Clarinetist's Girlfriend Sabotaged His Career

Gabrielle Bruney
Updated
Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

From Esquire

A Canadian court awarded a clarinetist $350,000 in damages (about $260,000 U.S.)from an ex-girlfriend who sabotaged his chances for a prestigious scholarship.

BuzzFeed News reports that Eric Abramovitz, an elite Canadian clarinetist, was heartbroken when he received a rejection letter from Los Angeles’ Colburn Conservatory of Music. Then a student at McGill University, he’d been in the running for a full scholarship to the prestigious conservatory, where he’d be one of just two students per year selected to study with famed clarinet instructor Yehuda Gilad.

But in reality, Abramovitz had been accepted to the conservatory, full scholarship and all. His then-girlfriend, Jennifer Lee, had faked his rejection letter. Afraid of his abandoning her to study in L.A., Lee entered Abramovitz’s email account and replied to his admission letter, posing as the clarinetist and declining the scholarship. She then created a fake Gmail account in Gilad’s name to pen a false rejection letter, which she sent to Abramovitz.

It took years for Abramovitz to discover the truth. According to BuzzFeed:

Still bent on studying under the esteemed Gilad, however, Abramovitz decided to audition for a place at USC, where Gilad also taught, after graduating from McGill. Standing in front of the same man who had "rejected" him years earlier was daunting, the 24-year-old said, and he could feel some tension in the air once he completed his set.

"We went into a room to chat after I finished and he asked me what I was doing here," Abramovitz said. "He was like, 'You rejected me. Why are you here?’" The young musician froze, utterly perplexed. "I was like, 'Uh, no, you rejected me,' and he was like, 'No, you did,' and we had this awkward exchange where we kept going back and forth like that and I thought maybe he had confused me with someone else," Abramovitz laughed.

Abramovitz confirmed with Gilad that the rejection email he'd received had not been sent from Gilad's account, and with the help of friends pieced together the fact that Lee had sabotaged his career. He filed a lawsuit against her citing "loss of educational opportunity, and loss of two years of potential income" among his damages, and was awarded $350,000.

"It's very hard to know what my path would have been had this not happened,” said Abramovitz. "But I am happy and proud of myself because I landed on my feet."

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