Julia Migenes
Julia is a New York story… She comes from an immigrant family with five siblings, living on welfare in New York City. But from her teens on, she had the great fortune to work with great artists Bernstein, Jerome Robbins, Zero Mostel and Gian Carlo Menotti. She had a natural voice, and could sing without having voice lessons, but needed technique to be able to dance well…. (She says, “I’m married to my voice, but my lover is dancing”)… In order to take dance lessons, she would pay for her lessons by sweeping and straightening up the dance studio. As a teenager, she was chosen to sing in Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts. Julia won the Albanese award for young singers, and went on to sing Maria in West Side Story, on Off-Broadway. She then starred as Hodel opposite Zero Mostel in the original Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof and sang Annina, the young saint, in Menotti’s Saint of Bleaker Street, directed by Menotti himself. Julia left New York to sing at the Volksoper in Vienna, Austria, then the opera and concert stages plus television, all over Europe, England, Ireland, France, Denmark, Hungary, East Berlin, West Berlin, Switzerland and Germany, and she has toured with Placido Domingo in South America, Mexico, Australia and Europe. She sang and was the host of the London TV series Top C’s and Tiaras, and also in Germany, her own TV show, Ich Bin Da. Julia returned to the U.S. as a soloist in Metropolitan Opera productions of La Boheme, Pagliacci, Rise and Fall fo the City of Mahagonny and in the title role of Lulu by Alban Berg, a role known for its extreme difficulty. Her performance as Salome at the Grand Théatre in Geneva led to the starring role in Italian director Francesco Rosi’s film version of Carmen, alongside Placido Domingo and Ruggiero Raimondi (César and David di Donatello Award nominations for best actress); the movie achieved cult status, and the soundtrack went on to win a Grammy Award. The one and only opera she directed was Rossini’s, The Barber Of Seville, which was nominated in the category of Best Opera in France. Julia’s recorded over 30 CDs and DVDs. Her awards include the Edison Classical Music Award; two Golden Bambies; and Golden Lion, Golden Camera and Golden Microphone Awards. (She has at home another Grammy award from 1990, but, for the life of her, she can’t remember what it was for……it remains a mystery…..)