Spencer Rubin’s Guide to New York
Spencer’s portrait is by DAG Photography
Spencer Rubin is an oboe student at The Juilliard School in New York. He has earned numerous grand prize and first place awards in national and international competitions and has performed as a soloist with orchestras. He grew up on Long Island, just outside Manhattan. TWoA talked to Spencer about his favourite things to do in the Big Apple. If you want to read our interview with Spencer about all thing’s musical, click here.
What would your perfect day in New York look like?
Oh, boy. Okay, I reacted like that because there are so many things to do in New York! I’ll try to compile a list of my favourites. I think brunch in New York is a must. I love brunch, especially in the Soho area. It's very trendy, there are lots of people everywhere, it's active. I just love the energy of the area. My favourite brunch spot is Shuka, a Mediterranean restaurant. The vibes are super modern, but you also have a very authentic presentation of the food itself. I think the shakshuka and the Moroccan eggs would be my favourite.
I am also very into pottery. In New York, there are lots of pottery places where you can take classes for beginners but also open studios: you can just go in and do whatever you want. There's a place called Happy Medium that is really nice.
On a perfect day, I would then go back to school and practice, I guess! Central Park is always a favourite. I love strolling around in the park and looking at all the flowers and the lakes and the turtles. After that, I might go to the Natural History Museum, which is right off the park on the Upper West Side. They have a bunch of super cool exhibits. There is one exhibit all about dinosaurs. It's just cool to see all the fossils suspended up in the air.
I forgot about coffee. I get coffee at least twice a day! On the Upper West Side, there's a place called “Solid State” which is a little bit more intimate, a little bit more hidden away. It’s a nice hidden gem if you want to try something that is not Starbucks or super mainstream.
What else? I've been loving dinner recently in K-Town (Koreatown). It's in the Empire State Building area. There are a lot of cool restaurants and dessert places that are very trendy and super yummy.
Do you have a favourite hangout in between or after your classes at Juilliard?
I love just hanging out in the Lincoln Center area. Juilliard is different from most colleges or universities because we don't actually have a campus. It's really just the building itself. And so, we kind of say that Lincoln Center is our campus. There is a really pretty fountain right in the centre of Lincoln Center. Sometimes, my friends and I just sit around there and just debrief after a long day. Central Park is also a great place to just sit around and maybe have a picnic. I also love walking on Riverside. It's on the west coast of New York. There's a beautiful path that goes alongside the water. It's super pretty at sunset time.
What about your favourite cultural spots in New York? Any hidden treasures that people might not know about?
That’s hard because I don't actually go out that often because I spend so much time practising! But I think the museums in general are fabulous. The Guggenheim Museum is one of my favourites, the Met is also one of my favourites. But I also think that just walking around in New York is great. It's such a diverse area. Especially in the lower half of Manhattan, there's just so much to see culturally, K-Town and Chinatown and Little Italy. The food in these areas is super authentic. And really, you can experience a lot about each culture just by going to the neighbourhood itself in Manhattan.
Do you have a favourite store connected to music?
Actually: the Juilliard store has a lot of great stuff. Besides the wonderful merch! There's a huge section of music, organised for each instrument and time period. It's fun to just browse around in there and look at some music that you might have never heard before.
What about your favourite music spots in New York?
Obviously, Carnegie Hall is great: there are lots of big orchestral performances in the Stern Auditorium; in the Weill Recital Hall, there are lots of smaller, more intimate chamber performances. Lincoln Center is great because the Met Opera, the New York Philharmonic and New York City Ballet are all there. You can't go wrong with any of these three. I've been really getting into opera recently. I think it’s a culmination of all the arts put in one. It’s really nice to see such a complete work. You just go in for three, four hours and you are transported into this scene. It's just so intriguing and so mesmerising. I think if you are new to New York, and you want to experience the musical culture that it has to offer, go to Lincoln Center and maybe go to each place. If you're there for three nights go to one of them each night.