BIOGRAPHY
Contemporary vocal trailblazer Julia Anne Cordani “creates an intense crossfire” in the artistic world (Frank Housh, The Arts in Real Life). Her operatic voice has been described as “a clear, sparkling soprano” by Buffalo Rising and “a dazzling and sweeping delight” by Cleveland Classical.
At home in opera, chamber music, and a cappella, she is equally praised for her “outstanding and fine recitalism” by Buffalo Spree, and her “commanding and coquettish belt” by the Recorded A Cappella Review Board.
Julia is a vocal artist and pedagogue from Lewiston, New York who holds two bachelor’s degrees from the University at Buffalo in Voice Performance and Linguistics and a master’s degree from UB in Voice Performance. She has studied voice with Dr. James Harrington and Dr. Tiffany Du Mouchelle, and taken masterclasses with Hila Plittman, Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, William Sharp, Lisa Vroman, and Julia Bullock.
Julia is a passionate about the performance, conducting, and interpretation of contemporary solo and choral repertoire as well as standard works. In UB’s Polyglot Opera Studio, Julia appeared as Alice in Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter (2016), Belinda in Dido and Aeneas (2017), and Papagena in Die Zauberflöte (2018), as well as Anne Truelove in scenes from The Rake’s Progress (2020). She returned to UB as a faculty member in 2024 to sing in Dr. Tiffany Skidmore’s The Golden Ass. In 2021, she premiered the role of Bird Spirit in Dr. Jessie Downs’ The Second Sight. She has also appeared on television in scenes of Carmen as Frasquita and Faust as Marguerite for the 2020 and 2021 WNED Buffalo Toronto On Stage with Buffalo Opera Unlimited collaboration series. Also with BOU, Julia has sung Oscar in Un ballo in maschera (2022) and Lucy in The Telephone (2023). With Sotto Voce, Julia has sung The Queen of The Night in an innovative dual stage-screen production of Die Zauberflöte (2024) and Suor Genovieffa in Suor Angelica (2024).
In the greater Buffalo community, Julia has sung professionally with the Women of Vivaldi, Vox Lusciniae, Harmonia Chamber Singers, and the Harmonia Vocal Jazz Ensemble. An accomplished soloist, she has performed locally and nationally with Ensemble Signal, Slee Sinfonietta, University at Delaware Chorale, the Cleveland Syndicate for the New Arts, HEX Vocal Ensemble, The Resonance Collective LA, and the UB Symphony Orchestra. A consummate sacred soloist, Julia has sung the soprano soli in Handel’s Messiah, Faure’s Requiem, and will premiere the soprano soli in Roland E. Martin’s Requiem in November 2024. She founded and serves as Executive Director for new Buffalo-based choir INCIPIO served as the Director of Music for the Lutheran Chorale from 2022 to 2024. A passionate teacher, she has held adjunct professorships at Niagara University and SUNY Buffalo and maintains a thriving private studio.
Julia is currently pursuing a doctorate (DMA) in contemporary voice performance at the University of California, San Diego under the tutelage of Grammy Award-winning soprano and expert contemporary vocal interpreter, Susan Narucki.