A Global Stage

Fall 2025
By Sarah Rufca Nielsen ’05

In music, some of the most powerful connections are made without words. That truth resonated across the globe this spring when five students from the Shepherd School of Music — flutist Ryan Clever, clarinetist Jake Glaser, bassoonist Jackson Bernal, horn player Christian León and oboist Chiara Rackerby — traveled to China to take part in the inaugural Tianjin Juilliard Orchestral Symposium and Leadership Forum. 

The weeklong event brought together students and leaders from 30 top music conservatories across Asia, Europe and North America. At its heart was the genesis of the NextGen Symphony, a first-of-its-kind international orchestra conducted by David Robertson. Before the week was over, this ambitious new ensemble performed a wide-ranging program, featuring works by Zhou Long, Hector Berlioz and Béla Bartók in two of China’s most iconic venues — the state-of-the-art Tianjin Juilliard Concert Hall and the world-renowned National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing.

 “Playing in such beautiful venues in Tianjin as well as sharing my music with my peers in the program — who I now consider close friends — made for a fulfilling and unforgettable experience,” León says.

Beyond the symphony, the five Rice students also performed as a wind quintet in chamber concerts around Tianjin, including a standout performance of Valerie Coleman’s “Afro-Cuban Concerto” at the historic Yao Hua High School Auditorium.

“They were great representatives — not just musically, but as cultural ambassadors,” says Emily Wells, the Shepherd School’s senior assistant dean, who accompanied the group alongside Lynette S. Autrey Dean of Music Matthew Loden. 
 

While language barriers initially proved difficult, our shared sense of musical artistry allowed us to communicate from inside the orchestra.
 

Though the consortium drew from schools around the globe, the musicians quickly gelled — overcoming fatigue, language barriers and unfamiliarity. “We sort of had this expectation that since everyone was from different schools and because we all had a general sense of jet lag and summer tiredness, the orchestra would suffer,” says Glaser. “However, as we ran through the Bartók, I realized that the orchestra was [performing] at a uniquely high level.”

“Every time you’re in a new orchestra with different people, you learn something,” Loden says. “Our job is to provide those opportunities — it helps our students know where they sit among their peers.” In between rehearsals and performances, the students navigated the famous bullet train to explore both downtown Tianjin and Beijing, spending one memorable evening talking to a shop owner through Google Translate as he fed them various dishes.

“While language barriers initially proved difficult,” Bernal recalls, “our shared sense of musical artistry allowed us to communicate from inside the orchestra.”