In 2000, the U.S. Department of State awarded the eldest brother, Ernesto Villalobos, a Fulbright Grant to carry out graduate studies at the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Patinka Kopec and Nils Vigeland. In 2001 he performed at Master Classes led by Pinchas Zukerman and Glenn Dicterow and travelled to Israel to study with Shlomo Mintz.
