Chinese American Undergraduate Scores Big Win at Julliard

On March 27, a round of clapping was heard in Alice Tully Hall of the New York Lincoln Center, where the Composer Concert was held for the winning works of the Julliard School’s composition competition.  

Concert Program

The Concert premiered four pieces. All but one of the pieces were composed by Julliard School’s students, including the 20-year-old Max Lu who is in the Columbia-Barnard-Juilliard Programs. These award-winning pieces, performed by the Julliard Orchestra, have distinctive styles.

The judges considered Max Lu’s “shatter” the “most outstanding” piece, awarding him the Arthur Friedman Prize. Several highly esteemed composers, such as Michael Seltenreich, the first-prize winner of the 2016 Toru Takemitus Composition Award, and Professor Yiwen Shen from the Tianjin Juilliard School, have also won the same prize.

As the only undergraduate student and the youngest of the prize winners, Max Lu, who double majors in music (at the Julliard) and computer science (at Columbia), demonstrates extraordinary musical talents in his work. Recently, there has been an increasing number of young musicians like Max, who are knowledgeable in music and other subjects. Their pursuit of art and practice in music complement their training in other subjects such as science, economics, management, and engineering. Ben Rieke, another prize winner of the composition competition, also triple majored in composition, piano, and computer science in his undergraduate studies.

Some of the leading composers attended the concert, including the two mentors of the four prize winners, John Corelliano, winner of the Pulitzer, Grammy, the Academy Award, and the Grawemeyer Award, and Professor Andrew Norman, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Grammy, and the Grawemeyer Award.

Max Lu was born in the United States in 2002, majoring in music and computer science. He is currently studying in the joint program of Columbia University and the Julliard School. Max Lu’s music mentor is Professor Andrew Norman of the Jullarid School. Max also learned composition from Yiming Wu, Sean Shepherd, Zosha Di Castri, Annie Gosfield, and Georg Freidrich Haas. Recently, his works have been performed by multiple orchestras across the country, including Arizona State University Philharmonia Orchestra and the National Young Orchestra. He has won several awards in major composition competitions and has received much attention from musicians in the United States and China.