Tri-School Students Scale New Heights at Juillard's Pre-College Program
Juilliard’s Pre-College program “offers a comprehensive conservatory-style music program for students 8 to 18 years old who exhibit the talent, potential and ambition to pursue serious music study at the college level,” according to its website. The elite educational experience for serious young artists is extremely selective in its application process. In 2024, not one but two students from the tri-schools were accepted. The article below showcases Gilman's Ben Feng '26 and Bryn Mawr's Maggie Schneider '27.
Ben Feng ’26 started playing piano at a very young age. But after about a year, his music teacher kindly dismissed him from their lessons together. It turned out piano just wasn’t for him. “Fortunately, he found another medium of musical expression,” says Gilman’s Director of Music and Feng’s teacher Ariel Dechosa.
Since second grade, Feng’s instrument of choice has been cello. He says he didn’t love practicing at first — which is hard to believe considering how far he’s come since then. In the fall of 2024, as a rising junior, he not only joined Juilliard's very prestigious Pre-College program but was also given the distinction of principal cellist.
The highly competitive application process included a pre-screening video followed by an invitation-only, in-person audition at the school in New York City. The number of applicants who make the final cut is quite low, and Feng, as humble as he is talented, says that he didn’t expect to be one of them. Dechosa joined the Feng family for the live audition and recalls a conversation with the rising junior during their time together in NYC. “Ben realized that taking risks is part of trying to get to your goal.”
This risk paid off. When he learned that he was accepted, Feng says, “I was really excited to be in an environment where I would be surrounded by others with such intense passion for something that I’m also really into.” He gets to be surrounded by these passionate peers every Saturday at Juilliard. His day starts before dawn so that he can arrive in New York City before 9 a.m. Sometimes his parents drive him; other weekends, they drop him off at the train station and he makes the journey alone. A typical day in the program consists of an individual lesson, ear training, orchestra, two chamber groups, and music theory class. At 6 p.m., he heads back to Baltimore.
Of course, this isn’t the first time Feng has been part of an esteemed musical ensemble. From fifth through 10th grade, he was a member of the Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestras, moving through all the levels offered there. Dechosa says that Feng “probably doesn’t know how incredible his natural ability is” but that he has “always been super motivated to excel” and that he “takes initiative to improve.”
Feng’s efforts to improve go beyond his formal training at Juilliard, and even beyond his contributions to the Upper School string ensemble, the String Hounds. As a freshman, he would show up with his cello to rehearsals for Gilman’s bell choir and jazz band to collaborate with the unlikely bandmates just for fun.
It’s not surprising since Feng especially takes pleasure in making music with others. “I’m not that big of a talker and I like being able to communicate in something that’s as natural as playing music together. A lot of things go unsaid. It’s almost a deeper connection that you can make with your fellow chamber mates, with your conductor, with your fellow orchestra players, but also with the audience,” he says. “That’s one of the main reasons I play music. Without that, music is nothing.”
Maggie Schneider, a sophomore at The Bryn Mawr School, had been “dreaming of going to Juilliard for a long time.” She attended the Manhattan School of Music in New York for several years and was motivated to make it into the Pre-College program at Juilliard. She told herself, “I’m going to do whatever it takes.”
Doing whatever it took — practicing for two to three hours daily — certainly paid off. She achieved her dream in the fall of 2024 when she was accepted to Pre-College, alongside her tri-school classmate. Schneider recalls the day of the live audition as “one of the most stressful days of my whole life.” She remembers hearing other talented students through the walls of the warm-up room and feeling determined to play her best. She documented her journey that day through videos on her phone and looks back on them often — a reminder of her hard work and ensuing accomplishment.
Unlike Pre-College students who play just one instrument, Schneider studies three — voice, piano, and, her primary instrument, violin. Her Saturdays at Juilliard begin at 8:30 a.m. — and end as late as 7 p.m. — and include time in an orchestra, a quartet, multiple private lessons, ear training, and music theory class. One of her favorite parts of the day is studio class, where all of her private-lesson teacher’s students gather and work on their craft side by side, a time she says, “we all know that we’re in it together.”
Of course, Monday through Friday, Schneider is part of Quadrivium, Bryn Mawr’s upper school string ensemble, led by Dr. Dan Levitov, who began working with Schneider when she was in fifth grade. “Maggie has acted as a leader in all the ensembles she has played in — not just because she’s an advanced player but also a good classmate — and she has helped grow the ensemble,” he says. The group collaborates with Gilman’s String Hounds to perform together at winter and spring concerts, which she says has been a great experience for her.
Outside of school and Juilliard, Schneider uses her musical talents for good. Along with her brother, Matthew, an eighth grader at Gilman who also skillfully plays the violin and sings, Schneider performs in an annual benefit concert to support Kennedy Krieger Institute. She has also attended the Meadowmount School of Music, an auditioned intensive summer program.
“To be a successful musician requires personal commitment and a willingness to continually challenge yourself,” says Levitov. “One has to have the mindset to know that there is always some way to improve and at the same time be able to enjoy those moments of performing and sharing our music with other people. That’s a rare quality in a person, and I think that Maggie has that quality that enables her to be successful.”
The experience at Juilliard has been instrumental in Schneider’s growth not only as a musician and a performer but also as a person. “It has been a big opportunity and a big challenge,” she says. “But it’s so worth it.”
This article was published in April 2025.