Phyllis Bryn-Julson
Although the American soprano Phyllis Bryn-Julson has sung a wide range of repertory throughout her career, she has tended to favor and often champion modern, even avant-garde works, including some by Boulez, Wuorinen, Carter, Crumb, Sessions, Ligeti, Birtwistle and Henze. She is known for her perfect pitch, vocal accuracy at fast tempos and extraordinary three-octave range, qualities that have made her an easy choice by composers of difficult modern repertory.
Born in Bowdon, North Dakota on February 5, 1945, she began piano lessons at the age of three. She continued piano studies at Concordia College in Minnesota, already showing a predilection for twelve-tone music. She also took instruction there on organ, violin and voice. At the behest of Gunther Schuller she turned to vocal studies, first at Tanglewood, then at Syracuse University, where she studied with Helen Boatwright. She made her debut in 1966 in Berg's Lulu Suite, with Erich Leinsdorf (an early mentor) and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Thereafter she performed widely with major orchestras in America and Europe, though her first appearance on the operatic stage did not come until 1976 in Boston, when she sang Malinche in the world premiere of Sessions' Montezuma. She made her highly successful debut at the proms in London the following year, again in a modern work, this time Henze's The Raft of Medusa.
In 1984 Bryn-Julson joined the faculty at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, having already taught at the University of Maryland for thirteen years. 1987 was a year of triumphs for Bryn-Julson, with highly acclaimed appearances at Covent Garden in Stravinsky's The Nightingale and Ravel's L'enfant et les sortileges. That same year she sang in Moscow with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra and then conducted a master class at the Moscow Conservatory, the first American ever to do so.
In 1995 Byrn-Julson won a Gramophone Award for her performance of Schoenberg's Erwartung. She received Grammy nominations in 1997 and 1998 for two acclaimed recordings, the first, Dallapicolla's Il Prigioniero, and the latter, Schumann's Frauenliebe und Leben.
In 2000 she delivered one of her most memorable and critically hailed performances when she sang Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire at the Norton-Simon Museum Theater in Pasadena, California. Bryn-Julson continued making many highly successful appearances through 2005, the year she announced her retirement from singing. She continues to chair the voice department at Peabody.
© TiVo
Discography
20 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
-
Sibelius: Tone Poems
Alexander Gibson, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Phyllis Bryn-Julson
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on 1 Aug 1985
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius: Tone Poems
The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Alexander Gibson
Classical - Released by Chandos on 1 Aug 1985
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Overtures & Incidental Music
Minnesota Orchestra, Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Stanisław Skrowaczewski, Bach Society of Minnesota
Classical - Released by Vox Box on 1 Jan 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music of George Walker
George Walker, Phyllis Bryn-Julson
Classical - Released by NWCRI on 1 Jan 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Légendes de Lemminkaïnen
Susan Tyte, Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Adrian Shepherd, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Alexander Gibson
Symphonic Music - Released by Chandos on 1 Aug 1978
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Harrison Birtwistle: Punch and Judy
Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Jan DeGaetani, Stephen Roberts, David Wilson-Johnson, London Sinfonietta, David Atherton
Opera - Released by NMC Recordings on 1 Jan 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schoenberg: 3 Song Cycles (Emanuel Schikaneder - Arnold Schoenberg - Otto Julius Bierbaum)
Classical - Released by Music and Arts Programs of America on 1 Jan 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Charles Tomlinson Griffes: Orchestral Works & Songs
Sherrill Milnes, Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Olivia Stapp
Classical - Released by New World Records on 1 Jan 1976
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Song Cycles, Op. 24, 42, & 48
Leon Fleisher, Phyllis Bryn-Julson, John Shirley-Quirk
Classical - Released by Arabesque Recordings on 7 Oct 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
WOLPE: The Man from Midian / Violin Sonata
Cameron Grant, Jorja Fleezanis, Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Garrick Ohlsson
Classical - Released by Naxos on 1 Jan 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lazarof: Choral Symphony No. 3 & Encounters with Dylan Thomas
Sheila Nadler, Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Terry Cook, Seattle Symphony Chorale, Seattle Symphony, Gerard Schwarz
Choral Music (Choirs) - Released by Centaur Records, Inc. on 1 Sep 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Krenek: Chamber Works
Chamber Music - Released by Orfeo on 4 Apr 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Voices From Elysium: Art Songs by Copland, Cowell, Seeger, Gideon, and Talma
Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Paul Sperry, Beverly Morgan, Constantine Cassolas
Classical - Released by New World Records on 1 Sep 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
FELCIANO, R.: American Decameron (A) (Bryn-Julson)
Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Southwest Chamber Music, Jeff von der Schmidt
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Cambria on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wuorinen / Dallapiccola / Messiaen: 3 20th Century Song Cycles (Charles Wuorinen - Dylan Thomas - Luigi Dallapiccola)
Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Mark Markham
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Music and Arts Programs of America on 1 Apr 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wuorinen / Schuller / Carter: 3 Modern American Song Cycles (Charles Wuorinen - Dylan Thomas - Gunther Schuller)
Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Mark Markham
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Music and Arts Programs of America on 1 Apr 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mario Davidovsky: Scenes from Shir ha Shirim; Romancero
Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Diane Ragains
Classical - Released by NWCRI on 29 Oct 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Normand Lockwood | George Walker
Classical - Released by NWCRI on 15 May 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bretan: Sacred Songs
Ludovic Konya, Phyllis Bryn-Julson
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Nimbus Records on 17 Aug 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
POWELL, M.: Haiku Setting / 2 Prayer Settings / Settings / Little Companion Pieces / Strand Settings / Levertov Breviary (Bryn-Julson, Spiro) ( Anonymous - Mel Powell - Paul Goodman)
Classical - Released by Cambria on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo