A graduate student in composition at the Eastman School of Music, Julian Stuart-Burns participated in Valencia International Performing Arts Festival 2024, where his work was premiered by the internationally acclaimed Mivos Quartet. Alongside the premiere, Julian presented his work to VIPA participants and faculty, marking his first time presenting professionally outside of a school environment. The opportunity to share his music with composers who were new to his work sparked thoughtful dialogue and offered meaningful validation. During the festival, Julian also had private lessons with faculty members Jorge Villavicencio Grossmann, Nicola LeFanu, and Carlos David Perales, which he described as some of the most valuable and insightful of their academic experience. Julian remarked on the experience, “The Special Opportunity Grant gave me the resources I needed to pursue an impactful trip to VIPA 2024. I made amazing friends, met incredible mentors, and I got to experience a city unlike any I have been to.”