- [Announcer] In partnership with the Curtis Institute of Music, WHYY presents the following program.

(gentle flute music) - My name is Julin, and I study the flute at the Curtis Institute of Music.

(flute music) I was brought up with classical music.

(flute music continues) And I was kind of always influenced by classical music and I really love playing music.

I really love the kind of collaboration that you have with other people.

And I think, playing an orchestra is one of those things that isn't replicated by anything else.

And just the sheer kind of power of 100 people playing their instrument as loudly as possible sometimes, it's just super fulfilling.

(flute music) I would practice with my mom and we would practice together and she would help me kind of know how to solve the problems I would have.

And eventually, I practiced more and more independently to the point where now, I practice by myself.

(flute music continues) My favorite part about being a musician is probably performing.

Just performing, it's such an adrenaline rush and it's such an exciting event.

And my least favorite part about being a classical musician is when on the summer applications you have to submit essays and submit like, video presentations.

You know, I just want to play my instrument so having to submit essays can be a little bit of a drag sometimes.

(classical flute music) So I think a lot of people don't really understand what it is to be a classical musician, but I think playing an orchestra and playing concerts, it's something that everyone can get around.

And I think everyone, who wouldn't want to just perform?

- So what are you playing?

- The excerpts from Prokofiev's Classical Symphony.

I think there's this kind of stigma with this whole prodigy where there's a nine-year-old who plays the most difficult concerto.

- Julin, how old are you?

- 13.

- No, 13?

- Yeah.

- Okay, just gimme a sec.

(pages rustle) 13, wait.

And are you going to play this in orchestra or why are you playing it?

- Well, I'm just trying to learn all my excerpts and get them all really well built for when I do auditions later.

Kind of just live a normal life.

I just, I practice sometimes, I don't practice other times and I just do what I enjoy to do.

- Just, sorry, I'm a bit confused now.

Okay, it's fine, 'cause I, I normally tell people, "oh, why didn't you start earlier practicing this excerpt?"

But I know I'm talking about the age of let's say 24, 23.

(chuckles) 13, okay, well, you know, I will not talk, I will just listen.

- I think being very open with your emotions and being able to express whatever you're trying to express, you know, all these composers, hundreds, 200, 300 years ago, they wrote down these notes with intent to try and express something.

And I think, just kind of having the understanding to empathize with those composers.

So the Frank Martin Ballade for Flute and Piano, it was written as a contest piece for entry into a conservatory.

And it's a very intense piece.

It's 6 1/2 minutes of just this constant buildup.

And it's a really exciting piece, there's so much places where you can just let loose and play however loud you want, however fast you want, and it's a real heart pumper.

(classical flute music) (classical flute music continues) (classical flute music continues) (classical flute music continues) (classical flute music continues) (classical flute music continues) (classical flute music continues) (classical flute music continues) (audience claps and cheers) (doorbell chimes) (flute music) Prior to Curtis, I would, well, younger Julin would wake up at 4:00 AM in the morning to practice.

I don't think I can do that anymore, but I would practice as much as I can in the morning.

Then I'd go to school, eight to three, and then I'd come home from school and then just chill for the rest of the day.

(gentle flute music continues) (gentle violin music) A busy day, I would probably wake up around seven or eight.

I'd try and do as much study as I can, or I would procrastinate and watch YouTube all day.

But I try and do as much study.

And then maybe around 11, 12, maybe 1:00 PM I'll go to school and I'll practice for a couple hours, I'll do a warmup and then usually, I'll have a rehearsal from four to six, or three to five, somewhere around there.

And then I'll have dinner from six to seven, and then probably a late night rehearsal, seven to nine, nine to 10.

And then I'll practice a little bit at the end of the day and come home at 11.

(gentle flute music) I love being in nature and I think it really helps you reconnect.

(flute music continues) Weekends, I love to go out hiking, and in the winter skiing.

(gentle flute music continues) Usually, maybe a month before I'll start listening to the piece a lot.

I think it's really important to kind of internalize the music, and then I'll slowly start working on it.

I'll try and get some rehearsals with the pianist, if I'm playing it with my pianist.

And then I'll bring it to my teacher for a couple lessons.

