Praised by the Chicago Tribune as a “standout” and The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as having “a gorgeous sound and tremendous facility,” American soprano Julie Tabash Kelsheimer is quickly gaining recognition for her vocally powerful and emotionally gripping performances on operatic, musical theatre, and concert stages.

 

Recently, Julie has been seen as Gretel in Union Avenue Opera’s production of Hänsel und Gretel, Bettina (The Beethoven Project - Pine Mountain Music Festival), Mabel (Pirates of Penzance - Skylight Music Theatre), Barbarina (Le nozze di Figaro - Central City Opera), Liesl (The Sound of Music - Central City Opera), Despina (Cosí fan tutte - Pine Mountain Music Festival), Anne Egerman (A Little Night Music - Pine Mountain Music Festival) Annina (La traviata - Florentine Opera Company), Tour Guide and a Keely Family Singer (Elmer Gantry - Florentine Opera Company), and The Plaintiff (Trial by Jury - Florentine Opera Company). As a 2013-2015 Florentine Opera Studio Artist, Julie also performed Olympia/Old Blue Lady and Goldie B. Locks in John Davies’ children’s outreach operas, Pinocchio and Goldie B. Locks and the Three Singing Bears. While at The Florentine Opera, she also appeared in Festa Fiorentina and From Vienna to the Great White Way, two concerts featuring the company’s Young Artists, as well as several other operatic and cabaret concerts. Other roles include Rosasharn in the Chicago premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath and Maureen Reagan in the world stage premiere of the opera-oratorio Reagan’s Children, as well as Miss Wordsworth (Albert Herring) and Papagena (The Magic Flute) at Northwestern University.

 

In past years, Julie has been an Apprentice Artist at Central City Opera, a Studio Artist at Opera Theatre and Music Festival of Lucca, Italy, a Studio Artist at Opera Theatre of the Rockies’ Vocal Arts Symposium, and an Advanced Artist at the Los Angeles-based OperaWorks. Recent non-operatic roles include soprano soloist in J.S. Bach’s Magnificat and Buxtehude’s Jesu, meine Freude, a solo recital at Central City Opera with acclaimed pianist and coach Eric McEnaney, and a series of concerts with the Chicago-based recital group ‘no tiny birds’ led by Alan Darling. She was a 2020 winner of the Dorothy Lincoln Smith Vocal Competition, the 2016 First Place Winner of the Southern Illinois Young Artist Organization Competition, the recipient of the Central City Opera Iris Henwood Richards Award, two-time finalist and one-time winner of Northwestern University’s Concerto and Aria Competition, and a winner of three alumni scholarships from Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’ unique and prestigious Artists-In-Training program.

 

In addition to performing, Julie is a proud Associate Adjunct Professor of Music at Webster University and Saint Louis University. Julie is a member of the American Guild of Musical Artists, the Actors’ Equity Association, and the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and holds Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees, as well as a certificate in musical theatre, from Northwestern University.