Spotlight on: Oleksiy Ulitin

Being a Rowan student and trying to succeed in all your classes is hard enough, but to come from a different country and do the same thing is even harder.

Oleksly Ulitin is a Ukrainian senior who has pushed himself far and beyond the normal student requirement and has won many competitions in his music major. Ulitin is a talented piano player who is striving to be a great professional at Rowan.

“I came to Rowan University with my best friend, who is also from the Ukraine,” Ulitin said. “I was asked by Professor Veda Zuponcic to come here so that I could learn from her and improve my skills on the piano. I accepted her offer and here I am.”

Ulitin has been playing piano since he was 7 years old, and with a determined heart, he is still persevering to reach the top.

“I was taught by my mother who used to play the piano,” Ulitin said. “It was sort of a passed down talent from person to person in my family and learning from her, I realized that I truly loved the piano and want this to be my career as I grew up.”

Ulitin’s most recent accomplishment was at the Eastern Division MTNA competition, which was held at Ithaca College in New York in January. Ulitin performed a 70-minute performance featuring the works of Beethoven, Brahms, Rachmaninoff and Ravel. He successfully got through to the nationals, but fell short during that competition. Even though Ulitin did not get to the nationals, he is still very positive in his future career as a piano player.

“I always wanted to play piano,” Ulitin said. “After Rowan University, I am hoping to proceed to another university to get my masters and from there become a Professor or play in my own band.”

When asked if he would get his fellow Ukrainian classmates together and create his own band, Ulitin simply smiled and said, “It could happen.”

At the moment, Ulitin is working at the First Presbyterian Church in Glassboro, where he currently plays the organ for the congregation. In addition to that job, Ulitin also plays for a choir in Cherry Hill called The Greater South Jersey Chorus.

Even though the life of a piano player is not always glamorous, Ulitin said his experiences have been very memorable and rewarding thus far at Rowan University.