About

Hailed by Opera News as “radiant and riveting” and the New York Times as “a spitfire”, Canadian Mozart/Strauss soprano Julia Dawson is a winner of the George London Award and Anny-Schlemm Preis from Oper Frankfurt. She most recently made her role debut as Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with the Banff Center for Arts and Creativity.

From 2015 to 2019, Dawson honed her craft as a member of Oper Frankfurt's opera studio and solo ensemble, appearing in leading roles. Further engagements include Pulcinella with the Munich Philharmonic and the French Radio Orchestra under the baton of Barbara Hannigan, Zibaldona in Alma Deutscher’s Cinderella with Opera San Jose, Scarlatti’s Erminia and Emilia in Vivaldi’s Catone in Utica with Opera Lafayette, Mozart's Great Mass in C minor with the Vocal Concert Dresden, and Poème de l'amour et de la mer with the Frankfurter Opern-und Museumsorchester. Julia has been presented in recitals by Vocal Arts DC, the New York Festival of Song at Caramoor, Musica Plus, and the Hessischer Rundfunk in Frankfurt.

Combining her love of contemporary and classical music, Dawson recently conceived and performed in the musical film "Obscura Nox," which features Mozart's "Exsultate, jubilate" and new commissions from Iranian-Canadian composer Iman Habibi. The film was selected for Opera Philadelphia's O22 Festival and the Canada Shorts Festival.

Dawson has received training at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, Rice University, Oberlin Conservatory, the Music Academy of the West, Santa Fe Opera, Aspen Opera Theater Center, and The Glimmerglass Festival. She was nominated for Singer of the Year from the Opus Klassik awards for the album 'Girl in the Snow;' songs by American composer Scott Ordway. She is grateful to have been mentored by artists such as Barbara Hannigan and Marilyn Horne. In 2022 Julia transitioned from mezzo to lyric soprano, focusing on the repertoire of Mozart and Strauss.

Current Roles in Preparation:

• Strauss: Daphne

• Strauss: Gräfin (Capriccio)

• Strauss: Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier)

• Stravinsky: Anne Truelove (The Rake’s Progress)

• Mozart: Konstanze (Die Entfürung aus dem Serail)

• Mozart: Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) premiered in July 2023 at the Banff Center for Arts and Creativity and covered in June 2023 at the National Arts Center Orchestra in Ottawa, Canada. 

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