Julian Seney

Julian Seney is a 24-year-old violist from Monrovia, California. He started playing the viola at 12, getting his start at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. He has since performed in venues such as Walt Disney Concert Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Beijing Concert Hall, and the Seoul Arts Center, under conductors Susanna Mälkki, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Gustavo Dudamel, among others.

He is an alumni of the Perlman Music Program, Yellow Barn Young Artist Program, and the Lucerne Festival Academy, and has participated in residencies through both Perlman Suncoast and Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival. He has served as the Principal violist for New England Conservatory’s Philharmonia, USA’s National Youth Orchestra, the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra, and the Yale Philharmonia. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with musicians such as Kim Kashkashian, Itzak Perlman, and Stephen Drury, and now performs as a member of Trio Animoso with Harpist Subin Lee and Flautist Sophia Jean.

Julian loves playing new music and collaborating with artists outside of classical music, and has premiered many works for solo viola, mixed chamber ensembles, and full orchestra. He also loves to teach, and has worked as both a chamber coach at the Rivers Conservatory and the New England Conservatory in Boston, as well as a teaching artist at the Advent School and through Yale’s Music in Schools Initiative. He is particularly passionate about music education and making music more accessible for the general public.

He began his studies with Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu, and later was an academy student of Paul Coletti at the Colburn School. He earned a B.M. from the New England Conservatory with honors under Kim Kashkashian, and is currently pursuing a M.M. at Yale with Ettore Causa, set to graduate in May 2025. Besides listening to and playing music, he loves to hike, cook, and take care of his two dogs Bear and Isa.