Julie Simson

Julie Simson has sung with opera companies throughout the United States including Houston Opera, Dallas Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Memphis, and Opera Colorado performing such roles as Hansel in Hansel and Gretel, the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos, and Suzuki in Madama Butterfly. She has also performed as soloist in major oratorio works with the Denver, Colorado Springs, Cedar Rapids, Omaha and Milwaukee Symphonies and in Boulder at the MahlerFest and Bach Festival. Miss Simson was the recipient of a grant to study and perform in Europe where she subsequently won the prestigious Mozart Prize at the International Belvedere Competition in Vienna. After winning First Prize at the East & West Artists International Competition, she made her New York recital debut in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Miss Simson was featured in two concerts at the International George Crumb Festival in Prague Czech Republic, and in recital and masterclasses at the Hochschule fur Musik Hans Eisler in Berlin Germany. Her recordings include Mahler's 8th Symphony with the Colorado MahlerFest and Horatio Parker's Hora Novissima on the Albany label, and an American Art Song CD on the songs of Richard Faith. Upcoming engagements include Nixon in China with Opera Colorado. This production will be recorded on the Naxos label in the future. Miss Simson holds degrees from Western Michigan University and the University of Illinois. Also renowned for her teaching of Voice, she is currently the recipient of the Berton Coffin Faculty Fellowship Endowment and has been a Master-Teacher in the NATS Intern Program. Miss Simson is currently a Professor of Voice at the University of Colorado-Boulder. Recent performances include the leading role in Midnight Angel by David Carlson with the Skylight Opera in Milwaukee and La Traviata with Opera Colorado.