Musical Instruction/influences
Accepted at the age of 13, St. John entered the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she later received her degree. She studied under Felix Galimir and Arnold Steinhardt. Shortly thereafter, in 1988, she moved to Russia and became the youngest post-graduate student at the Moscow Conservatory. But with the Soviet Union's decline, the Conservatory faced terminal budgetary constraints, with the result that St. John’s instructors soon defected and the students then at the conservatory were dismissed.
With her studies disrupted, St. John took the opportunity to travel throughout the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. During that time she encountered the Roma people, a cultural experience that would later be reflected in her 1997 album, "Gypsy."
St. John eventually returned to her studies and attended three different academies: the Guildhall School in London (under David Takeno), Mannes College of Music in New York (under Felix Galimir), and the New England Conservatory (NEC) in Boston (under Jamie Buswell).
Read more about this topic: Lara St. John
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