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Julia Bullock

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Julia Bullock
BornJuly 16, 1986
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Rochester (BM)
Bard College (MM)
Juilliard School (GrDip)
OccupationOpera singer
SpouseChristian Reif

Julia Bullock (born July 16, 1986)[1] is a Grammy-winning 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”.[2]

Early life and education

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Born in 1986 to an African American father and a white mother,[3][4] Bullock joined Opera Theatre of Saint Louis's artist-in-training program while still in high school. She graduated with the Marielle Hubner Award.[5] She received her bachelor's degree from the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester 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.[6] She holds the Lindemann Vocal Chair with Young Concert Artists, and also is supported by the Barbara Forester Austin Fund for Art Song.[7]

She cites Nina Simone and Billie Holiday as early influences.[4]

Career

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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.[8] Bullock sang the role of Dame Shirley in San Francisco Opera's 2017 world premiere of Adams's opera Girls of the Golden West.[9] She also premiered the role in the European debut of the opera, at the Dutch National Opera, in Amsterdam.[10] In 2018, she starred as Kitty Oppenheimer in Adams's Doctor Atomic for Santa Fe Opera.[8] In 2019 she premiered Zauberland, about which was inspired by Europe's migrant crisis,[11] and has appeared in New York, London, and throughout Europe.[12]

She served as the 2018–2019 Metropolitan Museum of Art's performance series Artist in Residence.[13] While there, she and percussionist Tyshawn Sorey performed Perle Noire: Meditations for Joséphine, a tribute to Black jazz artist Josephine Baker.[14] They previously performed the piece in 2016 as part of Cal Performances.[15] The piece made its European debut at the Dutch National Opera's Opera Forward Festival in Amsterdam on March 9, 2023.[16]

Bullock's first solo album, Walking in the Dark, debuted in 2022. Her husband, Christian Reif, conducted and played the piano. The album includes pieces by composers John Adams, Samuel Barber, Connie Converse, and Sandy Denny.[17] At the 66th Grammy Awards, the album won for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album.[18]

In 2024 she was slated to co-create and perform the new opera "The Shell Trial" at the Dutch National Opera, but withdrew from the production. [19] She was replaced by Soprano Lauren Michelle.[20] In April 2024 Bullock is scheduled to continue her collaboration with John Adams, performing the staged version of his oratorio El Niño at the Metropolitan Opera.[21]

In April 2024, Bullock was featured on the cover of Opera (British magazine), in preparation for her Metropolitan Opera debut in El Niño".[22]

Activism

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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.[7] She also serves on the advisory board of Turn the Spotlight, which works to promote equity in the arts.[23]

Accolades

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Personal life

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Bullock is married to conductor Christian Reif, with whom she has a son.[27] As of January 2021, she was living in Munich, Germany.[15]

References

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  1. ^ Julia Allyson Bullock in the Missouri, U.S., Birth Registers, 1847-2002
  2. ^ Anthony Tommasini (April 24, 2014). "What a Life: Bus Tables, Buss Prince". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  3. ^ "Julia Bullock Centers Black Women in 'History's Persistent Voice'". 12 May 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Julia Bullock Is Fighting for Social Justice One Song at a Time". Pacific Standard. 16 April 2018. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  5. ^ "Biography". hellostage.com. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  6. ^ "Sound Bites: Julia Bullock". Opera News. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  7. ^ a b etudearts.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Julia-Bullock-Biography-2015-161.pdf
  8. ^ a b Scheinin, Richard (13 July 2018). "The Atomic soprano: Julia Bullock". Santa Fe New Mexican.
  9. ^ "Julia Bullock as Dame Shirley". San Francisco Opera. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  10. ^ Barone, Joshua (March 1, 2019). "Review: John Adams's Newest Opera Returns to the Gold Mines". The New York Times. Retrieved 2022-01-12.
  11. ^ Wasserman, Adam (October 30, 2019). "Soprano Julia Bullock Makes Her White Light Festival Debut in Zauberland". Playbill. Retrieved 2024-01-05.
  12. ^ Woolfe, Zachary (October 25, 2019). "'This Is Who We've Been Waiting For': A Diva on the Precipice". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-01-05.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ da Fonseca-Wollheim, Corinna (17 January 2019). "Review: A Haunting Tribute to Josephine Baker Arrives at the Met Museum". New York Times.
  15. ^ a b Rowe, Georgia (11 January 2021). "Opera star Julia Bullock ready to wow Bay Area fans (again)". Mercury News.
  16. ^ "PERLE NOIRE: MEDITATIONS FOR JOSÉPHINE". Dutch National Opera. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  17. ^ Maddocks, Fiona (2022-11-26). "Classical home listening: Julia Bullock's Walking in the Dark; the Dudok Quartet's Reflections". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-02-05.
  18. ^ a b Salazar, Francisco (2024-02-04). "Metropolitan Opera & Julia Bullock Lead Classical Grammy Awards". OperaWire. Retrieved 2024-02-05.
  19. ^ "The Shell Trial – Dutch National Opera". Bachtrack. 2024-03-16. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
  20. ^ "The Shell Trial". Dutch National Opera. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
  21. ^ "El Niño". Metropolitan Opera. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
  22. ^ Opera_Magazine (2024-02-14). ""We've just gone to press with our April issue, the cover featuring soprano Julia Bullock‬⁩ and the pages filled with all the latest from the opera world. Subscribers will be sent their copies next week – why not join them?"". Instagram. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  23. ^ "Advisory Board". TURN THE SPOTLIGHT. Retrieved 2019-02-24.
  24. ^ "Julia Bullock Wins $15,000 Naumburg Prize". The New York Times. 17 March 2014. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  25. ^ "Five young artists awarded $300,000 for career development from Leonore Annenberg Fund" (PDF). 2015-04-06. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  26. ^ "Sphinx Medals of Excellence Awardees". sphinxmusic.org. Archived from the original on 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  27. ^ "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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