13-year-old cellist adds prestigious Carnegie Hall to resume

There's that old question, "How do I get to Carnegie Hall?" And there's the stock answer: "Practice, practice, practice." Well, there's this young lady named Julianna Totten, who recently started eighth grade at Hyde Park Middle School. But last June, she knew how to get to that shrine for musical genius, thanks to practice, practice, practice.

Julianna is 13 years old, and did she ever practice — for hours, days and weeks on end before she got to play her cello on the stage of the Isaac Stern Auditorium in New York City's Carnegie Hall, along with 99 other 13- and 14-year-old musicians. These weren't any musicians, mind you. They were the elite, gathered from all corners of the U.S. and many other corners of the world. They were formally known as the Honors Junior Orchestra.

And they came to Carnegie Hall to perform in this second annual event in the Middle School Honors Performance Series, under the auspices of WorldStrides Heritage Programs.

Even more to her credit, Julianna was the only member of this select group to be chosen from Nevada. After playing five classical pieces for almost 40 minutes, the Middle School Honors Junior Orchestra brought down the house, a capacity audience of more than 2,800.

And sitting proudly in that audience were Julianna's parents, Tim and Pam Totten, accompanied by two of her older brothers, Brandon and Jacob, both of whom also are honors musicians. Only her oldest brother Kyle, who has been a significant influence on her musical career, was unable to attend.

The Tottens, who live northeast of Summerlin, explained how hard Julianna worked, first just in preparing for her audition to become part of the select group, then in preparing for the concert. Of course, that was before the full body of young musicians assembled for the first time several days before their performance, to practice as an orchestra.

"I practiced hard every day because I wanted to be there," Julianna said. "I was scared at first. But I knew that I had to work hard." She explained that her practice routine increased considerably after her audition in Anaheim, Calif.

Her parents credited Jeremy Woolstenhulme, her orchestra teacher at Hyde Park, 900 Hinson St., and her private tutor, Christian Garcia of Nevada Academy of the Arts. But a humble Julianna also credited her parents, who sacrificed in many ways to make it possible for her to participate among the creme de la creme of young musical artists.

"We first learned of her musical talent while she was in sixth grade," Pam said. "From that point on, we did all that we could to encourage her."

Tim proudly noted that Julianna has been playing the cello for less than two years, yet in her last school year, "she was first cello of eight cellos in the school orchestra."

While discussing the five days in New York, which were necessary for Julianna to practice with the full orchestra in preparation for the concert, Tim, an engineering warehouse foreman at the Paris Las Vegas, said, "the whole deal ran about $15,000. We'll be paying for it for another year and a half. But it was worth every cent to see Julianna perform at Carnegie Hall."

Pam, a hair stylist at Great Clips, said she began saving for the trip last September, adding, "We don't view this as a sacrifice. We're very family-oriented. Our daughter has the support of many family members and friends."

Julianna explained how she was influenced into playing the cello by Brandon, who graduated from Las Vegas Academy as a trumpet major.

"I wanted to play a string instrument, like a violin. But Brandon encouraged me to play the cello," she said.

She hopes to also attend Las Vegas Academy, 315 S. Seventh St., which is part of the Clark County School District. Jacob, a baritone, is in his junior year as a vocal major there.

What does the future hold for Julianna? Next March, her school orchestra will spend eight days performing in Vienna and Salzburg in Austria and in Prague in the Czech Republic. Oh, and her goal is to attend the University of California, Berkeley several years down the road, hopefully on a music scholarship.

Anything else? "I hope to stay with music. I'd like to play some day with the Las Vegas Philharmonic Orchestra," she said.

— Herb Jaffe was an op-ed columnist and investigative reporter for most of his 39 years at the Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J. His most recent novel, "Double Play," is now available. Contact him at hjaffe@cox.net.