Юлия Соколовa

 Biography

Julia Sokolov was born in the Belaruss and raised in Israel.

She graduated from the Rubin Academy for Music and Dance in Jerusalem, where she studied voice with Miriam Meltzer, Michal Shamir and worked with Ido Ariel and Sofia Mazar.

In 2010, she won first prize in the orchestra singing competition in Jerusalem.

She performed on stage with roles such as: Contessa in Le Nozze di Figaro by Mozart, Suor Genovieffa in Suor Angelica by Puccini, Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus by J.Strauss, Violetta in La Traviata by G.Verdi , and many other roles.

Additional engagements of Julia Sokolov include concerts, recitals and regular appearances on television and radio as a musical performer. With the Raanana Symphonette Orchestra, Julia Sokolov performed the Letter Scene from opera Eugeni Onegin by P.I. Tchaikovski and with the orchestra Sinfonietta of Beer Sheva, she sung arias from opera Cosi fan tutti by A.Mozart and from La Traviata by G.Verdi.

Julia Sokolov took part in the International Vocal Arts Institute (IVAI) where she studied, participated in concerts and masterclasses and became a recipient of special scholarship 2011.

Her other prizes include the several America- Israel Cultural Foundation scholarships and Zfunot tarbut .

Pavel Yuchvidin
Julia Sokolov: opera and song

Every vocal ascent is happy in its own way. Some of those, whose singing career has successfully taken place, were unaware of their God's gift up to 18-19 years (i.e. until the voice mutation) and began to study music as adults, often having other professions. To those, who were taught to play on some instrument from a young age, it was easier to switch to singing, when their voice has revealed after the youth change. So it was, for example, with Paul Lisitsian who as a child studied cello, and then became one of the best baritones. Another example is now world-renowned baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky - and I am a witness, as I taught music history in his group – he had intended to study musicology after musical-teaching colledge. Dmitri was hardly convinced, to the chagrin of my fellow theorists, that there are still vocal perspectives for him.

But the singer Julia Sokolov, who’s artistic formation takes place in front of us and has already impressed us by the rapid growth and versatility, got involved into the singing as a child and says that she always wanted to sing, and the idol of her adolescence was Maria Callas. Julia started to sing in the chorus "Cantilena" and the city’s children's ensemble, in Baranovichi in Belarus, where she was born. Then, in Israel, where she lives since she was 15, Julia engaged in conservatory and was a solist-vocal of pupil orchestra, then joined the Jerusalem Rubin Academy of Music, vocal faculty and graduated with Bachelor of Arts degree.

Her teacher - the famous Israeli singer Michal Shamir, who made an international career in leading opera houses in the world such as Berlin, Vienna, Hamburg, Geneva, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and others. Michal believes that “Julia has a beautiful voice with very expressive tone, and her singing is emotionally expressive”.

However, the audience is already acquainted with Julia Sokolov in the various artistic manifestations. Julia sang the most complex (vocally and in stage terms) parties in the Israeli Opera productions – the Countess Rosina in "Il Nozza di Figaro" by Mozart in Italian and Rosalind in Jerusalem's staging of "Die Fledermaus" by Johann Strauss in German. That is, Julia made her debut as heroine of the classical Viennese opera and classical Viennese operetta.

She twice became the winner of the Cultural Foundation Award "America-Israel". In January 2010 she won the contest of young singers that was held in Jerusalem. As a result of this competition, Doron Solomon, the conductor of "Sinfonietta" Orchestra of Be'er Sheva, invited her to perform the Fiordiligi's aria from "Cosi fan tutte" by Mozart and Violetta's aria from "La Traviata" by Verdi at the April symphony concert. Here at this concert it became clear to me that Julia is indeed natural opera singer with great vocal abilities, very good artistic nature and understanding of the music and drama unity.

In addition, Julia Sokolov steadily performs across the country in the chamber (romance) and vocal concerts. For example, together with the singer Anatoly Line, one of the best baritones of Israel and with the pianist and composer Alexander Krinsky, Julia recently presented the show "Songs that come up from the screen" in several cities of the country. The program is based on the classics from cinema music composers of the twentieth century, such as Isaiah Berlin, George Gershwin, Isaac Dunaevsky, Michel Legrand, Andrey Petrov, Alexander Zatsepin. She appeared before the audience on TV channel "Israel +" in March, when fragments of this program were shown.

