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Arts & Entertainment

Reston Teen a Violin Virtuoso

Jehshua Karunakaran, 17, will be featured Dec. 18 on radio show for the nation's best young classical musicians.

The typical Saturday schedule for many teenagers:  Sleep in, do some homework or play sports, watch a little TV or do some gaming, get together with friends.

The typical Saturday schedule for Jehshua Karunakaran, 17, of Reston: Rise around 4 a.m. Together with your parents (Jehshua is an only child), be on the road by 4:30.  Arrive at The Julliard School in New York City sometime before 9 a.m. Proceed with a private violin lesson, a choral practice, ear training, a music history course, a brief lunch, a full member orchestral practice, a chamber music ensemble practice, and then an evening recital or orchestra concert. Eat dinner in there somewhere, then get back in the car and return to Reston around midnight.

“That’s my day,” Jehshua says. “Every Saturday.”

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It may be apparent by now that Jehshua, who began playing violin and piano at the age of six, is a serious musician. He loves the piano, but has chosen to concentrate on violin.

On Sunday,  his talents will be on display for a national radio audience as he performs on From the Top, a popular weekly series showcasing the country’s most promising young classical musicians. The show begins at 6 p.m. on Classical WETA, 90.9 FM.

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Jehshua will perform Danse Espagnole from La Vide Breve by Manuel de Falla. He will be accompanied on piano by Christopher Riley, host of From the Top. The show was taped earlier this year.

Jehshua says the piece is a favorite because “it is fast and exciting and I like fast and exciting pieces.” He says it should also work well for a radio audience.

“It’s very flashy, virtuoistic,” he says. “People can hear it and feel like they’re not missing out on anything, because they don’t have to have the visual aspect to appreciate it.”

 Jeheshua says since he has been performing for so long, he doesn't get pre-show jitters.

“I’m not nervous,” Jehshua says. “I never ever felt nervous,” perhaps, he says, because he started performing in front of audiences around age seven, and it is simply a part of his life.

Jehshua graduated from high school at The Northern Virginia Christian Academy in 2009 – another aspect of his life that is far from typical. “I actually graduated on my 15th birthday,” he says.

Since then, he has attended classes at Northern Virginia Community College, and been admitted to Julliard’s pre-college program – the source of the weekly trips to Manhattan.  But now he is preparing to do exactly what so many students his age are doing – he is applying to colleges.

Jehshua says he will apply to conservatories, including Julliard, but is not limiting himself to those. He will also apply to programs that offer a dual academic and musical program, such as Columbia University, which partners with Julliard, and Harvard University, which partners with the New England Conservatory.  These would result in a dual degree.

“I love music,” Jehshua says, “but science is great too.''

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