Julianna Wong

Pre-college

In 2018, Julianna auditioned into the Honors Music Program at the Westminster Conservatory as a pianist. In 2021, she declared a double major in Vocal and Piano Performance.

 

At HMP, Julianna has taken up to the highest level offered of music theory and harmony, music history spanning the Renaissance to Romantic period, ear training, jazz and improvisation on the piano, ethnomusicology, conducting, dalcroze, orchestration, vocal skills, acting, and Italian, French, German, Castilian Spanish, and English diction.

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As a part of the pre-college, she has weekly performance classes for voice and quarterly performance classes for piano, mock auditions, biannual chamber and solo recitals, and annual evaluations.

 

Julianna's chamber music experience includes duets, accompanying strings and vocalists, and two piano works.

 

Julianna was also selected for masterclasses from artists such as CEO and pianist, Carol Comune, and Bronze and Audience Favorite recipient of the International Chopin Piano Competition, Kate Liu.

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Piano

Julianna, 16, has been playing piano competitively for 10+ years. Surrounded by music since the beginning, she debuted as the 1st place winner of the Steinway Society of South Jersey Young Pianist Competition at 5 years old.

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Since before the pandemic, Julianna and her mother have performed paid duo recitals at Stonebridge at Montgomery. Julianna is also a 10-year High Honors recipient of both the NJMTA and SJMTA Recital Auditions.

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Recent performances include premiering Manhattan School of Music composition major Maya Borisov's solo work in 2022, 2nd place in the Joseph Israel Bookstaber Memorial Competition for a 30 minute program, and a joint recital with her German Exchange partner, national award winning pianist and violinist from Goettingen, Germany, Anna Dobbelstein.

 

Julianna has performed in such historic venues as Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Music Center in NYC to Yanaka Music Hall in Tokyo, Japan, and was invited to play at Zankel Hall in Carnegie Hall. She has also performed and studied in Finland and Sweden as a 1st place winner of the Crescendo International Competition.

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Other notable awards include Best Prokofiev Performance in the Global Online Great Composers Competition, Silver and Special Bach Performance Award in the Young Pianists Competition of New Jersey, and Bronze in the International Young Artists Competition from the National League of Performing Arts.

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Voice

After submitting a seemingly unimportant video singing "Do-Re-Mi" from The Sound of Music for a conservatory questionnaire in 2021, Julianna was asked to begin taking private lessons from her current voice teacher and mentor, Danielle Sinclair. She is now a classical soprano.

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Julianna sang in an a capella quartet that won 2nd place in the Westminster Conservatory Chamber Music Festival Competition and was invited to sing in the Grand Prix Rising Talents Festival by Music-Fest in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and in the Westminster Choir College benefit concert for Ukraine. She was also invited to sing a duet from Le nozze di Figaro with the Westminster Community Orchestra and Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University-Bloomington vocal performance major Julianna Banfe in the Richardson Auditorium of Princeton University. 

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As a soloist, Julianna placed 1st in the Doris Lenz Festival for High School Singers at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers Unversity-New Brunswick, 2nd place in the Northeastern Region after three rounds of the 2022 NATS Regional Auditions at Skidmore College, and was a National Semifinalist in the NATS National Student Auditions. She was also a finalist in the 2023 Hal Leonard Vocal Competition. 

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Julianna has also received state-wide scholarships from the New Jersey Federation of Music Clubs and the New Jersey Chapter of NATS.

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Her first fully staged opera was with the National Youth Opera Academy in Vail, Colorado, run by the National Childrens' Chorus. In it, Julianna was the study cover for Nannina and sang in the opera chorus of The Tinker of Tivoli with music by Rossini and libretto by Michael Jacobsen. She was also individually coached by Metropolitan Opera soprano, Ashley Milanese and was selected for a masterclass with vocal coach and pianist, Cory Battey.

 

Conducting

In Vail, Julianna was selected as 1 of 4 Conducting Fellows to study in small group lectures and one-on-one with GRAMMY® Award-winning conductor, Luke McEndarfer. The experience culminated in the opportunity to conduct an aria with the soloist and professional orchestra, including members of the Denver Symphony Orchestra. 

 

Prior experience includes a weekly senior seminar elective at the Westminster Conservatory and private lessons with Princeton University Sinfonia conductor Dr. Ruth Ochs.