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The Portuguese soprano, scholar and music educator, Júlia Coelho (ʒuliʌ kuʌʎu), obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy (minor: Foreign Languages) from the Faculdade de Letras, Universidade de Lisboa (FLUL), Portugal (2006-July 2010); and also studied at Università degli Studi di Salerno, Italy - European Exchange, Program ERASMUS (2009-2010). It was there that she began her music studies as a Fine Arts singer, continuing her academic and professional endeavors in music performance, research, and teaching in the USA after 2014. She obtained her Master of Music degree in Canto Lirico/Opera (minor: Music History) from Conservatorio Domenico Cimarosa, Avellino, Italy (2012-July 2013); her Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from University of Missouri (MU) in Columbia, Missouri (2014-July 2017); her Master of Arts in Musicology from University of Missouri (MU) in Columbia Missouri (2015-July 2018). She is currently pursuing two doctoral degrees at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas (since 2018; expected gaduation in 2024): DMA in Vocal Performance (Music Theory related field) and Ph.D. in Musicology (AbD) (Early Music related field). Her PhD dissertation and current larger research project is entitled "Representations of Disability in Seventeenth-Century Venetian Opera."
Júlia Coelho worked and studied for several years in Italy and then Missouri. As a scholar-performer-educator, she is active in research/ publication, performance, and teaching. Although her performance and research speciality has a focus in Early Music, she also embraces several other music genres, from Fine Arts New Music to Jazz standards, and Portuguese Folk and Fado music, and traditional Jewish Sephardi repertoire. She currently works as a Teaching Fellow at the University of North Texas in the Music History area, and teaches applied music in private and group classes. In addition, she performs weekly at DUUF as their Song Leader, often accompanying her singing with the Gothic harp, psaltery, piano, or keyboard. She is the current editor of Harmonia, a Musicology, Ethnomusicology and Music Theory peer-reviewed journal.
Besides her music and research-related activities, she has been writing poetry in Portuguese from the age of 9, now writing also in Italian and English languages. She has published an original book of poetry called Fragmentos de Infinito (2017; see publications section).
As a scholar/researcher/writer, Júlia Coelho has publications in English, Portuguese, and Italian in Music History, Music Theory, and Philosophy (see publications section). She has presented papers at regional, national, and international conferences on Monteverdi and Mozart in the U.S. and in Europe, as well as several lecture-recitals and invited talks on Thomas Campion, Portuguese history and music, Protest Music, and Music and Disability.
As a soprano (primary instrument), Júlia Coelho performs regularly in a variety of musical contexts and events, from formal concerts to recitals, weddings, services, etc. She records music professionally on a regularly basis (including being featured in 3 New Music albums so far), has performed in several operas and chamber music concerts in the USA and in Europe, and has won several performance awards at national and international competitions. Most recently, she was awarded the 1st prize of the 2022 International Charleston Baroque Music Competition both in the solo category (with orchestra) and in the duet category, where she recorded and performed all the parts with 2 voices, keyboard/harpsichord, and Gothic harp.
Prior to her work in music, Júlia Coelho studied Philosophy and Foreign Languages, teaching, translating, and researching in these two areas--a work that she continues today, extending it now to translation and research in musicology and music theory topics. As an educator, she has over a decade of teaching experience in applied music, music history, music theory, and languages. At the University of North Texas, she works as a Teaching Fellow in the Music History area and, in the Summer, as an instructor for pre-college classes, namely the courses "Popular Music," "Music Appreciation," "Italian as a Foreign Language," and "European Portuguese Language and Culture." In addition to her university teaching duties, she teaches private lessons in voice, piano, and composition (ages 2-70+), as well as group classes focused on musical theater and early childhood education (ages 2-12). She currently lives in Denton, Texas. |