Such versatility, the ability to modulate in different layers of music shows us the rich musician nature, the excellent professionalism and the artistic multidimensionality. That's why musicians, collaborating with a young singer, praise her with sincerity.
Daniel Ehrlich, the director who run an opera by Mozart and Strauss' operetta, has no doubt in her future as a great opera singer, "because she is blessed with more than unique voice", and Ido Ariel - pianist, ensemble player and coach of many Israeli singers, believes that "the voice of Julia - one of the most beautiful and rich lyric sopranos, full of expression and power". Pianist Igor Berov says, "From the first joint rehearsal I immediately realized I was dealing with excellent professional with a stunning beauty and timbre of voice, excellent intuition, subtle stylistic diversity, great work capacity and a wide repertoire".

And even more so you can believe to responsive and experienced musician, composer and pianist Alexander Krinsky (his songs were performed by Lev Leshchenko and Joseph Kobzon – famous Russian singers). He was working in the Moscow Philharmonic in academic and pop genres for many years, and he assures that Julia Sokolov "equally possesses such qualities as beauty of voice timbre, at the stage energy behavior, outer beauty, facial expressions, gestures – all of these make every performance by her so harmonic".
But I was inquiring Julia about thorns in her professional maturing. She arrived as a schoolgirl without having learned even in a musical school and there she goes straight to the Jerusalem Academy of Music. And already performs parties of the major characters!

Julia doesn't really get my repatriate's skepticism: - "I'm almost native. I finished school here, engaged in Holon-Bat Yam conservatory. I spent a lot of time on solfeggio (You can't go without developing hearing in our profession); I learned languages, parties, roles, participated in contests. I'm always learning something, preparing for exams and competitions, concerts and performances. Also, I need to retain good physical fitness. Nothing is given effortlessly. Now I learn to my second degree, finished a master class by Professor Jeanette Favaro-Reuter at the Leipzig Conservatory, I'm preparing for the symphonic evening with the complex and contrasting classic program, and for one of the reputable international competitions – I will not tell you which, as a precaution, - and to work in the summer opera master classes with the Metropolitan Opera.

P.Y.: Do you strive to enter the international level?
Julia Sokolov: First of all, I aspire to learn a lot. And any actor wants to go international.

P.Y.: What originally formed your attraction to the musical profession?
Julia Sokolov: Initially, of course, the family, as my mom sings beautifully. And in childhood and youth – singing and learning in the chorus "Cantilena", which was led by a remarkable choirmaster Boris Gavrilovich Kozhevnikov. He is now assistant professor of choral conducting at the Faculty of Education in University of Vitebsk.

- P.Y.: And how your relatives feel about your learning and working? Do they encourage your affairs or say: "Let it go, there is plenty of musicians in Israel, find a better profession?"
J.S.: I was lucky with my relatives. My husband Oleg Shapiro – a famous designer, supports me a lot. And he is, by the way, the author of the video clip made to the music of Gluck that was shown on television.

P.Y.: Oh, it's Helen's aria from the opera "Paris and Helen" by Gluck, with instrumental party arranged a-la Emerson, with synthesizer and drums.
J.S.: I think that Christophe Willibald Gluck himself was the greatest innovator in the drama and the orchestration and was always responsive to the contemporary audience; I think he would not object.

P.Y.: Wagner orchestrated Gluck' operas in the late-romantic-style – with five clarinets, rectifier horns and trombones. Why would not arrange them by the means of rock music a century and a half later, especially not in the theater, but in the genre of video clip.
But let's go back to your parents. Maybe they are musicians, opera lovers?
J.S.: Indeed, my mother Svetlana Kaminsky is a naturally very musical woman, she is a gifted singer.

P.Y.: What an artistic name! Once upon a time Jewish Theatre had a great actress named Esther Kaminsky, she was called "Jewish Eleanor Duse." Her daughter Ida has also become a famous actress, and her son Joseph was a famous violinist and composer. Do you know about these namesakes?

