Columbia Pops

SEAS, 2026.

Alex is from Lexington Kentucky, exactly 81.6 miles from where the Kentucky Derby is held each year. When she is not studying her next superfecta, she is playing her own superfecta of instruments in bassoon, piano, bass guitar, and alto saxophone. Outside of practicing you will most likely find her binging all 47 seasons of Survivor (for the third time) or one of her other 30 favorite reality shows!

Columbia College, 2027.

Alicia is a flutist (yes I say flutist, not flautist) from Westchester, New York and a pre-med student (yikes) at Columbia College. She picked up the instrument in 3rd grade and later piccolo, going on to play at festivals like All-Eastern, the Boston University Tanglewood Institute and in ensembles like New York Youth Symphony and Columbia University Orchestra. She is doing more music in college than she ever thought she would (yay!). Otherwise, Alicia is a coffee-enjoyer, occasional gym bro, D1 yapper, and lover of food, her cat, long walks, autumn, and laughing.

Barnard College, 2028.

Bella is a flutist from the Bay Area and does not own a proper rain jacket! In her free time, she enjoys watching (not) quality movies, logging said movies on Letterboxd, and taking long naps. She likes attempting to answer the big questions in life, such as: Is math red or blue? Is a hotdog a sandwich? Team Jacob or Team Edward? etc…

Columbia College, 2027

Ben is an alto saxophonist (and occasional pianist) from Long Island. When he's not playing his instruments, he's probably playing basketball or volleyball in the gym, and he's currently a member of the Columbia Men's Volleyball Club Team. He listens to just about any music, but some of his favorites are Daniel Caesar, Tyler, The Creator, and Frank Ocean.

Barnard College, 2027.

Catie was born in New Jersey but lived in eastern CT for most of her life. Playing the clarinet from elementary school to college, she's played a couple songs. Her favorites have always been video game OSTs and movie tracks. When not playing, she often listens to podcasts (shout out the Magnus Archives), playing Zelda on any retro console ever, watching way too many youtube videos, or watching any show she can instead of heading to Butler. Talk to her about Minecraft and be prepared to receive several realms invitations in your inbox!

Columbia College, 2026

I am from Long Island, New York and I am on the premed track. I am trying to explore my interests at Columbia such as music (of course), hiking, rock climbing, skiing, and many more adventurous activities after fencing for 12 years. On the not-so-adventurous side, I love to cook, think of dorm cooking hacks, play Mario Kart, and watch Good Mythical Morning on YouTube.

Columbia College, 2027

David is from Ellicott City, Maryland, and has been playing French Horn since 5th grade, when his band director told him that clarinet might not be the best choice for him. When not practicing, which might be more often than he'd like, David enjoys hiking, badminton, or playing poker. Please don't ask him to get halal at 2am because you will end up going. 

Columbia College, 2028

Dillon Ring is a Financial Economics major/Jazz minor at Columbia College from Los Angeles. He loves playing all kinds of music, composing, and arranging. His other interests include traveling around NYC for cool food, watching sunsets, geoguessr, and chess.

School of Engineering and Applied Science, 2026.

Donovan is an alto saxophonist from the not-so-far-away Long Island. In addition to watching an unhealthy amount of YouTube shorts and Instagram reels (while refusing to download TikTok), he is an aspiring food influencer (@donovaneats) and, once upon a time, Faculty House’s number 1 fan. He enjoys listening to anything from 2010s Pop to Disney or Broadway soundtracks to jazzy VGM covers — basically anything but classical or country.

Columbia College, 2026.

Originally from Greenville, SC, Emily is an anthropology major at Columbia College. While her main musical interest is the clarinet, she's been known to dabble in piano, mellophone, and belting show tunes in the shower. She jokes that she's secretly a senior citizen because she likes to knit sweaters, read the New York Times, and complain about the kids these days.

Columbia College, 2027.

Hyatt is from Cleveland, Ohio, which is where he first played "the family trumpet," originally owned by his great uncle (fun fact: he still plays on this trumpet today). He’s majoring in Evolutionary Biology of the Human Species & Climate Systems Science. When not in practice rooms or a lab, he is skateboarding/playing frisbee with friends in Riverside, attempting to find the best butter pecan ice cream in NYC, or listening to Mk.gee, Pink Floyd, or Childish Gambino. 

Columbia College Class of 2029

Jasmine is a flutist and sometimes pianist from Longmeadow, Massachusetts who has been playing music since she was five. She spends a lot of her time writing parts of novels she’ll never finish, making stickers with her little green printer, and regretting. She’s a huge fan of AURORA and BURNOUT SYNDROMES but could also listen to “Gnarly” by KATSEYE for hours on end and has done so before. 

Columbia College Class of 2028

Jonathan is a clarinetist and composer originally from Seattle, Washington. At Columbia, he is currently studying Applied Mathematics and Music. Jonathan's music has been performed and recorded by distinguished ensembles, including the Seattle Symphony, the Budapest Symphony Orchestra, and artists from the Chinese Music Ensemble of New York. Jonathan has also scored several video game projects, including the endless runner, Snowdrift, and the main titles for Elysium Ascent, which was part of Game/Music Jam '24. Outside of music, Jonathan enjoys reading (especially fantasy) and collecting integrals like Pokémon

Barnard College, 2028.

Justine Jaremko plays both the flute and the alto saxophone and is studying Biology. She is from San Francisco and is really looking forward to experiencing real season in NYC! In her free time, she loves running, talking about her dog (named Bear), and getting Orewashers olive za’atar breadsticks. Talk to me about architecture reality TV shows! 

