Ravinia 2021 - Issue 1

AMERICAN SOPRANO JULIA BULLOCK is not your standard-issue, rising young operatic diva. Yes, her credentials are suitably impressive: Teenaged artist in training with her hometown opera company, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Bachelor’s degree from the prestigious Eastman School of Music, master’s degree from Bard College’s highly regarded vocal-arts program, an Artist’s Diploma fromThe Juilliard School. Appear- ances with conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, leading roles in operas by John Adams (including the world premiere of Girls of the Golden West ), artist in residence on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s performance series. On July 22, Bullock makes her Ravinia and Chi- cago Symphony debuts with conductor Marin Alsop in Mahler’s Symphony No. 4. But Bullock, now 34, has never envisioned a conven- tional classical-music career for herself. A mixed-race child whose parents were active in the civil rights move- ment, she absorbed her parents’ focus on social justice and Black empowerment. She also has wide-ranging musical tastes. Asked during a recent phone interview about singers she admires, Bullock, who lists herself as “classical sing- er” rather than “soprano,” let out a hearty laugh. Lively and engaging, she was speaking from Munich, where she moved last year and lives with her husband, German conductor Christian Reif. “We’re going to run the full gamut here,” she said. “Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Janis Joplin, Laura Nyro. Oh my gosh, Tina Turner. “There’s clearly a lot of pain and frustration and pas- sion and rage in [Joplin’s] singing,” she said of the pop star whose raspy, full-throttle wails made listeners worry about shredded vocal cords. “It’s not a voice I mimic in any way, but thinking about the power of her delivery of a song, her interpretive gifts—that is something I certainly learned from.” Generational Voice Julia Bullock puts passion to resonance with thoughtful singing STORY BY WYNNE DELACOMA PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALLISON MICHAEL ORENSTEIN RAVINIA MAGAZINE • JULY 1 – JULY 23, 2021 30