Recognized by Opera as “a star-to-be” following her Lincoln Center debut, young Russian-American soprano Yulia Van Doren’s debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra was acclaimed as a “revelation… a ravishing lyric voice and an ease with vocal ornamentation that turned her into an enchanted songbird” (Toronto Star). For her last minute step-in with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Cleveland Plain Dealer praised Van Doren as an artist of “melting poignancy” and added, “To Van Doren, one could easily have listened for hours.”

Ms. Van Doren’s ²⁰¹⁶⁄₁₇ season features performances with the Toronto Symphony (Messiah), Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (Handel’s Joshua), Milwaukee Symphony (Poulenc’s Gloria), Charlotte Symphony (Mendelssohn’s Elijah), and Arion Baroque Orchestra in a Canadian tour of Bach’s Mass in B Minor. Ms. Van Doren also revives her role in Mark Morris Dance Group’s Dido and Aeneas at Brooklyn Academy of Music.

A dedicated interpreter of repertoire off the beaten path, career highlights include creating the lead female role in the world premiere of Shostakovich’s Orango with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, directed by Peter Sellars and released on Deutsche Grammophon; two Grammy-nominated opera recordings with the Boston Early Music Festival; the modern revival of Monsigny’s opera Le roi et le fermier at Opera de Versailles, Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center (recorded for Naxos); a tour of Handel’s Orlando with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra to the Mostly Mozart, Ravinia and Tanglewood festivals; a leading role in Scarlatti’s Tigrane at Opera de Nice; nationally-televised performances at the Cartagena International Music Festival with soprano Dawn Upshaw, an important mentor; and creating a leading role in the world premiere staging of Lera Auerbach’s The Blind, an a cappella opera, in the Lincoln Center Festival. Especially recognized for her work in the baroque repertoire, Ms. Van Doren has performed with the majority of the North American Baroque festivals and orchestras, and has the distinction of being the only singer awarded a top prize in all four US Bach vocal competitions.

Other recent debuts and engagements include performances with the San Francisco, Toronto, Houston, Cincinnati, Nashville, Baltimore, Indianapolis, and Milwaukee Symphonies; the Cleveland Orchestra; the Los Angeles Master Chorale; Washington D.C.’s Folger Consort; and two trips to the Netherlands for performances with the Radio Kamer Filharmonie.

Born in Moscow, Yulia Van Doren was raised in the United States in a music-filled household in which she and her seven younger siblings were taught by her Russian mezzo-soprano mother and American jazz pianist father. Ms. Van Doren is honored to be an Astral Artist, a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow, and as the recipient of a Beebe Grant she spent the 2011-2012 season based in Paris.