e World's Greatest Musical Prodigies. He is currently enrolled in the dual-program between New England Conservatory and Harvard University and tells us about his experience as a student in the US.
on tuesday 24 September 2019, Aristo will be performing the Rachmaninoff Concerto no. 3 with the London Symphony orchestra, under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle, in Hong kong.
Studying at an American university is an increasingly popular option for students from the Uk – around 5% of Harvard’s undergraduate enrolment is British – and, for many, it is an option that makes sense. i am grateful for my current career in classical piano performance, which was made possible, through all the twists and turns of my indecision in both education and work, by my initial choice on leaving Harrow to move across the pond to further my studies. in my Upper Sixth year, i applied to universities in both the Uk and the US: to Cambridge to read Human, Social, and Political Sciences (HSPS), to other British universities for Politics courses, and to Harvard and Columbia in the States because of their relationships with new England Conservatory and Juilliard respectively. i was fortunate to sign with a classical music management agency, young Concert Artists, last november and was able to do this thanks to the flexibility offered by my chosen institutions. Had i decided to go to Cambridge, my music career may not have taken off, since Oxbridge degrees require intense concentration and time commitment during term time, as i have witnessed with many of my peers. in addition, up to my second year of university, i was not entirely set on pursuing a musical career, and American universities reward students who like to dabble in different fields, giving them the freedom to choose a career later in their studies. i am currently in my fourth year of university, enrolled in a joint programme between Harvard University and new England Conservatory, and i will be graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the former in May 2019 and a Masters of Music in Piano Performance from the latter a year afterwards. i am also involved in the Oberlin-Lake Como Academy as a commuting fellow, and the ingesund School of Music in Sweden. On top of my commitment to four institutions, this year i will be giving around 40 concerts, from Hong kong and new york to Colorado and Poland – my travels and commuting have given me a grand tally of around 110 flights per year for the last few years. However, i find that i have ample time for both my academic work and musical development, thanks to the flexibility of the American study programmes. At Harvard and most other American universities, the standard workload is four courses per semester, which i have been able to maintain even while spending only 20% of term time on campus. Over the eight semesters (adding up to a total of 32 courses), many degrees require only 12–15 courses in the ‘concentration’ discipline, as it is called, giving students an incredible amount of freedom to design their paths of study. The flexibility also extends to the choice of one’s major – i matriculated at Harvard thinking i would major in Politics/Government but, after my first semester, i decided that i was not attuned to the values of the department and so i flirted with a few different subjects before settling with Economics by the middle of my second year. However, even afterwards, i considered adding a minor in French, or switching to History and Literature, or going entirely for Music, and these would all have been possible decisions to make. Therefore, i am glad that i decided to take the leap to move to the States, and grateful for the career that i have been able to forge in music there. Top American universities are inspiring and enabling institutions that offer undergraduate programmes with a great amount of scope across a multitude of disciplines and, most importantly, the freedom and flexibility to create paths of study tailored to the needs of one’s future career.
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