Columbia College Class of 2028

I am an oboe player and sophomore at CC studying Biochemistry with a minor in Hispanic Studies on the Pre-Med track! When not suffering in my pre-med classes I love swimming, rock climbing, chilling on the lawns, and taking long walks through the city. I’m also an EMT, avid thrifter, nap enjoyer, and lately have been spending way too much time messing around with organic chemistry molecule sets.

School of General Studies, 2026.

Kento was born and raised in Japan. He started playing the alto saxophone in elementary school. In high school, he was a member of the marching band. Besides music, he enjoys eating ramen (Tabetoomo is his fav), exploring the city, and whistling. You can often find him whistling as he walks on campus.

Columbia College, 2027.

Kym is a saxophone player from Long Island studying Computer Science. If she isn't saxophoning there's probably a Rubik's Cube in her hand, along with headphones on that make it impossible to hear her surroundings (for better or worse.) Outside of that, she enjoys watching teen dramas (no matter how bad they are,) trying to not sleep through her 10 A.M. lectures, and making spotify playlists with the same 50 songs that will never be used. 

School of Engineering and Applied Science, 2028.

Laura is from California and is planning on majoring in mechanical engineering. She likes going for long walks, reading, and messing around in the Makerspace. She hopes in her time at Columbia she can try food from every country in the world all in New York City.

Columbia College, 2027.

I am from West Virginia. I put philosophy major on my college applications but I don’t really know what I want to study. My favorite movie is spider-man homecoming, but I also really like Casino Royale (2006), Ratatouille, The Incredibles, and of course Cars 2. Fun fact I once had a 16mm kidney stone!

Barnard College, 2026.

Lucy tells people she’s from Philadelphia, PA, but in reality comes from a town about 50 minutes away from anywhere notable. Throughout her career as a musician, she has struggled with the look of surprise she receives when telling people she plays trombone, and has struggled even more with admitting she was a member of the marching band for all 4 years of high school. In her free time, Lucy can be found reading, watching a movie, or attempting to fix her very flaky trombone.

SEAS, 2026.

Max Gao is from Hangzhou, China where he was forced to pick an instrument to play as a third grader. Fortunately, he picked the clarinet. Max is studying applied math and has yet to find an occupation to apply all the maths. When he is not biking or working out, you can find him anywhere except the practice rooms. 

Columbia College, 2028.

Melinda is a neuroscience and behavior major from Pearland, Texas. When she's not noodling around on the flute, you may find her procrastinating her to-do list, staring into the distance in Riverside Park, building the optimal Stardew Valley farm, watching/rewatching The West Wing, making her mother send proof-of-life pictures of her two cats, and reminiscing on her high school marching band "glory days."

Columbia College, 2026.

Columbia College, 2026.

Nick is from Hershey, Pennsylvania (like the chocolate!!!) and has been playing french horn (the coolest instrument by far) since sixth grade. His favorite ways to avoid doing homework are listening to music, watching movies, going down Wikipedia/YouTube rabbit holes, playing video games, and wandering aimlessly around campus and the city…

Oh, and practicing!!

Columbia College, 2026.

Nithin is a computer science major from San Diego, CA, and plays the flute and piccolo in Pops. When not exploring the city or studying in a cafe, you’ll probably find him watching anime or reading manga.

SEAS, 2027.

Norié is from Tokyo, Japan (she’s half Japanese half Nigerian), and studies biomedical engineering with a minor in economics. In her free time, she loves walking around the city, thrifting, eating out with friends, and watching k-drama. She’s always on the hunt for the best matcha latte in the city, her next Netflix binge, and a new R&B artist to add to my playlist (Giveon and Daniel Caesar are her go-to favorites!)

Columbia College, 2027

Tazia Mohammad plays the French Horn, and is majoring in Economics-Political Science at Columbia College. In her free time, she can be found stress cooking, drawing on her iPad, or working on This Month's Pet Project.

Columbia College Class of 2026

Matthew is a New Jersey Korean who is always trying to find new things to get excited about. In terms of instruments, he is practicing the clarinet, kalimba, guitar, otamatone, and melodica, but he is mainly passionate for composition, specifically film scoring. Besides music, Matthew loves to make videos/edits, take photos, watch new/re-released films in theaters, anime//manga, and listen to all his favorite songs dumped into one playlist (psychotic, he knows). His top four songs are Chopin’s Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23, Radiohead’s "How to Disappear Completely", Elvis Presley’s "If I Can Dream”, and Hans Zimmer’s “A Time of Quiet Between the Storms”. His top four films are Green Book, A Silent Voice, Baby Driver, and Dune Part Two.

Columbia College Class of 2029

Minna Xu is a clarinetist currently living in Northern Virginia from Shanghai, China. At Columbia College, she hopes to study Chemistry or Environmental Science. She likes to spend her free time consuming media references and brainrot on her iPad, wasting money on blind boxes and concert tickets, and eating PinkBerry froyo. 

Columbia College 2029

Raised in Farmington, CT, Parker is a Cognitive Science major at Columbia. Both a trombonist and a violinist, is a big fan of all things music. Outside of music, Parker enjoys walking massive circles around campus for no reason, eating food, and procrastinating

Columbia College, 2027

Yordan is from Asheville, NC, and plans to study biology! Outside of playing the oboe, he enjoys hiking, cooking, reading and wandering around NYC in his free time :) 

Columbia College Class of 2027

Zach is a (specifically) bari sax player from Pennsylvania (no, not near Philly) (no, not near Pittsburgh, either). He is majoring in psychology and is often found doing anything but that. His interests include space (shoutout CSI BS), musical theater, rock climbing, reading, games of all sorts, lists, and overusing parentheses (he has a lot of extra thoughts he feels the need to include in things).