(gentle flute music) If I've had enough time to prepare adequately and I'm not worrying too much about the notes, I just try and think about what are the emotions that I'm trying to portray.

(gentle music continues) I think about bigger picture things, and not to worry too much about the smaller details.

But I'm just thinking, how can I make this a really good performance?

How can I connect with the audience?

And trying to kind of visualize myself from the audience and then kind of just playing things by ear.

And then vibing.

(gentle music continues) One really memorable performance was when we played the Shostakovich's ninth Symphony, in Youth Orchestra.

And it was in November of 2019, and I was playing piccolo, and there's this really long piccolo solo at the end of the second movement.

And at the end there's just this long note that you hold for I think, 20, maybe 25 seconds.

And I remember I was just so terrified that I would mess it up.

And I was, you know, terrified that like, oh, I'm gonna be nervous and you're gonna be able to hear it.

But I played it and it went quite well.

So the piece that I played, the Erwin Schulhoff Concertino for Flute, Viola, and Double Bass, it's a really interesting piece, it's such an odd combination of instruments, flute, viola, and double bass.

Especially, since the flute plays piccolo in the second and fourth movement.

(gentle classical music) It's this really expansive texture.

There's this piccolo who's screaming on top and the bass who's filling out the bottom.

And even with three people, it almost sounds like a whole orchestra.

(gently dramatic music continues) (gently dramatic music continues) (gentle music continues) (gently dramatic music continues) (gently dramatic music continues) (gently dramatic music continues) (gently dramatic music continues) (gently dramatic music continues) (gentle music) So after graduation, I would love to audition for an orchestra job.

(gentle music continues) I think orchestra is kind of the pinnacle of when playing.

It's something that we study for our entire time in school, learning all these orchestral excerpts for an audition.

To play in an orchestra would be just my number one goal.

(gentle music continues) It is so much fun to play in orchestra and to be surrounded in this professional environment and to play performances every week, playing all these really cool pieces, it'd be really exciting.

(gentle music continues) Sometimes with orchestras, like, 'cause flute isn't, there's only, in America there's only like, 20 orchestras, 20 major orchestras, so there's only three flutes per orchestra, that's only 60 people.

So you know, there's not like, a million auditions every year.

There's maybe one or two really big jobs.

So sometimes it doesn't work out, sometimes it works out.

From my overall career, I think Curtis is a place to meet musicians and to develop your skills.

There's so many people here and you can learn so much from them.

And everyone has their own approach to music and their own way to practice and their own way to rehearse.

So I think to learn from all these people and to expose yourself to all these different trains of thought, I think it's very, very helpful.

It's very common for people to gig around and play one-off performances.

And I think a lot of people, also with the solo career, where instead of playing with an orchestra, they'll try and play like, solo recitals and they might try and sign with like, a management company and then they can play solo recitals.

There's a lot of like, smaller part-time orchestras and there's a lot of chamber orchestras and you can definitely easily make a career freelancing.

But for this, you know, pinnacle of like, orchestra playing, it's kind of nice.

It's a part-time job and you get paid well into the six figures.

But it's definitely, it's a difficult job to get.

So the piece that I played is the Yuko Uebayashi Sonata for Flute and Piano.

Uebayashi is from Japan, and then she immigrated to France and she wrote this Sonata while she was in France.

So there's this influence, this cool combination of French harmony and then this Japanese kind of minimalist music.

(gentle piano music) The piece doesn't sound as traditionally classical, but it almost sounds like Studio Ghibli.

And I really love all the melodies and it's very fun to play.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) I would probably tell my younger self to wear earplugs when practicing piccolo.

My hearing's okay now.

But definitely, there are a few times, when you play piccolo and you don't really notice it, but your hearing the next day is kind of shot so.

- [Interviewer] And future self?

- Future self, well, what's the term?

When is it that you're like, when you do something for so long and then you kind of get tired of it?

- Stagnant?

- Burn out?

burnt out?

- Burnt out, burnt out, there.

Well, I would tell my future self to keep enjoying music and to make sure that you don't get burnt out.

And to just make sure to always try and find new and exciting things to do.

(gentle flute music)