Up Close: Julia Braxton

By Charity Corkey

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Loudoun County's Julia Braxton, 14, recently took home the winning title for the 2008 Virginia Icon Competition, an annual event sponsored by the Parent Education Advocacy Training Center that allows Virginia youth a chance to showcase their musical talents. The first place prize was $1,000.

A resident of Waterford, Julia commutes over an hour every day to the Duke Ellington School for the Arts in Washington, D.C. With her classes beginning at 8:30 a.m. and ending 5 p.m., she often does not arrive back home till 8 p.m. Despite the long days, Julia is thankful for the privilege to study in the school's vocal music program.

In this e-mail interview, Julia shares with us her thoughts on attending Duke Ellington, winning the Virginia Icon and her future aspirations.

Q: Tell us a little bit about your experience with the Virginia Icon competition and how you came to know about it.

A: Virginia Icon was a wonderful experience! I got exposure to a lot of people and the experience of an actual competition. I knew about it because my mother was involved with the organization a few years ago, when it first started, and she told me about it. I competed the first and second year without winning anything, and this year was my third attempt and I placed first.

Q: As a finalist, you sang "Your Daddy's Son" from "Ragtime" – not a popular song these days. Why did you choose it and how do you feel this piece helped you win?

A: I chose this song because I adore Musical Theater. My piano teacher and family friend, Felicia Crawley, recommended it to me because she knows my voice and how I like to perform. When I heard the song, I instantly loved it! This was a song with a lot of emotion to it. When I sang it, I got really into character, and I feel like I brought the audience into the place where I was. Therefore, I got high scores in Stage Presence and song selection. This and the fact that the range fit my voice and worked perfectly for this song gave me high scores in other areas like quality of voice, etc.

Photo: Charity Corkey

Julia Braxton, 14, is this year's winner of the Virginia Icon Competition.

Q: Two other young people from Loudoun were among the finalists. Did you already know them or get a chance to know them during the competition?

A: Yes! I am good friends with both of them. All of us attended the same school (Harmony Intermediate) last year and I've been in school musicals with both of them.

Q: As the winner of the competition, you took home the grand prize of $1,000. What are you planning to do with the prize money?

A:Hopefully, if I can control myself, I'll be able to save some of it for college. I usually save half of what I earn working. My mother and I have discussed going to California or New York for auditions over the summer, so most likely I'll use some of it for that.

Q: How did you celebrate your win?

A: My family and I went out to eat at my Ruby Tuesday where I let myself indulge in a sweet dessert-a chocolate tallcake.

Q:You're currently a freshman at the Duke Ellington School for the Arts in Washington , D.C. As this is your first semester attending the school, how are you adjusting to the commute? How long is the commute and how are you getting into the city each day?

A: I'm adjusting pretty well. It's still really hard getting up so early in the morning every day. It's a very long commute in rush hour traffic every morning. In good traffic it's about an hour and a half to an hour and 45 minutes. In bad traffic its worse, but you can never really predict what it's going to look like once you get out of Loudoun. Most of the time my mother drives me in, but sometimes I'll take the metro from East Falls Church to Dupont Circle then take a bus to school. Thank God for public transportation!

Q: What school did you attend previously and how was that different from being at Duke Ellington?

A: I went to both Blue Ridge and Harmony and it is SO much different from Ellington in almost every way imaginable! The students at both schools are really, really nice. However, there are only about 500 students at Ellington and it's almost like we're a big family. There is also a ton more freedom at Ellington, and maybe that's because it's in such a big city. School is fun all of the time, but there's also a ton of work. In addition to keeping up with your academic classes, you have your arts classes too. Your arts classes are the classes that you take that specialize in what you do at Ellington. For example, all of my arts classes have to do with music and singing because my major at Ellington is Vocal Music. It's a longer day than at Harmony and Blue Ridge with class starting at 8:30am and ending at 5:00pm. For me, I have rehearsals after school that end later than that, so unlike at Harmony, I don't get home until very late, usually about 8:30 p.m. My parents have to pay tuition, since we live out of state, so I take it very seriously and take advantage of everything it has to offer.

Q: Where do you think you get your musical talent?

A: I most definitely got my talent from my grandmother on my mom's side. She loved Musical Theater as well and sung everything from Opera to old spirituals. Neither of my parents can sing, so I guess it must have skipped a generation and landed on me.

Q: What is your next goal as a singer? Would you like to be a professional singer, or do you have another career in mind?

A: Right now I'm not quite sure what the future holds for me, but if things keep going the way they are now, I just want to continue doing well in school so that I can get into a good college, preferably a university or a school that specializes in the arts. As far as a career goes, I definitely want to stick with what I'm doing now. At school we only sing music in the Classical style and that's really had me thinking about a career of being a professional Opera singer or something of the sort. However, my ultimate goal is to hopefully be on Broadway one day because I love Musical Theater.

Q: Do you plan to audition for the next season of American Idol?

A: Everyone says that I should, but I really don't know. If the opportunity arises, then I definitely won't pass it up, it's just that I'm not quite sure if I want to be a singer of mainstream music, which is basically what American Idol winners produce. Exposure is what matters most though, and I would never say no to a chance to get myself out there.

Q: Besides singing, what other hobbies do you have?

A: I love listening to and writing music as well as singing it, but outside of that, I like writing short stories, playing around on my guitar, downloading tons of music onto my iPod and reading books.

Q: Tell us something about yourself that would surprise your friends.

A: I don't think that I could really tell you anything that would surprise my friends. I pretty much tell them everything that pops up in my life and my really good friends know me inside out. I guess they would be surprised to know that I love writing mystery stories and hope to one day write a novel – like while I'm a teenager, like Christopher Paolini (the guy who wrote "Eragon" and "Eldest").

Q:What do you enjoy most about living in Waterford and Loudoun County?

A: After being in the city all day around tons of people and loud noises and buildings, its wonderful to just come home and have some peace and quiet. The overall atmosphere is so calming and beautiful that I honestly have the best of both worlds. I never really started to appreciate where I live until I began going into D.C. everyday. The city is great, but it can't really compare to the mountains and trees and open air that I have at home.

Tagged: arts, competition, entertainment, music, musicals, State news, Up Close, Washington D.C., Waterford

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