Julia Melinek - soprano
Julia Melinek studied at the Royal Northern College of Music and trained as an actress at the Actor’s Centre in London.
Operatic roles include title role Madama Butterfly (ENO/Gubbay at the Royal Albert Hall/Lyric Opera Dublin), title role Manon Lescaut, Gerhilde and Helmwige The Valkyrie, Nella Gianni Schicchi, and 1st Lay Sister Suor Angelica (ENO), Donna Anna and Musetta (New Israeli Opera), title role in Menotti’s The Saint of Bleecker Street (Spoleta Festival, directed by the composer), Donna Elvira (Garsington/ETO/Mid Wales Opera), Santuzza Cavalleria Rusticana (Opera Holland Park, for which she was awarded the ‘American Express Prize for Outstanding Operatic Performance 1998’), Giorgetta Il Tabarro (Broomhill), Fenena Nabucco and Tatyana Eugene Onegin (British Youth Opera). Conductors she has worked with include Sir Colin Davis, Sir Edward Downes, Richard Hickox, Paul Daniel and Ivor Bolton.
She performs regularly on the international concert platform including galas and oratorio at the Barbican, Royal Festival Hall, Royal Albert Hall and Bridgewater Hall with orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as concerts for Israeli National Television, New York concert series, The Lanka Philharmonic in Colombo and a series of staged Verdi galas for New Zealand Opera in Auckland and Wellington. Most recent performances include the Verdi Requiem in Dublin with the Guiness Choir.
Her debut CD of Menotti’s Meuro Porque non Muero was released by Chandos in January 2002, following by the title role in The Saint of Bleecker Street for Chandos conducted by Richard Hickox in April 2002.
She is currently singing the title role Tosca (Opera Holland Park at Richmond Theatre).