Vancouver Island born Soprano, Juliana Cook is completing her master’s degree with a specialisation in Vocal Performance at the Royal Academy of Music. She is a young dramatic soprano with a passion for performing opera and German art song. At the Academy, Juliana’s studies include private voice lessons focusing on her technique and musicality, musical interpretation and repertoire with her repertoire coach, James Baillieu, practice and the study of German, French, Italian, Russian, and Czech with language coaches, and stagecraft, i.e., drama and movement.
Prior to studying for her master’s, Juliana completed her bachelor’s degree at The University of British Columbia (UBC), earning a BMus (Hons) in Opera Performance. Whilst at UBC, Cook had many performance opportunities including playing the role of Antonia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann and the Erste Dame in a production of Die Zauberflöte that toured the Czech Republic. Along with these two pivotal roles, she was in the chorus of the operas during her time at UBC. Juliana also sang in masterclasses with world-renowned artists Sondra Radvanovsky and Canadian Tenor, Ben Heppner, as well as performed numerous choral works with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, including a concert version of Peter Grimes with late conductor Bramwell Tovey and soprano Erin Wall.
While in the UK, Juliana continues performing. In Autumn 2022, she was a member of the chorus in Stravinsky’s The Rakes Progress. She also had the opportunity to play Fiordiligi from Così fan tutte in the Academy’s Summer Scenes. Juliana has also had the privilege and honour to sing as one of the finalists in the prestigious Richard Lewis/Jean Shanks Award.
Juliana’s focus while studying at the Royal Academy of Music has been to expand her body of repertoire while developing her vocal technique and stamina to endure a long performance career. Her future career goal is to become a well-rounded musician, performing internationally in operas, oratorios, and solo concerts. Alongside her work, Juliana intends to support emerging artists, particularly those from British Columbia, through masterclasses and eventually to guide students toward developing their own skills at a professional collegiate level. The support of professional Canadian artists throughout her education has been deeply meaningful, and she hopes to be able to give back to future young musicians in the same way.
The opportunities Juliana has already experienced with the Academy have been beyond what she could have imagined when first moving to London and she is incredibly excited and thankful to continue this year as a CCSF scholar.
