By Tiffanie Young
Although Julian Hicks â08 considers himself first and foremost an actor, he exhibits a wide range of talents on the stage. He has auditioned for the school musical every year, he played the lead in this yearâs production of âLes Misèrables,â he is a member of Scene Monkeys and he participates in Advanced Dance II: Performance & Production. He sees all of his onstage pursuits as the interpretation of a character.
Hicks is a member of Chamber Singers and sings with Taylor Lasley â08, Jake Goren â08 and Zoe Johnson â08 as Community Singers, a community service group that visits and performs for hospitals and senior homes.
âI often donât see the point of singing something unless youâre able to act and really perform it because otherwise youâre not really fulfilling what the composer often intended,â Hicks said.
Hicks won three singing competitions this year: the Music Center Spotlight Awards, the Southern California Vocal Association solo vocal competition and the Classical Singer competition. He auditioned for the Spotlight Awards last fall and was a semifinalist in both the classical and non-classical categories. He did not move on to the next round after auditioning at the Colburn School on Jan. 27 and Feb. 2.Â
Hicks was also a non-classical semifinalist in last yearâs Spotlight Awards. He decided to compete at choral director Rodger Guerreroâs suggestion, Hicks said. Â
For the SCVA competition, Hicks chose to sing âAprès Un Rêveâ by Gabriel Faurè. The judges notified him of their decision immediately after his audition.
âIt was a great opportunity because you get to hear everyone sing,â Hicks said.
During the audition, Hicks had a chance to watch his friends Lasley and Bryan Kurtzman â08 sing.
âTo tell the truth, I was a little concerned because, after hearing them, I wasnât really sure if I was going to move on or not,â Hicks said. âThey were very good.â
He also placed third in regional auditions for the Classical Singer competition. The auditions were run by Classical Singer magazine and hosted by USC. He has been invited to perform his chosen song, âAmor Ti Vieta,â in New York City in May.
When Hicks was 5, he began attending weekly musical theater classes at The Adderley School. He began receiving private vocal instruction at the age of 8. He has trained for two years with classical singing teacher Clark Harris, who notified him of the Classical Singer competition, and with non-classical instructor Dana Greene for seven years.
Hicks enjoys both classical and non-classical singing styles, but classical âis a lot more disciplined, and it requires a lot more restraint,â Hicks said.