big success. “All of my friends came, they like it and encouraged me to continue playing.” Reflecting back on his first big performance, “At the beginning, we didn’t know how it worked, including the bass guitar. After we learned about playing in the studio, my brother began to play the bass and [the music] became more formal and better to listen to.”

When he was 18, Emmanuel set out to attend college at Yeshiva University. Learning about YU from his brother and visiting New York a few times, he felt he would fit into the “New York lifestyle.” He was excited about the opportunity to come and play throughout New York City and attend college here. A pre-med student, majoring in Biology and minoring in Music, and learning inthe Mechinah morning program, Emmanuel often has trouble finding ample time to practice his music. He spent last summer performing at open mics, but when he goes home he performs with his brother.

Music classes have been eye opening for Emmanuel. Before his intro music composition course at YU, “I never took a piece of paper and started to write music. I listened to the music and played the cords.” However, once at YU, “I took introduction to music composition and learned how to compose on the guitar and piano which was very good. I wrote some music and then showed it to my professor. He showed me some mistakes and it was really helpful.”

Finding his outlet to unplug from his stressful studies, “usually it’s around 12 [midnight], I