Katonah - Lewisboro School District

  Lily Oyen, a sophomore at John Jay High School, has been accepted into Future Music Moguls, a fourteen-week program for high school students offered by New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. The highly competitive workshop accepts only eighteen teens each year.

“I am so proud of Lily and how hard she has worked to get here,” said Amy Geiger, music teacher at John Jay High School. “I have no doubt that Lily will continue to accomplish great things in the years to come. Congratulations Lily!" 

“Many students have applied to Future Music Moguls over the years, but Lily is the first John Jay student to be accepted,” continued Geiger. “This is an incredible opportunity for her to work alongside NYU college professors and professional artists and learn all there is to know about the music industry.”

Lily is an active participant in John Jay’s extra-curricular performing arts program. She sings in the school’s vocal jazz group and vocal jazz select group as well as with the Trebs, John Jay’s coed, student-led, a cappella group. Lily has also performed in every school theater production since she was in seventh grade; seen on stage most recently in “12 Angry Jurors.”

She is midway through John Jay High School’s four-year general music sequence which consists of Music History and Theory, Intro to Music Technology, Advanced Music Technology, and Über Music Technology, all taught by Amy Geiger.

Knowing how to compose music using software programs such as Logic Pro X, Ableton Live 9, Finale, and Pro Tools was a key part of the application she presented to Future Music Moguls.

“NYU didn’t require a portfolio, but Mrs. Geiger suggested I send one in anyhow,” said Lily.  They selected three of her compositions including Sonata in G Major, which she wrote in Music Technology class, and a song she’d written with her dad when she was ten-years-old.

While Lily credits her piano teacher, who taught her how to write music, and Mrs. Geiger as major influences in her musical journey, she acknowledges her parents as playing the biggest role in where she is today.

“My entire house is my studio,” said Lily. “Music is everywhere. We have a music room with a piano, three or four keyboards, and a drum set. I keep my guitar, another keyboard and my ukulele in my room.

“Ever since I was really little I said I wanted to be a musician,” said Lily. “I thought I’d outgrow it but I never have.”