Senior Jacob Shin loves music. Why shouldn’t he? It has helped him recover from two severe concussions. It has improved his work ethic and collaboration skills. It has helped him become a more critical thinker. It has given him a second home at the Manhattan School of Music Precollege. Simply put, he’s indebted to music for all the joy it has brought to his life. 

Shin grew up in a very musical household: his mom plays the piano and his older brother played the violin. He also grew up listening to From the Top, an NPR-sponsored classical radio station on PBS that features both accomplished soloists and promising young talents. 

Shin shared that renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s rendition of Camille Saint-Saëns’s “Le Cygne” (“The Swan”) was one of the first pieces that made him fascinated with music. 

Though he started out on the piano and cello, Jacob wanted to move on, contemplating between the violin and cello. Yet he ultimately settled on the viola, a string instrument that looks like a slightly enlarged violin. “The viola offered something interesting,” he said. “It’s a middle ground between the violin and the cello. You still have the depth and warmth and richness of cello, but you also have the singing upper register of the violin.”

Enamored of the duality of the viola, Shin successfully auditioned for Manhattan School of Music Precollege in in fourth grade, a program that takes place every Saturday. However, before entering Riverdale as a ninth-grader, he had also developed a passion for athletics. Shin began to drift away from music, to the point where his viola teacher threatened to drop him from her studio. He ended up leaving Precollege before entering Riverdale, where he found a starting spot on the varsity football squad.

Unfortunately, in his junior year, Shin suffered two concussions while playing football. “That was a difficult time for me. I had trouble forming sentences. I couldn’t really piece together cohesive thoughts.” 

This was a decisive turning point, says Shin: “As I realized that my focus on sports would be coming to a close, I wanted to pursue something else in order to have a sense of purpose. And that’s when I entertained the thought of pursuing music again.”

What drew him once more to music this time wasn’t just the pretty sounds. “Music offered a source of therapy, in a way, emotionally,” Shin noted. He could cathartically release all the frustration and sorrow he felt by playing Johannes Brahms’s “Sonata in F Minor,” for example. In fact, he relishes every little bit of the piece, every small chord progression and modulation: “There’s a certain darkness and depth to it. There’s so much contrast between the slower, more tranquil, more beautiful moments and the constant intensity you feel. It definitely related to me in some way when I had all these pent-up emotions, and I tried to channel that through the music.”

Shin’s renewed interest in music also paid dividends in other parts of his life. For one, it helped him recover cognitively. “The decisions you have to make within the music, the concentration on technique, on intonation, all of that, I believe, helped my brain to recover,” Shin said. 

The pandemic couldn’t stop Shin. He attended the Heifetz International Music Institute virtually for the majority of the summer of 2020, and soon after the program ended, he got a call in early August from NPR inviting him to play on From the Top - the very show he listened to as a young child. Shin remarked, “I’d say appearing on From the Top was almost life-changing, in a way… I never really fathomed I could reach this point.”

In late September, accompanied by international pianist Orli Shaham, Shin performed the Brahms sonata that got him up and running after his concussions. Music has truly helped connect Jacob’s past to his present, his low points to his moments of musical exhilaration.

Now, Shin refuses to let go of music: he plans to pursue the five year Bachelor of Arts/Master of Music program at Yale University, as he plans to combine his musical studies with a major in Ethics, Politics, and Economics. In addition to being able to perform on From the Top, Shin, as the recipient of the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award from NPR, gained a financial scholarship. “I’m planning to use the financial support From the Top has given me towards my artistic education,” he said. In a way, Shin’s decision to continue playing viola in college is his personal ode to music - it’s only fitting that he pay homage to what has transformed his life.

Senior Jacob Shin loves music. Why shouldn’t he? It has helped him recover from two severe concussions. It has improved his work ethic and collaboration skills. It has helped him be a more critical thinker. It has given him a second home in the Manhattan Pre-College School of Music. Simply put, he’s indebted to music for all the joy it has brought to his life. 

Shin grew up in a very musical household: his mom plays the piano and his older brother plays the violin. He also grew up listening to From the Top, an NPR-sponsored classical radio station on PBS that features both accomplished soloists and promising young talents. 

Shin shared that renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s rendition of Camille Saint-Saëns’s “Le Cygne” (“The Swan”) was one of the first pieces that made him fascinated with music. He described how the sound waves, shaped and sculpted midair, could make people’s bodies quiver with some otherworldly sense of amazement and wonder. 

Though he started out on the piano and cello, Jacob eventually moved on to playing the violin and the cello, two instruments to which he was equally drawn. Yet he ultimately settled on the viola, a string instrument that looks like a slightly enlarged violin. “The viola offered something interesting,” he said. “It’s a middle ground between the violin and the cello. You still have the depth and warmth and richness of cello, but you also have the singing upper register of the violin.”

Enamored of the duality of the viola, Shin successfully auditioned for Manhattan Pre-College School of Music in middle school, a program that takes place every Saturday. However, before entering Riverdale as a ninth-grader, he had also developed an interest in athletics. Shin began to drift away from music, to the point where his viola teacher threatened to expel him from Pre-College. He ended up leaving Pre-College before entering Riverdale, where he found a spot on the varsity football squad.

Unfortunately, in his junior year, Shin suffered two concussions while playing football. “That was a difficult time for me. I had trouble forming sentences. I couldn’t really piece together cohesive thoughts.” 

This was a decisive turning point, says Shin: “As I realized that my focus on sports would be coming to a close, I wanted to pursue something else just so I have a sense of purpose. And that’s when I entertained the thought of pursuing music again.”

What drew him once more to music this time wasn’t just the pretty sounds. “Music offered a source of therapy, in a way, emotionally,” Shin noted. He could cathartically release all the anger and sorrow he felt by playing Johannes Brahms’s “Sonata in F Minor,” for example. In fact, he relishes every little bit of the piece, every small chord progression and modulation: “There’s a certain darkness and depth to it. There’s so much contrast between the slower, more tranquil, more beautiful moments and the constant intensity you feel. It definitely related to me in some way, when I had all these pent-up emotions and channeled that through the music.”

Shin’s renewed interest in music also paid dividends in other parts of his life. For one, it helped him recover cognitively. “The decisions you have to make within the music, the concentration on technique, on intonation, all that helped my brain to recover,” Shin said. 

The pandemic couldn’t stop Shin. He kept on practicing within the confines of his bedroom, channeling his passion for music into his work ethic. Then, in early August, he got a call from NPR inviting him to play on From the Top - the very show that got him hooked on music. Shin remarked, “I’d say From the Top was almost life-changing, in a way… I never really fathomed I could reach this point.”

In late September, accompanied by international pianist Orli Shaham, Shin performed the Brahms sonata that got him up and running after his concussions. Music has truly helped connect Jacob’s past to his present, his low points to his moments of musical exhilaration.

Now, Shin refuses to let go of music: he will pursue the dual degree Bachelor of Arts/Master of Music program at Yale University, as he plans to combine his musical studies with a major in ethics, politics, and economics. In addition to being able to perform on From the Top, Shin, as the recipient of the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award from NPR, gained a financial scholarship. “I’m planning to use the financial support From the Top has given me for artistic education,” he said. In a way, Shin’s decision to continue playing viola in college is his personal ode to music - it’s only fitting that he pay homage to what has transformed his life.