Julia Bullock

Julia Bullock is an American soprano originally from St. Louis, Missouri. Anthony Tommasini from The New York Times has called her an "impressive, fast-rising soprano... poised for a significant career”.[1]

Julia Bullock
Born
St. Louis, Missouri
NationalityAmerican
EducationEastman School of Music, Bard College, Juilliard School
OccupationOpera singer
SpouseChristian Reif

Education

Born in 1987,[2] Bullock joined Opera Theatre of Saint Louis's artist-in-training program while still in high school. She graduated with the prestigious Marielle Hubner Award.[3] She received her bachelor's degree from the Eastman School of Music and her master's from Bard College's graduate vocal-arts program, where she worked with Dawn Upshaw. She went on to complete an artist diploma program at Juilliard in 2015.[4] She holds the Lindemann Vocal Chair with Young Concert Artists, and also is supported by the Barbara Forester Austin Fund for Art Song.[5]

She cites Nina Simone and Billie Holiday as early influences.[2]

Career

In 2013, when she was still at Juilliard, Bullock performed with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony. She met composer John Adams, who has called her his "muse," in 2014.[6] Bullock sang the role of Dame Shirley in San Francisco Opera's 2017 world premiere of Adams's opera Girls of the Golden West.[7] She also premiered the role in the European debut of the opera, at the Dutch National Opera, in Amsterdam. [8] In 2018, she starred as Kitty Oppenheimer in Adams's Doctor Atomic for Santa Fe Opera.[6]

She served as the 2018-2019 Metropolitan Museum of Art's performance series Artist in Residence.[9] While there, she and percussionist Tyshawn Sorey performed Perle Noire: Meditations for Joséphine, a tribute to Black jazz artist Josephine Baker.[10] They previously performed the piece in 2016 as part of Cal Performances.[11] The piece made its European debut at the Dutch National Opera's Opera Forward Festival in Amsterdam on March 9, 2023.[12]

Activism

Bullock integrates her musical life with community activism. She has organized benefit concerts for the Shropshire Music Foundation and International Playground, two non-profits that serve war-affected children and adolescents through music education and performance programs in Kosovo, Northern Ireland, Uganda, and St. Louis. She also participated in the Music and Medicine Benefit Concert for New York's Weill Medical Center.[5] She also serves on the Advisory Board of Turn the Spotlight, which works to promote equity in the arts.[13]

Accolades

Personal life

Bullock is married to conductor Christian Reif, with whom she has a son.[17] As of January 2021, she was living in Munich, Germany.[11]

References
  1. Anthony Tommasini (April 24, 2014). "What a Life: Bus Tables, Buss Prince". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  2. "Julia Bullock Is Fighting for Social Justice One Song at a Time". Pacific Standard. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  3. "Biography". hellostage.com. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  4. "Sound Bites: Julia Bullock". Opera News. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  5. etudearts.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Julia-Bullock-Biography-2015-161.pdf
  6. Scheinin, Richard (13 July 2018). "The Atomic soprano: Julia Bullock". Santa Fe New Mexican.
  7. "Julia Bullock as Dame Shirley". San Francisco Opera. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  8. Barone, Joshua (March 1, 2019). "Review: John Adams's Newest Opera Returns to the Gold Mines". The New York Times. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  9. Cooper, Michael (May 10, 2019). "Julia Bullock Is Met's Artist in Residence". The New York Times. pp. C3(L). ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-10-28.
  10. da Fonseca-Wollheim, Corinna (17 January 2019). "Review: A Haunting Tribute to Josephine Baker Arrives at the Met Museum". New York Times.
  11. Rowe, Georgia (11 January 2021). "Opera star Julia Bullock ready to wow Bay Area fans (again)". Mercury News.
  12. "PERLE NOIRE: MEDITATIONS FOR JOSÉPHINE". Dutch National Opera. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  13. "Advisory Board". TURN THE SPOTLIGHT. Retrieved 2019-02-24.
  14. "Julia Bullock Wins $15,000 Naumburg Prize". The New York Times. 17 March 2014. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  15. "Five young artists awarded $300,000 for career development from Leonore Annenberg Fund" (PDF). 2015-04-06. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  16. "Sphinx Medals of Excellence Awardees". sphinxmusic.org. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  17. "Commentary: How Julia Bullock became an essential soprano for our times". Los Angeles Times. 28 January 2023. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
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