Help Peter Study the Art of Opera Conducting

When the world was sent home in March 2020, I discovered that my purpose was opera. Opera allowed me to see the world and the expression of humanity. In just one year I immersed myself in 130 different operas, keeping track with a list in my Notes app. I felt profoundly connected to Slavic works like Dvorak’s Rusalka and Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, although one performance stood out: James Levine conducting “Heil, König Heinrich” from Wagner’s Lohengrin. The fire and passion of this performance were so transformative that I knew I wanted to be a part of it.

Now in 2025, I am taking the preparatory steps to make a career in Opera and Orchestral Conducting. In addition to pursuing my Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance under Dr. Evgeny Rivkin at the University of Georgia, I have spent my summers traveling and studying to cultivate a well-rounded approach to performance. This includes attending more than five international music festivals over the last few summers, most notably the Conductors Institute of South Carolina, and having taken piano lessons at the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg Germany.

This summer I am honored to have been selected to the prestigious Pehlivanian Professional Opera Academy. Led by George Pehlivanian on the gorgeous Lake Bled in Slovenia, this summer institute is unique in that rather than holding a cycle of various repertoire that students work on, we will spend two weeks rehearsing Mozart's COMPLETE Don Giovanni, followed by an additional two week-long professional-opera tour in which we will travel to ten cities across Slovenia, meaning I will conduct in ten concerts.

Getting to attend this institute is an enormous step in my conducting career. As the youngest conductor to have been selected for the program, I will significantly benefit from more than 135 hours of podium time under the direct tutelage of Maestro Pehlivanian, conducting what some consider to be the most well-known opera of all time.

My parents have generously covered the cost of tuition, and I will be working before leaving to pay for my airfare. Unfortunately, the cost of lodging and food is not included in either, and I am hoping to raise money so that I will have a place to stay and be fed during my month-long stay in Europe.

I will edit and post all of my experiences, studies, and performances on Instagram, Facebook, and Substack. I look forward to getting to share this incredible experience with my friends, family, and sponsors.

I sincerely hope that you can assist me in my pursuit of an international career in conducting opera.