Biography of Julia Nafisi
Julia began her voice training in her hometown Munich/Germany under Kammersänger Friedrich Lenz and continued her studies in Vienna/Austria with, amongst others, Prof. Kammersängerin Hilde Rössel-Majdan and Prof. Kammersänger Walter Berry, finishing with the Bühnenreifeprüfung Oper (Final Stage Examination Opera). In Vienna Julia studied extensively Prof. Müller-Preis’ Atem-Stimme-Bewegung (Breath-Voice-Movement) method and assisted the Professor in many Master Classes/workshops, for instance at the International Summer Academy in Salzburg. Julia holds a MMusStud (Master of Music Studies – Vocal Pedagogy) from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (The University of Sydney), Graduate Diploma of Education (Music and German) from the Australian Catholic University and a PhD in Music Education from Monash University, Melbourne.
Julia has appeared in Opera (e.g. with Neue Oper Wien, Kammeroper Wien, Podium Europa) Oratorio (e.g. soloist Bach’s St John Passion in St Stephen’s Cathedral and B-Minor Mass on tour in Italy) and Lieder-Recitals across Europe and Australia, at the Salzburg Festival with the Early Music Ensemble Il Diletto Moderno, with the Vienna State Opera Chorus under Sir Georg Solti, the Concentus Vocalis and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. In Australia Julia has appeared in many concerts and recitals (e.g. in the Mozart on the Mountain concert series, St John,Southgate [with the Melbourne Musicians] in Federation Square’s BMW-Edge [with associate artist Jochen Schubert, guitar], Melba Hall [with Peter Hurley, piano], soloist with Gloriana chamber choir, Bach@Trinity and in the Lieder Society of Victoria’s recital series. For more details and to view and listen to some of her recordings, please go to Performer.
Besides her performing career, Julia is a dedicated teacher and voice researcher. She has taught at Monash University, the Australian Catholic University, the MacRoberston Girls’ High School as well as in a leading Acting and Performing Arts Academy in Vienna, Austria. She currently teaches voice and vocal pedagogy at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne. As an Honorary Research Fellow at the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology at the University of Melbourne she conducts and supervises studies concerning the interrelation between the voice and gesture/movement. In her private studio, Julia teaches students of all ages. For details on her teaching philosophy and to view some of her lectures, please go to Teacher.
As a researcher Julia has conducted several pioneering studies and regularly presents at international and national conferences. She has published a book chapters and numerous articles in published in highly regarded journals like the British Journal of Music Education and the Australian Journal of Music Education. For more details and to read some of her articles, please go to Researcher.
Since early 2019, Julia is a co-editor of the Australian Voice research journal. For more info and to access this publication, please go to https://www.australianvoice.net.au/
Julia is a National Council member of the Australian National Association of Teachers of Singing, ANATS Ltd, current President of the Victorian Chapter of ANATS as well as Vice-president of the Lieder Society of Victoria.