Jonathan Luk’s musical journey to Juilliard
The sound of the smooth bows sliding across strings and the movement of the conductor helping the orchestra stay together and maintain the beautiful piece must come to an end. With the tired arms that have come to a graceful halt, that is when one knows that the piece of music was absolutely wonderful. In the huge orchestra room filled with humidity and the echo of strings, just strung is where you find senior Jonathan Luk, a cellist with dreams beyond the sky.
Jonathan Luk is a senior at SAHS, and was one of the few students in ninth grade orchestra that made it to Concert Orchestra as a sophomore. He had the talent for the cello and not only that, also sings in choir and plays piano for his friends during coffee house or school event he has needed.
“He’s the person that’s extremely intelligent, but at the same time is one of the funniest people you’ll ever meet. He just knows the right thing to say and has the perfect way to execute them,” senior Abby LeBlanc said.
Where music is taking Luk
At a young age, Luk started his music career playing the piano in kindergarten. As time went on Luk wanted to explore other musical instruments.
“Then I started on the cello, and at first I hated it,” Luk said. The cello was different and Luk said, “I couldn’t get a good sound out of it.”
As he improved bit by bit, his love for the cello grew. “But [without my] parents push for [me] to practice and go beyond my limits,” Luk said. He wouldn’t be where he is today. Luk’s parents are his number one supporters and “I couldn’t do it without their support,” Luk said.
Luk also has many supporters outside of home as well. Luk said, “[My] private teacher is Dan Mcintosh and he has guided [me] through so much music. [I] look up to him as someone more than just my teacher.”
Not only that but many friends to support him, “[We] just encourage him to do his best and let him know that wherever he ends up will be great,” junior Kate Wallace said.
A Cellist with a Dream
Luk thought of Juilliard as only a dream, but with his dedication to the cello and his passion for music his dream was becoming reality.
“As I began my college search, Juilliard was something that I only dreamed about, but as I did more and more research, I realized that if I worked hard enough, I had a shot,” Luk said.
His practice routine for his Juilliard audition was difficult. “I would wake up at 5:00am every morning to practice,” Luk said. He flew out to NY for his first audition, the pre-screening and, “I made it,” Luk said, but there is more one needs to do for such a high ranked musical school. Luk has another audition to attend in NY on Feb. 10th. The second audition is coming up and “I’m really nervous, but at the end of the day, I’m going to do the best I could possibly do,” Luk said.
People around Luk also see his dedication to the cello and Wallace said, “From what I hear he is working very hard for this audition and I believes the hard work will pay off either way.”
LeBlanc, who is a friend of Luk has always known Luk to “practice like a maniac, but that’s nothing new, he’s always done that,” LeBlanc said. Many people are rooting for Luk and his acceptance to get into Juilliard.
“Juillard is a very difficult school to get into. But [LeBlanc] believes with the amount of work he’s put in this year that, he has a very good chance,” LeBlanc said.
Defining Music
Music helped Luk find himself and “really develop as a person.” He’s enjoyed music and has been in orchestra at SAHS for three years. In class Jonathan is “definitely a huge leader and very encouraging to the rest of us,” Wallace said.
Not only that, but “I got involved with many musical extracurriculars,” Luk said. Many people look up to Luk and “he’s amazing at the cello and a very dedicated musician,” Wallace said.
“Music is a form of art and a way for me to express myself when words cannot,” Luk said.
Karisma is 16 years old and is a first year in newspaper. She loves to sing and act and has been in 5 plays. She has 2 sisters, one named Cerena and another...
Megan McGuire • Mar 29, 2016 at 10:44 pm
I really like your descriptive lead and section breaks to make the story easier to read. Really powerful and interesting quotes by Jonathan that you incorporated that did a good job of furthering the story.
Sarah McCarthy • Mar 6, 2016 at 8:42 pm
I like the concept of the article, you clearly had successful interviews with both him and his family. One thing I would recommend for the future is to limit what you put in brackets during your quotes. It gets very distracting as a reader, and most of it we can assume without the brackets. Besides that you did a great job on this story.