Assistant Professor Juliette Herlin, D.M.A. Photo: Grittani Creative
From watching her debut album, “Dialogue: Debussy & Schumann,” soar into the Apple Classical Top 100 Worldwide for 13 consecutive weeks and over 800,000 streams, Assistant Professor Juliette Herlin, D.M.A., calls the experience unforgettable.
Cover art for “Dialogue: Debussy & Schumann.” Photo: Grittani Creative
“A debut album is something you have to think about for a long time,” Herlin said. “I wanted an album that was personal and included music that has been with me for a long time.”
Herlin aimed to create an album that represented her artistic identity, drawing inspiration from her childhood in France and her family of musicians: her father, a musicologist; her mother, a pianist; her sister, a violinist; and her grandmother, also a violinist.
She focused on two acclaimed composers who were central to her musical roots: French composer Claude Debussy and German composer and pianist Robert Schumann, each from a different time period.
“What’s unique about this album is the dialogue between two composers who aren’t often associated,” Herlin said. “Both wrote for voice and piano and share the depths I was looking for, which is part of my artistic identity.”
Herlin created transcriptions and arrangements for voice and piano, alternating one song by Debussy with one by Schumann to create a dialogue within the larger pieces of the album.
“It was fascinating to explore the art of song and literature in both languages,” Herlin said. “The album has a lot of pieces with interiority depth and intimacy, but also fantasy, and some more humorous and playful tracks.”
Herlin with Kevin Ahfat. Photo: Grittani Creative
She received a Research and Creative Activity Fund to record the project in summer 2024 with her longtime collaborator, Canadian pianist Kevin Ahfat, at the Van Cliburn Concert Hall at TCU. A producer also traveled from San Francisco to oversee the recording.
Herlin’s album has received critical acclaim since its debut, with press coverage and radio play ranging from the BBC in England to features in “The Strad” and “Gramophone,” two of the most influential outlets in classical music.
Herlin is now working on her second album and plans to record it this summer.
“It’s going to be edgier, a little more modern, while still centered on two composers as well,” Herlin said.