Doubly disciplined: Filippo Aldrovandi combines music with running

By Evie Vu     1/21/25 10:52pm

Music and running were not always Filippo Aldrovandi’s passions. In fact, the now Division I runner and Shepherd School of Music violinist said that it took him until high school to decide he wanted to play music and run at the college level.

Aldrovandi was four years old when he started playing the violin.

“My parents forced me to do it, and I feel like that’s how most people start out on an instrument when they’re really young,” Aldrovandi said. “It was kind of a chore until at some point in high school.” 

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Much like the beginning of his violin career, Aldrovandi said running was not always a favorite activity.  

“I used to not like running at all, but my parents would force me to run every once in a while,” Aldrovandi said. “I did cross country starting in seventh grade, but I didn’t take [running] too seriously until my sophomore year of high school which is when I really started to train seriously.” 

When applying to colleges, Aldrovandi favored schools with strong violin programs. Upon applying to Rice and auditioning for Shepherd, he was introduced to Paul Kantor, the Sallie Shepherd Perkins Professor of Violin, who also taught Aldrovandi’s former violin teacher. 

“Filippo is actually my grandstudent,” Kantor said. “If you’re not familiar with the term, it’s probably because I invented it.”

Kantor said that his interest in Aldrovandi was piqued by their connection, but he found Aldrovandi’s audition “beautifully prepared.”

Throughout the admissions process, Aldrovandi considered the possibility of walking onto the cross-country team. He spoke to track and cross country coach Jon Warren and provided him with his times from high school. When Aldrovandi was accepted to Rice to study music and found out he could also run competitively, he said Rice was the obvious choice.

His coursework is mostly violin-focused with the occasional non-music class to satisfy the university’s distribution requirements. However, he also has runs and lifts for track throughout the week.

“With Filippo, he’s like a model student,” Kantor said. “He is the closest thing to a trouble-free student I have ever experienced.”

Whenever he’s not running, he’s practicing violin either individually or with his quartet.

“Most of my day is dedicated to music. I try to always put that first,” Aldrovandi said. “But that being said, I’m still super committed to the running part. I think running is one of the easier sports to balance with school just because it’s not as time-consuming as other sports may be.”

Kantor said Aldrovandi manages both commitments equally well, especially as few music students are also varsity athletes. 

“It must be a heroic effort, but Filippo makes it look easy,” Kantor said. “I never hear whining. I never hear complaining. I never hear stories or excuses — Well, maybe the time he broke his collarbone, but that was okay.”

Kantor characterized Aldrovandi as modest and dedicated, believing both traits are needed to be successful in the disciplines of running and music.

“The dedication he has from running is reflected in the dedication he has from music and vice versa,” Kantor said. “They’re both athletic events: one using large muscles and one using teeny tiny muscles.” 

Aldrovandi said he found violin performance and running equally rewarding, and more similar than they initially appear. 

“[Music is] a powerful way to communicate and express something that you want to say without words to connect with somebody and really touch people,” Aldrovandi said. “Much like running, you put a lot of time into it, and then you have a performance and it goes well or doesn’t go well. Either way, you learn something from it.”

This past fall, Aldrovandi played a non-required full recital. There he was able to combine his two interests of running and playing violin. Aldrovandi invited all of his teammates to watch this performance.

“Everybody on the team is super supportive of each other,” Aldrovandi said. “They filled up two or three rows of the concert hall which was super cool. Their support helps a lot.”

Kantor said he remains impressed with Aldrovandi’s ability to juggle all of his commitments.

“Meeting him casually, you would never imagine him as a super over-achiever until you know more of his story. How do you do all that? The academic side, the music side, the sports side – how do you make it all work? Most people can’t,” Kantor said. “I have not yet discovered his ‘secret sauce.’”

Aldrovandi said he doesn’t find the balance difficult.

“There really isn’t that much to it,” he said.

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