Julia Riew is an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

lyricist A lyricist is a writer who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income derives ...

librettist A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major ...

, and

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

Early life and education

Riew is a third generation

Korean-American Korean Americans () are Americans of full or partial Korean ethnic descent. While the broader term Overseas Korean in America () may refer to all ethnic Koreans residing in the United States, the specific designation of Korean American impli ...

who grew up in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. She was involved with music from a young age, starting violin lessons at age 4. She began writing music at age 7, and had written a musical of her own by age 15. While in school, she was a member of the St. Louis Children's Choirs and the Arch City Kids Theater Troupe, which put on cabarets to raise money for juvenile diabetes. Her family later moved to New York City and then Connecticut. She attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. Although initially in a pre-med program, she graduated in May 2022 with a concentration in Theater, Dance, and Media and Music. While there, she was a founding member of the Asian Students Arts Project.

Musical theater

College work

Riew wrote her first college musical, ''Hitched'', in 2018. In April 2019, ''East Side'', a student-produced musical Riew co-wrote about a

Chinese-American Chinese Americans are Americans of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong ...

family dealing with

gentrification in New York City The gentrification of New York City is the influx of more affluent residents and investments into low-middle class and/or under-developed neighborhoods of NYC, resulting in rising rents and low-income residents moving out. As a result of gentrif ...

, premiered at Harvard's Farkas Hall. After seeing the show, the

American Repertory Theater The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is a professional not-for-profit theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1979 by Robert Brustein, the A.R.T. is known for its commitment to new American plays and music–theater explorations; to ne ...

(ART) commissioned Riew to write two family oriented shows: ''Thumbelina: A Little Musical,'' which premiered in December 2019 at the Loeb Center, and ''Jack and the Beanstalk: A Musical Adventure''. In June 2022 she premiered ''Alice's Wonderland'' at the Coterie Theater in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, a show she co-wrote with J. Quinton Johnson.

''Dive''

For her

senior thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

, Riew began developing a musical inspired by the Korean folktale Shimcheong and her own experiences with Korean-American identity. In January 2022 she shared some of her music on

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

, where as of August 2024 she had a following of 135,000 users and 3.5 million likes. ''Shimcheong: A Folktale'' was later renamed to ''Dive''. Riew put on her thesis in February and March 2022 on Harvard's campus. In February 2023 Riew performed several of her songs as part of Playbill's Songwriter Series. In April 2023 ART announced they would further develop ''Dive'' with the help of Riew,

Diana Son Diana Miae Son is an American playwright, television producer, and writer. She is known for her work on '' American Crime'', '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent'', '' Southland'', and '' Blue Bloods''. She, along with Brian Yorkey, has also served as ...

, and

Diane Paulus Diane Marie Paulus (born 1966) is an American theater and opera director who is currently the Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director of the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University.Colleen Walsh"Paulus reaches beyond boards" ''Harvar ...

. Other upcoming projects include her musical ''ENDLESS'' (dir. by Zi Alikhan, premiering in Korea), her YA fantasy novel ''The Last Tiger'' (co-written with brother Brad Riew, publishing with Penguin Random House in Aug 2025), and her Middle Grade fantasy novel ''Shimcheong'' (publishing with Harper Collins summer 2026).

Awards

* 2022 Fred Ebb Award

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Riew, Julia 2000s births 21st-century American composers 21st-century American women musicians 21st-century American women writers American librettists American lyricists American musicians of Korean descent American TikTokers American women songwriters American writers of Korean descent Harvard University alumni Songwriters from Missouri Writers from St. Louis Living people Year of birth uncertain