J.S.: You bet! But they are not just namesakes. Great Jewish actress Ester-Rachel Halpern, whose name was given to Jewish Theatre in Warsaw (still existing) married entrepreneur and actor Abraham Kaminsky. His brother is my great-grandfather. My mother, therefore, is a great-niece of Ida and Joseph. Except for my great-grandfather, they had a cousin: violinist Simon Pullman. He worked in Vienna, but in the terrible years of the Holocaust he has been taken to Treblinka and perished, like millions of Jews. Joseph, a violinist known already in Poland and Germany, was invited to Symphony Orchestra of Israel (then called of Palestine), in 1936. Bronislav Guberman, who created the Orchestra, was also born in Poland. Joseph Kaminsky served as concertmaster of the Israel Philharmonic and was his "home" composer for many years.

P.Y.: Yes, many works by Kaminsky – overtures, the play "Aliya", Violin Concerto and The Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra, Ballade for Harp and Orchestra remain in the repertoire of the Israel Philharmonic, and are recorded on discs. At one time Joseph Kaminski was the conductor of the orchestra – in any case, he conducted a concert in honor of the Jewish Brigade, which departed to the Egyptian front in October 1944.
J.S.: And daughter of Ida Kaminsky Ruth married a brilliant trumpeter and creator of the jazz orchestra named Eddie Rosner (his passport name was Adolf, but in the 30's he left it for obvious reasons). Together they fled from the Nazis to the Soviet Union, lived in Belostok in Western Belarus for two years (Rosner even got the title of Honored Artist of the BSSR). My mother doesn't know about Ruth and my grandfather seeking for each other or meeting. During the war, Rosner and orchestra performed at the fronts and in many cities. After the war they tried to return to Poland, but were arrested; Rosner was sentenced to 10 years in the camps, and Ruth – to five. In the early 50's Ruth went to Poland and then to her mother in New York, and Rosner remained in the Soviet Union as a head of the re-created by him orchestra until its dissolution, after which he left to West Berlin in the 70th, where he died .

P.Y.: So, you are a relative of the Kaminsky artistic family and in a sense repeating the path of Joseph Kaminsky: coming from the former Polin to the motherland of ancestors.
J.S.: Yes, Baranovichi was once the territory of Poland.

P.Y.: But back to your repertoire and genre preferences. Do you imagine yourself as an opera, chamber, or pop singer? Or a teacher – in fact you are also teaching singing at the Music Center "Steinberg" in the city of Holon.

J.S.: I do not think that the artist should decide his profile for himself once and for all and never surpass these boundaries. Remember, how many opera singers performed beautifully on stage. The brightest example here, of course, is Muslim Magomayev. Academic school, the correct setting of the voice and breathing are not an obstacle, but always a help – both in pop songs and in jazz. How many talented pop singers left the stage early because their voice was worn out! Worn out because they did not work on setting their voice, and setting in fact is needed in order to mitigate the voice depreciation rates. On the other hand, many opera singers can not do jazz improvisation, and pop singers are not acquainted with the world chamber repertoire.

P.Y.: There were happy exceptions: for example, the entire Soviet Union knew Eduard Hil as a crooner, but he performed the program from the Schubert and Mahler cycles in the Small Hall of the Leningrad Philharmonic at the same time – I attended his chamber music concert at Engelgard hall myself.

J.S.: So, ideally, it should be. And if I feel that I somehow lack the skills or understanding, I strive ... to understand and learn. Yes, I am very fond of Mozart and Gluck – there is such a depth that life is not enough to learn it. But the late-romantic German "Lied" (by Richard Strauss, Mahler) attracts me too. One of the performances I am preparing to includes 4 songs by Richard Strauss for voice and orchestra. I like Russian romances, and Spanish Romancero –and now I'm working on Spanish songs by Manuel de Falla. I do not share the neglecting attitude to operetta, as some of my colleagues and peers do.
Operetta has such a scope for multiple actors' decisions, and moreover, Johann Strauss and Kalman wrote for a well-set opera voices. Recently, I and Anatoly Line, a great singer and a wonderful actor, played excerpts from Lehar's Operettas for several evenings, dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Great Aliyah (Repatriation). The audience received us so warmly! And it is such happiness for an artist to see that he brings joy!

I hope I have something to say in jazz and on stage and have something to learn from jazz pianists, many of whom have an academic education – take Alexander Krinsky for example, he is a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory.
And I must admit I am very much involved in teaching now. When you teach others, "pull out" the voice, discover hidden talents in a person, you discover a lot of things in a new light.

P.Y.: I thank you and wish you success in all your endeavors and all fields.