Julie Newell

Master of Music, Syracuse University - University Fellow

In 2012, Professor Julie Newell was named a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor by the SUNY Board of Trustees. A member of the SUNY Fredonia Voice Faculty, Ms. Newell is also a recipient of the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creativity, the SUNY Research Foundation Award for Excellence, the SUNY Alumni Achievement Award, the SUNY Fredonia Alumni Achievement Award, the Jessie Hillman Award for Excellence, and the SUNY Fredonia Hagan Young Scholar/Artist Award. For 27 years, Professor Newell served as Producer of the annual Hillman Opera at SUNY Fredonia and served as Coordinator of the Opera Program. She teaches studio voice and is active as an operatic stage director for professional opera companies and orchestras and for student opera productions at SUNY Fredonia. Together with Fredonia colleague Distinguished Teaching Professor Paul Mockovak she has led Fredonia voice students on multiple performance tours in the Marche region of Italy and Shimoda, Japan.

Hailed by both the New York Times and the New York Post, Ms. Newell has appeared on numerous occasions at Lincoln Center in New York, most notably as the soprano soloist in a world premier performance of Gian-Carlo Menotti's LANDSCAPES AND REMEMBRANCES, with the composer attending, in celebration of his 85th birthday. Additional Lincoln Center performances have included the modern era premier of Antonio Vivaldi's opera ARSILDA, REGINA DI PONTO, and the North American premier of Vivaldi's opera L'OLIMPIADE. Her Lincoln Center debut came with only one day's notice for performances of Menotti's solo concert work for soprano and chorus MUERO, PORQUE NO MUERO.

A recipient of performance awards from OPERA America and the William Matheus Sullivan Foundation, Ms. Newell has appeared throughout the U.S. as many of the most recognized operatic heroines including: Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Mimi (LA BOHEME), Liu (TURANDOT), and Lauretta (GIANNI SCHICCHI); Verdi's Desdemona (OTHELLO), Alice Ford (FALSTAFF), and Gilda (RIGOLETTO); Mozart's Fiordiligi (COSI FAN TUTTE), Pamina (THE MAGIC FLUTE), Donna Elvira (DON GIOVANNI), and Countess Almaviva (THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO); as well as Micaela (CARMEN), Rosalinda (DIE FLEDERMAUS), Nedda (I PAGLIACCI), Alice Ford and Anne Page 
(THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR), Marzelline (FIDELIO), Berta (BARBER OF SEVILLE), and Echo ( ARIADNE AUF NAXOS). She has also performed in contemporary operatic leading soprano roles in Britten's THE TURN OF THE SCREW, Argento's POSTCARD FROM MOROCCO, Harbison's FULL MOON IN MARCH, and Menotti's THE MEDIUM. She created the role of Irene in Richard Wargo's CHEKHOV TRILOGY for Chautauqua Opera. She has appeared with the opera companies of Arizona (Phoenix and Tuscon), Long Beach(CA), Indianapolis, Orlando, Memphis, Chautauqua, Buffalo, and Syracuse.

Her work as a concert performer has included performances with the Little Orchestra Society of New York, Indianapolis Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic,
Spokane Symphony, Chautauqua Symphony, Syracuse Symphony, Shreveport Symphony, Duluth Symphony, Kalamazoo Symphony, and the Western New York Chamber Orchestra in solo repertoire including: Richard Strauss' VIER LETZTE LIEDER (FOUR LAST SONGS) Barber's KNOXVILLE: SUMMER OF 1915, Mahler's SECOND SYMPHONY and FOURTH SYMPHONY, Beethoven's NINTH SYMPHONY and AH! PERFIDO!, Britten's WAR REQUIEM, Poulenc's GLORIA, Mozart's EXSULTATE JUBILATE and REQUIEM, J.S. Bach's MASS IN B MINOR, ST. MATTHEW PASSION, ST. JOHN PASSION, and JAUCHZET GOTT, as well as Orff's CARMINA BURANA, Mendelssohn's ELIJAH, and numerous performances of Handel's MESSIAH.
Conductors with whom she has collaborated include David Zinman, Christopher Keene, Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Maximiano Valdes, Paul Nadler, Joel Revzen, Richard Kapp, Ian Hobson, and Fabio Mechetti. She has shared the stage with such notable artists as Sherrill Milnes, Jerome Hines, Mark Delevan, and Lynne Redgrave. Ms. Newell has appeared as guest soloist for 17 consecutive seasons with the acclaimed Skaneateles Chamber Music Festival.

An active operatic stage director, Ms. Newell's productions have appeared on stage for the Buffalo Philharmonic, under the baton of Maestra JoAnn Falletta. For Syracuse Opera Company, Ms. Newell has served as stage director for Bernstein's CANDIDE as well as for a PBS film, in collaboration with WCNY, of NO COWARDS IN OUR BAND, a work focused on the life and words of Frederick Douglass. She has directed numerous productions with the Western New York Chamber Orchestra, under the baton of Dr. Glen Cortese, including John Musto's BASTIANELLO, Britten's TURN OF THE SCREW, Menotti's THE CONSUL, and Mozart's DON GIOVANNI, to name only a few.

Active in Arts Administration, Ms. Newell has served as General Manager of the Syracuse Opera Company, Executive Director of the Western New York Chamber Orchestra, and President of the United Arts Appeal of Chautauqua County.
She is honored to have served as an adjudicator for the Metropolitan Opera District Auditions.

She is a proud SUNY Fredonia School of Music alumna, graduating with dual degrees in Vocal Performance and Music Education. She received her Master of Music degree from Syracuse University, as a University Fellow, where she studied with renowned soprano and teacher Helen Boatwright.

Teaching Interests

Classical and Musical Theatre Studio Voice
ALL THINGS OPERA including but not limited to:
repertoire, acting, stage directing, history, educational outreach through opera
Arts Administration, particularly operatic production
French Song literature
singer experiences with TMJ and associated physical experiences

Research Interests

Opera - history of theatrical technique
TMJ disorder and associated health concerns for singers

Awards and Honors