Before making her way to St. Louis for her role in “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” which runs through June 29, at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Julia Bullock chatted with Gazelle about her life as a classical singer from her hotel room in Paris.
She was in the city of lights, she explained, to perform at the famed Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord in the premiere of “Zauberland: An Encounter with Schumann’s Dichterliebe” recital, which includes a series of dream sequences.
Sounds glamorous, right? She concedes that yes, it is, but maybe not as much as one might think – or maybe not in the same way. She’s even begun to rethink the gowns that come to mind when we envision a prima donna on stage. But that’s because for her, it’s all about the music – and the message.
“Don’t get me wrong, I love wearing beautiful gowns, and they can certainly set the mood in certain situations, but lately I’ve been re-thinking them,” she said. “At some point, I got tired of the hyper-glam persona of opera singers.
She said she didn’t fully embrace her natural hair until recently, but always wore it up.
“After college, I cut my hair, and now I keep it short and natural because that’s easier for me on the road,” she said.
Along with her wardrobe and style, her career and her music have also evolved, and it’s quite evident that the 32-year-old soprano is on the right track.
Her singing journey goes back to her childhood, beginning in the choir at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Webster Groves, Missouri, where she grew up. She sang with The Muny, performed in school musicals and took voice lessons. But it wasn’t until she was a teenager and her stepfather gave her some classical vocal recordings that she found the genre that really resonated with her.
“My vocal teacher suggested that I had the type of voice that could be developed for opera if I was interested in the repertoire,” Bullock said. “And those recordings sparked something in me with the range of expression, and I wanted to make those sounds myself.”
She was referred to a teacher at Washington University, and joined OTSL’s Artists-in-Training program.
“The Opera Theatre program gave me a wonderful foundation and support,” Bullock said. “They invest time and energy into young, creative people, and I’ve loved going back and working with students the last couple of years and giving them the kind of support I was given.”
And there are many things to consider that can be intimidating for young singers.
“I tell those who are apprehensive about not being fluent in a language in which they must sing that what is important is to be fluent in the language of the piece,” Bullock said.
Just like the music itself, the human expression in its heightened emotion can transcend language barriers of the lyrics.
“In every single text that I memorize, I work to get it into my system so it is coming out of me from a true understanding,” she said. “People can then get a clear impression from the vibration of energies and the sound itself, whether they understand the language or not.”
Bullock earned a bachelor’s degree at the Eastman School of Music, a master’s in vocal arts at Bard College, and an artist diploma at New York’s Juilliard School.
In 2014, she gave her first U.S. recital tour, and has had the opportunity to perform many coveted roles in opulent settings around the United States and the world.
She played the Indian Queen in Henry Purcell’s “The Indian Queen” at the Teatro Real in Madrid and the Perm Opera House and Bolshoi Theatre in Russia. She performed Susanna in Mozart’s “Le nozze di Figaro,” and title roles in Massenet’s “Cendrillon” and Janácek’s “The Cunning Little Vixen” with the Juilliard Opera.She toured South America and China as “Pamina” in Peter Brook’s “A Magic Flute,” and has appeared at New York’s Carnegie Hall. She was named the 2019-2020 Artist-in-Residence of the San Francisco Symphony, and the 2018-2019 Artist-in-Residence of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her first performance for the MET was “History’s Persistent Voice,”comprised of a collection of slave songs.
One of her favorite past roles was at the Sante Fe Opera as Kitty Oppenheimerin “Doctor Atomic,” a contemporary opera, for which the recording was nominated for a Grammy Award.
“John Adams wrote the music, and I felt I could really unleash myself,” she said. “But there have been so many ‘favorites’ for me. I have fun every day.
“I genuinely love my job. It’s joyful, and as challenging as it can be, every part of my life and interests somehow feed back into my work. And it’s a joy for me that I feel like I’m getting better and better,” she said.
“I’m very excited to be in St. Louis for ‘Fire Shut Up in My Bones,’ and I’m hoping that this piece will bring more people to the theater, and make everyone feel comfortable and like they are represented there,” she said. “Everyone needs to feel that cultural centers are representative of the full culture.”
Bullock and her husband, conductor Christian Reif, met at Juilliard, and currently live in Manhattan and San Francisco. The two will be moving to Munich in the coming year.
OTSL commissioned the world premiere of “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” by Grammy Award-winning and Oscar-nominated composer Terence Blanchard and screenwriter, director and librettist Kasi Lemmons (also born in St. Louis). It is based on the book of the same name, by New York Times columnist Charles Blow. To purchase tickets, visit opera-stl.org.
Quick-fire questions:
Favorite designer? Karolina Zmarlak (she still makes some clothes by hand)
Must-have, especially on the road? Supergoop sunscreen, SPF 35
What do you do for fun? Walking in the cities I visit, hiking, going to museums
What do you miss most about St. Louis? The Botanical Garden and walking in Forest Park, and even though I am now a vegetarian, I still think about the BBQ
