Jacobs violinist channels music, faith

He’s never been a cast member on MTV’s “The Real World” or starred in a Steven Spielberg movie, but IU freshman Peter Vickery knows what it’s like being followed by cameras.\nFrom 2003 to 2005, cameramen filmed the violin performance major and other members of the Indiana University String Academy for the Emmy-nominated documentary “Circling Around: The Violin Virtuosi.” The film, shown in March 2006 on more than 220 public television stations across the U.S., chronicles the musical and personal journeys taken by the young musicians toward becoming world-class violinists.\n“It was kind of awkward at first,” Vickery said of being filmed. “After a while, you don’t notice it anymore. It became normal.”\nOne notable incident from Vickery’s two years in front of the camera occurred when he broke his wrist while playing basketball. Though Vickery had to be in a cast for six weeks, he said the experience was beneficial.\n “It was good for me, I think, just to put music in perspective,” Vickery said. “It reminded me that it’s not my top priority.”\nWhile not his primary focus, music is a key part of Vickery’s life. Since he first picked up the violin at age 6, he has garnered a host of awards, taking first prize in the 2005 Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s Michael Ben and Illene Komisarow Maurer Young Musicans Contest and placing second in the 2005 Lennox Young Artists Competition. Despite the recognition they have brought him, Vickery does not count winning these accolades as his proudest moments.\n“The times when I feel I get the most enjoyment out of playing the violin are when I’m focusing on playing music for others and glorifying God through my music,” Vickery said.\nThrough his music, Vickery has spread this faith beyond Indiana. In 2002, he and other musicians from his Indianapolis church traveled to Ukraine on a quartet mission trip. The group played its instruments at church services around the country. \nUkraine is not the only place outside of the U.S. where Vickery has shown his musical talent. During his tenure with the Violin Virtuosi, the IU String Academy’s most elite musical group, he performed in venues in Japan and four European countries. \nMimi Zweig, director of the String Academy and professor of violin, was Vickery’s teacher during two of his high school years.\n“He was a very serious student from the very beginning,” she said. “It was obvious he loved the violin.”\nBrenda Brenner, IU associate professor of music education and assistant director of the IU String Academy, also taught violin to Vickery. During the eight years she instructed him, Vickery developed his musical “voice,” Brenner said. Brenner also said Vickery was an extremely bright, focused student, taking the information she would give him in a lesson and applying it to other pieces of music.\nAfter graduating, Vickery plans to make music his career. He said he does not know what he would want to do with his life if he didn’t play the violin.\n“I haven’t really thought too much about it. But in the same way I’m not really worried about it,” Vickery said. “God would still use me in whatever ways he wants.”