Hometown:
Norman, OK, USA
Education:
McGill Schulich School of Music, Master of Music, 2023
Oberlin Conservatory, Bachelor of Music, 2019
Bio:
Julia Weldon currently resides in Montreal, Canada where she recently graduated with her masters under Brian Manker at McGill University. While there, she won a student engagement award to co-host a symposium on interdisciplinary creative collaboration, which featured students from across music performance, education, and composition. Last year, Julia spent six months living in Japan as a cellist in the Toho Academy Orchestra.
What inspired you to become a musician?
I was inspired by little red CD player- I loved to listen to my collection of Yo-Yo Ma and Julie Andrews CDs when I was a kid.
Name three of your favorite composers:
One of my favorite composers is Poulenc because of the sprightly leaps! It feels like a string of unexpected but satisfying phrases.
What is an interesting fact about you and/or your instrument?
My middle school orchestra director (who played cello too!) mentioned how cool it would be to have a go go gadget cello. So as a retirement gift, my dad helped me build a (not playable) foldable cello for him!
When taking a break from music-making, what is your favorite thing to do?
One of my favorite things to do is ride my bicycle and daydream about more bike centric cities.
Why did you choose the NRO?
After an amazing orchestra experience, I realized how much I wanted to keep delving into this specific art. I have so many questions and so much I want to learn to play!