Mezzo-soprano Julie Boulianne graduated from the McGill University's Faculty of Music and from the Juilliard School in New York. Her musical intelligence and great sensitivity quickly brought her numerous distinctions, including first prizes at the Canadian Music Competition in 1999 and at the Joy in Singing competition in New York. In 2007 she received the Directors' Chamber Prize at the Montreal International Competition and the Silverman Prize from the International Vocal Art Institute.
Her large repertoire ranges from Gluck (Iphigénie en Tauride) to The Tempest, a creation by Thomas Adès with a predilection for French opera (Siébel in Faust, Stéphano in Roméo et Juliette, Lazuli in L'Étoile by Chabrier, the title roles in Cendrillon and L'Enfant et les sortilèges, Charlotte in Werther), Mozart (Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro...) and belcanto (Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Cenerentola, Romeo in I Capuleti e i Montecchi...).
While still a student in New York, she distinguished herself in the role of Isolier in Le Comte Ory, which opened her the doors of North American theaters. She sang in Montreal, Quebec, Vancouver, Miami, Minnesota, Boston, and at the Glimmerglass Festival... She performed the roles of Zerlina, Cherubino, Rosina, Cenerentola, Cendrillon, Stéphano, Nicklausse, L’Enfant, Hänsel, Dido...
She made an acclaimed debut at the New York City Opera in L'Étoile (Lazuli) and at the Metropolitan Opera in Iphigénie en Tauride (Diane), Roméo et Juliette (Stéphano) and Les Troyens (Ascagne).
Distinguished during her brilliant studies at the Juilliard School, she began a parallel career on the other side of the Atlantic. She performed in Les Brigands at the Opéra Comique and in Toulon, Don Giovanni in Avignon, Le Nozze di Figaro in Reims and Tours, the title role of Cendrillon in Marseille...
In concert, she has appeared in Les Nuits d'été conducted by Yannick Nézet-Seguin, Handel's Messiah and Bach's Mass in B minor with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Ravel's Shéhérazade conducted by Emmanuel Villaume, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and Missa solemnis, Mahler's Symphony No. 3 with the Calgary Philharmonic, and Jeanne au bûcher at the Saito Kinen Festival.
She recorded Shéhérazade and L'Enfant et les Sortilèges with the Nashville Symphony by Naxos Records in 2009, nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Classical Album, as well as Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Mahler's Kindertotenlieder and Alma Mahler's Lieder on ATMA Classique in 2011, nominated for an Opus Award and two CDs on Analekta with harpsichordist Luc Beauséjour: "Haendel & Porpora - The London Years" released in 2014 and "Alma Opressa, Vivaldi - Handel: Arias" in 2017. She also recorded L'Aiglon by Ibert and Honegger under the direction of Kent Nagano, released by Decca in 2016.
Recently, she has been heard in Le Nozze di Figaro (Cherubino) in Montreal and New Orleans, Roméo et Juliette (Stéphano), Die Fledermaus (Orlofski) and Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina) in Vancouver, Les Troyens (Ascagne), Faust (Siébel), Rusalka (The Kitchen Boy) at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Béatrice et Bénédict (Béatrice) in Boston and at the Capitole de Toulouse, L'Étoile in Amsterdam and for her debut at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Offenbach's Le Roi Carotte in a new production by Laurent Pelly at the Opéra de Lyon, Pinocchio (new creation by Philippe Boesmans) at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, La Monnaie de Bruxelles and Dijon, Roméo et Juliette by Berlioz directed by Sasha Waltz at the Opéra national de Paris, La Clemenza di Tito and Don Giovanni at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, in Québec, Il Barbiere di Siviglia in Québec, La Cenerentola in Limoges and Montreal, La Clemenza di Tito at the Opernhaus Zurich and at the Capitole in Toulouse, La Divisione del mondo at the Opéra du Rhin, Versailles and Nancy, La Damnation de Faust at the Glyndebourne Festival, Faust with the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in Japan, Così fan tutte at Capitole in Toulouse, at the Glyndebourne Festival and in Covent Garden, Cinderella at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Theodora (Irene) at the Theater and der Wien, Les Contes d'Hoffmann (Nicklausse) in Liège, Werther in Frankfurt, at the Opéra de Québec, at the Wiener Staatsoper, Dialogues des Carmélites (Mère Marie) in Liège and at the Wiener Staatsoper, Der Rosenkavalier (Oktavian) at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, I Capuleti e i Montecchi in Reims and in Nancy, Iphigénie en Tauride in Nancy.
In concert, she has performed Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen with the Cleveland Orchestra, Beethoven's Missa solemnisat Carnegie Hall in New York and with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Pergolesi's Stabat mater in Lisbon, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Ottawa, Roméo et Juliette with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester at the Berlin Philharmonie, with the Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse and with the Monteverdi Orchestra at the Proms and at the Festival de la Côte Saint-André, L'Heure espagnole and Le Rossignol at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Giulio Cesare with the Accademia Bizantina on a European tour (Essen, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Theater an der Wien, San Sebastian), Poème de l'Amour et de la Mer conducted by Bertrand de Billy, Liszt's Die heilige Cäcilia with the Opéra de Rouen Orchestra conducted by Laurence Equilbey, Les Nuits d'été with the Dutch Radio Orchestra in Utrecht and at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and with the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Lisbon, Bach's Magnificat with I Musici, a Ravel program with the Essener Philharmoniker, Berlioz's L'Enfance du Christ at the BBC Proms, the Great Mass in C minor in Ottawa and Montreal with the Orchestre Métropolitain, César Franck's Rédemption in Utrecht and Duruflé’s Requiem with the London Symphony Orchestra, Faust et Hélène by Lili Boulanger in Utrecht, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the Orchestre national de Bretagne, La Damnation de Faust with the Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, in Oslo.
Among her projects this season: Les Contes d'Hoffmann (Nicklausse) at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, La Damnation de Faust in concert version and Lucrezia Borgia in Liège... and in concert, Ravel Shéhérazade with the National Symphony Orchestra in Dublin, Beethoven Symphony No. 9 with the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, Mozart Requiem with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and several concerts with the Orchestre national de Bretagne where she is artist in residence in 24/25.
January 2025
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