Julia Adolphe

photo credit: Jonathan Adolphe

Julia Adolphe (b. 1988) is a composer, writer, and soprano whose music embraces diverse artistic and sociological influences, unfolding intricate emotional narratives. Adolphe’s work has received performances across the United States and abroad in New York City, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Paris, Berlin, and Pavia, Italy. Sylvia, a chamber opera based on her original story and libretto, has been presented by Bargemusic (NYC), The Lost Studio Theatre (Los Angeles); and the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, in excerpt. Adolphe is currently  working on a new opera set in present-day Iran.

Adolphe has received numerous awards for her compositions, including grants from the American Composers Forum, New Music USA, Sam Spiegel Foundation, Anna Sosenko Assist Trust, and Puffin Foundation. She received the Theodore Front Prize from the International Alliance for Women in Music, the Jimmy McHugh Composition Prize, John James Blackmore Prize, and John S. Knight Prize. Adolphe is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the USC Thornton School of Music studying composition with Stephen Hartke. Prior teachers include Steven Stucky, Donald Crockett, and Frank Ticheli. Adolphe holds a Master of Music degree in music composition from USC and a Bachelor of Arts degree in music composition and literary theory from Cornell University.

Dark Sand, Sifting Light imagines a piano playing in the distance, overheard through an open apartment window. As the listener poised beneath the window begins to daydream, the piano sounds take on larger orchestral colors. Her mind wanders and the music transforms.