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Julia Bullock

About this Artist

Julia Bullock is an American classical singer who “communicates intense, authentic feeling, as if she were singing right from her soul” (Opera News). Combining versatile artistry with a probing intellect and commanding stage presence, she has headlined productions and concerts at preeminent arts institutions around the world. As an innovative curator in high demand from a diverse group of arts presenters, museums, and schools, her notable positions have included collaborative partner of Esa-Pekka Salonen and 2019/20 Artist-in-Residence at the San Francisco Symphony, 2020/2022 Artist-in-Residence of London’s Guildhall School, and 2018/19 Artist-in-Residence at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Chosen as a 2021 “Artist of the Year” by Musical America, which hailed her as an “agent of change,” Julia is also a prominent voice of social consciousness.

Julia has made key operatic debuts at San Francisco Opera in the world premiere of Girls of the Golden West; Santa Fe Opera in Doctor Atomic; Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in Theodora; the Aix-en- Provence Festival and Dutch National Opera in The Rake’s Progress; the English National Opera, Spain’s Teatro Real, and Russia’s Bolshoi Theatre in the title role of The Indian Queen; and Dutch National Opera, Bregenzer Festspiele, and Park Avenue Armory in the premiere of Michel van der Aa’s Upload.

In concert, she has collaborated with Berlin’s Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester and Roderick Cox, London’s Philharmonia Orchestra and Salonen, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel, the San Francisco Symphony and both Salonen and Michael Tilson Thomas, the New York Philharmonic and Alan Gilbert, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons, Japan’s NHK Symphony and Paavo Järvi, and both the London Symphony Orchestra and Berlin Philharmonic’s Karajan Academy with Simon Rattle.

Her recital highlights include appearances at New York’s Carnegie Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Cal Performances at UC Berkeley, Boston’s Celebrity Series, Washington’s Kennedy Center, and the Mostly Mozart and Ojai Music festivals, where she joined Roomful of Teeth and the International Contemporary Ensemble for the world premiere of Josephine Baker: A Portrait—the prototype for what later became Perle Noire: Meditations for Joséphine, a work conceived by Julia in collaboration with Peter Sellars, and written for her by Tyshawn Sorey and Claudia Rankine.

Bullock’s growing discography includes recordings of Doctor Atomic and West Side Story, both of which were nominated for Grammy Awards. Her debut solo album was released on Nonesuch in December 2022, and she appears on the soundtrack of Amazon Prime Video’s 2021 The Underground Railroad.

Julia was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Bard College’s Graduate Vocal Arts Program, and New York’s Juilliard School. She lives with her husband, conductor Christian Reif, in Munich, and the couple welcomed their first child in the fall of 2022.