Julia Scannell

Julia Scannell, soprano, is a native of Plymouth, Michigan, and completed her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music. Roles and partial roles at Indiana University include Giulia, Zerlina, 2nd Lady, 1st Lady, and Mercedes. She graduated with her Master of Music in Voice Performance and Literature program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in May 2024. Performances at the University of Illinois include performing as a soprano soloist with The Illinois Bach Academy, the roles of Fiordiligi and Donna Anna in Opera Scenes Class, Marcia (cover) for Met the Musical, and performing as a soloist with Concerto Urbano, the university’s premiere Baroque Ensemble. Julia is no stranger to new music and has sung in two world premiere chamber operas, starring as Maria/Opera Diva in The Sneeze by Jiwon Hahn and Jude O’Dell, and as 1st Rusalka in Rusalka, a Ukrainian Opera by Mykola Leontovych.

During the Fall of 2023, she performed the role of Donna Elvira in University of Illinois Voice Area Opera’s production of Don Giovanni, and in the spring of 2024, performed the role of Fiordiligi in Voice Area Opera's production of Cosi Fan Tutte. During the summer of 2024, she reprised the role of Donna Elvira, in Chicago Summer Opera's production of Don Giovanni.

Most recent awards include winning the Jaqueline Avent Concerto Competition during the Summer of 2023, at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival, where she was an Emerging Artist, and being a Semi-Finalist in the MI Opera International Vocal Competition.

She has sung with world-class orchestras, including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra.

She is pursuing her Doctorate of Musical Arts at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, with an additional cognate in Vocal Health and Science. She wants to be a singing professor at a university someday. She is a Graduate Teaching Assistant and teaches Applied Voice to non-music majors and Italian Diction. She also maintains a private voice teaching studio. For the past four semesters, she has consistently been on the List of Teachers Ranked Excellent by their students by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Julia has over 4 years of voice teaching experience! Besides performing, teaching singers is her passion, and she hopes to share the knowledge she has gained from her training, with singers from across the country and world!