At 18, already a virtuoso violinist

First in a series on Bellmore-Merrick students of the arts.

In fifth grade, Merokean Neil Miller learned to dance –– not with his feet, but with his hands. Now 18 and a Calhoun High School senior, Miller “dances” with the likes of Tchaikovsky and Brahms these days.

Miller is a violinist –– the type who lives and breathes through his instrument, practicing up to three hours a day while taking private lessons with two teachers, completing the Mannes School of Music’s College Preparatory Program on Saturdays and performing with the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra and the Calhoun orchestra.

Miller’s hard work over the past eight years is paying dividends. This year he served as concertmaster of Nassau’s All-County Orchestra and the Long Island String Festival Orchestra. For each of these groups, a panel of music educators selects students for their seats based on ability. So, you could say, Miller was the county’s top-ranked violinist in 2011.

Thus it only seems fitting that Miller would attend the top-rated music school in the country –– the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester. He recently received word that he was accepted to the school that the 2011 Fiske Guide to Colleges calls the nation’s best conservatory, topping a list that includes such prestigious institutions as the Curtis Institute, the Juilliard School and Yale University.

Miller, who earned All-State music honors this year, said he was blown away when he learned the news of his acceptance to Eastman. “I jumped up and down. I’m very excited,” he said last Thursday at the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District’s annual Cultural Arts Luncheon, where he was honored along with 21 of his peers. At the event, he performed Federigo Fiorillo’s “Caprice No. 28.” His powerful rendering of the piece demonstrated his technical mastery of his instrument while wowing the audience with a nuanced interpretation of highly complex music. In short, he brought the house down.