Vancouver orchestra's new flutist is still in high school

Julin Cheung, a 17-year-old student from Seattle, has joined the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra as a piccolo player. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

Flute and piccolo player Julin Cheung stood behind a beige velvet curtain as he prepared to audition for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

As he played, the jury on the other side of the curtain didn't know he was still a high school student.

It was only after the last of three blind auditions over two days that the orchestra's music director, Otto Tausk, knew they had their new hire — and the curtain was drawn back, revealing Cheung to be a 17-year-old.

He's set to become the orchestra's new assistant principal flute and piccolo player, and its youngest ever member.

Angela Elster, president and CEO of the orchestra, recalled Tausk coming to see her after the final audition.

“He said two things, one is we found a winner, which often doesn’t happen. We can go through national auditions and then international auditions and still not hear the quality that we're looking for," said Elster.

“And he said, not only have we found someone, but he's only 17 years old, and he still has to finish high school … what do we do with that?"

Cheung, who is from Seattle and attends the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, will finish Grade 12 there first before officially joining the orchestra as an 18-year-old next April.

“I was really nervous for the first time,” said Cheung of his initial audition.

He only got the idea to stop by Vancouver and audition while on his way back home to Seattle at the end of his school year.

Cheung said his confidence grew in later rounds and by the final audition he felt “quite good."

"Once you have broken the barrier, it feels much better," said Cheung, speaking from Berlin, Germany, on Thursday. He is set to perform at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland as part of its junior orchestra program.

He recalled his surprise after being told he had the job after his final audition.

“The first thing I said was that I'm still in school right now, so I need another year to finish my school in Philadelphia,” said Cheung.

Auditions for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra are a “very anonymous and carefully curated” process, said Elster.

Blind auditions were important to the orchestral world “so that we have no judgment about who is behind the barrier, except that we listen for the sound."

"That is exactly what happened when Julin won a spot in the international competition at the end of May," said Elster.

Elster said Cheung impressed the jury with his artistry, virtuosity, technique and "a sound that fit right into the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra sound.”

Cheung's official position doesn't start for nine months, but he has already made his debut with the orchestra, playing as a guest soloist in front of a huge crowd at Vancouver's Sunset Beach for the orchestra's Symphony at Sunset performance on July 6.

Cheung said he played Vivaldi’s Piccolo Concerto in C Major, RV 443.

Describing performing as the “most sacred” experience, Cheung said it allowed him to enter a different era.

“It's like you're travelling back in time and hearing this music exactly the way that it was meant to be hundreds of years ago. It's the same as looking at a painting from hundreds of years ago,” said Cheung.

Growing up in Seattle, Cheung said he and his family would visit Vancouver about once a month and he was already a fan of the local food scene and natural environment.

He started playing the flute at six, joined the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra when he was nine, and was the Curtis Institute of Music's youngest student when he was accepted at 13.

He said his age had always drawn attention, but noted that the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra's current principal flute player, Christie Reside, joined when she was 19.

"I think age is not so important … as long as you're able to communicate with people around you, age is just a number and there are plenty of (young) musicians in the orchestra, so I don't think I am going to be left out," said Cheung.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 14, 2024.