At the crack of dawn on Saturdays, the alarms of seven Choate musicians ring for their early morning shuttle to New York City. Every week, they embark on the two-and-a-half hour drive at 6:30 a.m. to attend the rigorous Pre-College Program at The Juilliard School. After an action-packed day of back-to-back rehearsals, private lessons, and high-level training courses, they carpool back to campus, returning to their dorms often as late as 10:00 p.m.
The Pre-College Program is highly selective. Gigi Chen ’24, an avid violin player since the age of 3, auditioned twice with their friend Shawn Yang ’24 before being accepted into the program this year. “We both auditioned together in freshman year and then didn’t get in, and then we both auditioned last year and got in,” they explained.
Percussionist Jason Chang ’26 was also surprised to receive his letter of acceptance after auditioning in the spring of last year. “I wasn’t really expecting to get in. It was more of something that I just did for fun,” he said.
The audition process was elaborate and extensive. It consisted of three components: a video submission, an in-person callback, and a brief interview. Grace Yoon ’26, a passionate bassoon player, auditioned in the spring of 2021. In her video submission, she played an etude of her choice, three movements of a concerto she had been practicing, and scales. In her callback, which was completed online due to Covid-19 protocols at the time, she completed a sight-reading test and a short interview.
Days in the Juilliard Pre-College Program are fast-paced and extremely demanding. Schedules among students vary. Chen’s day consists of a morning chamber music class, a private lesson, a music theory class, an ear training class, and a two-and-a-half-hour orchestra rehearsal. Their jam-packed schedule consists of back-to-back classes without a lunch break.
As a percussionist who loves playing the xylophone and is adept in marimba, bass drum, snare drum, timpani, triangle, and more, Chang attends percussion-focused ear training classes, percussion ensemble rehearsals, and private percussion lessons on top of the other general music courses. Studying under the five percussion faculty members that span different specialties, Chang is able to hone in on different percussion techniques.
Yoon, a long-time music lover, also attends a reed-making class, which is specific to her instrument. She only started learning the bassoon in early 2020 after deciding to switch to it from the oboe in middle school. She described the well-rounded experience she has had with her teachers and classes at Juilliard, saying, “It really goes beyond just an hour lesson. They try to help you within all facets of your music career, and I think that education has helped me build up my own motivations and my own passions as well.”
The hardest part of the program, aside from the intensity of their courses and an early wake-up call, is the loss of a day for relaxation, hanging out with friends, and all the Saturday fun that goes on at Choate. These students have chosen to give up sports games and SAC dances to attend the Juilliard Pre-College Program, but they all agreed that the sacrifice was well worth it.
Chen emphasized how extraordinary, valuable, and inspiring the program is. They expressed appreciation for their teacher’s dedication to teaching and their craft. “My private teacher, he basically stays and teaches pretty much every day of the week from 9 a.m. to sometimes midnight,” they said. “They’re just as dedicated to teaching as they are to music.”
The program also allows participants to meet and play with other musicians hailing from all different backgrounds. Chen explained that some students travel from hundreds of miles away weekly just to attend the Pre-College program for the day. “I know of other people from Canada who fly in weekly just to do the program,” they said.
Touching on the atmosphere at Juilliard on Saturdays, Yoon said, “The kids there are insanely talented; everyone is so passionate about what they’re doing. And the same goes for all the teachers.”
Although Juilliard’s Pre-College Program is designed for aspiring professional musicians, some musicians who devote their Saturdays to Julliard and such high-level study of their instrument do not necessarily want to pursue music in college and as a career; the program is accessible to anyone with motivation, dedication, and the desire to surround themselves with other passionate instrumentalists with a common goal to create music. While Yoon, Chen, and Chang are unsure where their musical journey will lead them, they will continue to immerse themselves in the invaluable Juilliard Pre-College experience.
“Practicing with Juilliard faculty and with Juilliard students — it’s a completely different level,” Yoon said. “It’s helped me improve so much. It’s given me so many new experiences that I wouldn’t have been able to try out otherwise.”
