By Mark Small
Sometimes it takes a while to recognize the path your life should follow and events and encounters with new people illuminate the way forward. Such was the case for Eduard Treshchev, whose journey began in Volgograd, Russia, and led him to study at the New England Conservatory in Boston. Eduard grew up in a musical family with a mother who played piano, father who played cello, and sister who was a violist. At six years old, Eduard began taking piano lessons at Children’s Music School No. 2 of Volgograd. With his mother’s encouragement, he studied piano for seven years and became an accomplished player. Yet, while he had a deep love for music, he didn’t enjoy playing the piano.
Discovering a Passion for Opera Singing
As he approached his teen years, he sang with a choir at one of his school’s recitals, and voice teacher, Natalia Ivanovna Pevneva, came up afterwards to ask him why he hadn’t been studying voice. He told her he’d been studying piano and that he was about to receive his diploma. She told him that he was a talented young singer and after finishing his piano studies, he should take voice lessons with her. So, upon earning the piano diploma at 13 years of age, he began studying voice and discovered singing—operatic singing in particular—to be his true musical passion.
Finding Inside Music Schools and a Path to America
In his late teens, Eduard entered vocal competitions, including one in Moscow named for famed opera singer and actress Olga Sosnovska. There, he met many top classical vocal instructors, including a pivotal introduction to Simone Maria Marziali from Italy, who invited Eduard to study with him. As the end of his high school career approached, Eduard applied to the Tchaikovsky Conservatory but was told he was too young to study there. He modified his plan and entered a university to study law. He continued private voice instruction with Marziali throughout his first two years at the university when he began feeling pulled further in the direction of music studies.
“I really wanted to go somewhere other than Russia and study music,” Eduard shares. “The first country I thought of was Germany, and I studied the German language, preparing to go there. But then my mother came across the Inside Music Schools website and asked if I’d rather go to America. I said yes! It all happened randomly; it was completely unplanned.”
Selecting Schools and Preparing for Conservatory Auditions and Interviews
Eduard and his family began working with Steve Lipman and Karen Kerr at IMS. They provided him with a list of American conservatories and schools they felt would best equip him with the skills needed to reach his goal of becoming a world-class opera singer. “Steve and Karen helped me with a lot of things,” he says. “They coached me on applying, meeting timelines and deadlines, and writing my résumé and essays. So, I got all the documents I needed and put together a portfolio about the competitions I’d been in with reviews of my performances. I am so grateful that I got to work with them.”
Eduard also prepared for his upcoming auditions and interviews with Steve and Karen. He had begun learning English in second grade and often spoke English rather than Russian at home with his mother, who is fluent in English, German, and Russian. In preparing for his college interviews, Eduard eagerly sought opportunities to deepen his English skills.
“For me, every meeting with Steve and Karen was like an interview because I got to practice my English,” he says. “It was great to hear native speakers because sometimes they used words I hadn’t learned in school. We did mock or simulated interviews, and that helped to get me prepared for an academic style of speaking at the real interviews.”
The list of schools Steve and Karen selected for Eduard included the Juilliard School, Curtis Institute of Music, Manhattan School of Music, and the New England Conservatory (NEC), among others. They helped to schedule trial voice lessons for Eduard with professors at some schools. “I had a lesson with Sidney Outlaw at Manhattan School of Music,” Eduard states. “He is a great teacher and a really nice person. I also had a lesson with Michael Meraw at New England Conservatory. His teaching style and personality reminded me of my first vocal teacher.” Introduced by Steve & Karen, Professor James Demler, of Boston University was also a great teacher and mentor throughout this period.
To demonstrate his skills in different vocal repertoire at his auditions, Eduard sang three selections, one each in Italian, German, and English, including a bass aria. Eduard wasn’t sure then whether he had a bass or baritone voice, but has since learned that he is a baritone. After completing his auditions and interviews, he received acceptance letters to Juilliard, Manhattan, and NEC and had to make a choice between these three prestigious institutions.
Making the Choice for NEC
He was leaning toward NEC after having a positive experience in his lesson and interviews with Michael Meraw. “When I discussed this with my mom, she asked what I felt,” he shares. “I said my heart was telling me that I should go to NEC to study with Michael Meraw. I thought NEC would be better for me. I chose NEC and know now that I made the right choice.”
Life at New England Conservatory
Eduard enjoyed his first year at NEC and is looking forward to starting his second year in the fall of 2025. In addition to being pleased with his voice instructor, Michael Meraw, he has also enjoyed the professors he’s had for other subjects. “At first, I found the music theory and composition courses to be really hard,” he says. “In my first weeks, I was really struggling, but my teachers helped me to grow and improve in these subject areas. I ended up getting B+ grades in them. In my first semester, I had a great course in Italian and also took English as a second language, and learned a lot of new words.”
As a member of NEC’s chamber choir, Eduard enjoyed Christmas performances with the group around the city of Boston in his first semester. He is pleased with all his performing opportunities at NEC, both with the choir and as a solo singer. “I really love being onstage, I feel very at home there,” he shares. “I am a little older than the other students and I’ve have had experiences onstage since I was 12 years old. I did my first opera performance when I was 15 or 16.” Eduard embraces the dramatic aspects of opera singing. “I can’t sing without acting,” he states. “I can’t just stand onstage like a statue. When I sing, my hands and face are involved. I want to express the feelings in the music and help the audience to feel them.”
Looking Ahead: Dreams of an Opera Career
As he pursues his Bachelor of Music degree in vocal studies with a focus on opera, he is visualizing the kind of career he wants to develop. “My ideal career would be to become a solo singer traveling and performing around the world,” he says. “After I graduate, I hope to start working in opera houses or in choirs and to go to competitions. If you win competitions, you get noticed. That’s how it works.” He cites iconic Italian operatic baritones Luciano Pavarotti, Tito Gobbi, and Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky as models he hopes to emulate.
Eduard offers encouragement to those trying to figure out if majoring in music and pursuing a musical career is for them. “If you are a musician, you are giving other people the best of feelings,” he states. “Music is a beautiful part of life in this world. If you know that music is supposed to be your path, just go for it. Don’t listen to your critics, just do your best and be inspired by what you are doing.”
Gratitude for the Journey with IMS
Reflecting on his journey so far, Eduard is quick to credit the support that helped him find his way from Russia to New England Conservatory.
“Working with Inside Music Schools was one of the best decisions I could have made,” he says. “Steve and Karen not only guided me through the applications and auditions, but they also gave me confidence that I was ready to take this big step. Without their encouragement and expertise, I don’t think I would be here today at NEC pursuing the career of my dreams.”
Mark Small
Mark Small, classical guitarist, composer, and music journalist, has spent the majority of his life in New England. He has composed classical, jazz, pop, and sacred music for chorus, wind ensemble, orchestra, piano, and guitar. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in classical guitar performance from New England Conservatory and California State University, Fullerton. He also studied guitar and composition at Berklee College of Music, and served for 26 years as editor ofBerklee todaymagazine until his retirement in 2018.
An active music journalist, Mark has written forGuitar Player, DownBeat, Acoustic Guitar, Soundboard, Classical Guitar, and other music publications.