Lyric Opera 2018-2019 Issue 4 Siegfried

November 3 - 16, 2018 | 15 L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O Mentor The Ryan Opera Center’s Julia Faulkner is helping today’s young artists fulfill their potential By Roger Pines Julia Faulkner adores beautiful, interpretively meaningful, technically accomplished singing. The American soprano was known for giving audiences exactly that on major stages during an outstandingly successful international career. Today a new generation of singers is benefiting from Faulkner’s knowledge and experience at Lyric’s renowned artist- development program, The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center, where she is director of vocal studies. Faulkner also teaches at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music and at other prestigious programs for young singers, including those of The Santa Fe Opera and the Aldeburgh Festival. She recently finished a residency in London with the artists of both the Jette Parker (Royal Opera House) and Harewood (English National Opera) Young Artist programs. In the past two years, her students have been finalists in several of the world’s most prestigious vocal competitions, and she works with many stars of the world’s major houses. The self-described “Wisconsin girl” grew up with parents who encouraged her involvement in the performing arts (Faulkner’s mother was a singer, her father a professor who founded the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point theater arts department). She started with children’s theater and, by age 12, she was in summer-stock productions learning stagecraft. Hearing something special in First appearance on the Met stage: “Marietta’s Lied” from Die tote Stadt, Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, National Winners’ Concert, 1985.