Julia Migenes
Julia Migenes was born on the Lower East Side of New York into a family made up of a passionate mixture of Greek and Irish-Puerto Rican descent. Despite a difficult and violent childhood, she discovered her calling upon engagement of the child role in Madame Butterfly where she first experienced the power and the emotion of music linked to a stage setting.
A few years later, while studying at the New York School for Performing Arts, she was chosen by Leonard Bernstein to be a soloist in his “Young People’s Concerts”. Julia then began her Broadway career : she was part of the original casting of “Fiddler on the Roof” with Zero Mostel and she interpreted Maria in West Side Story.
However, she understood that her real calling was to sing, leading her to a cover contract at the New York Metropolitan Opera. While substituting for the leading role of Alban Berg’s, renowned for its technical difficulty, she was cheered and acclaimed by the public, launching her opera career.
Word of this new star crossed the Atlantic where Maurice B?jart was desperately searching for his Salom? to be staged in Geneva. Julia Migenes embodied the ideal combination for this role : a world-class opera singer and a graceful dancer.
While on stage in Geneva as Salom?, the Italian film director Francesco Rosi was casting for his up and coming film : Carmen. The lead role required not only an opera singer and dancer but also an actress sensual enough to personify the burning passion of Bizet’s character. The result was Julia Migenes immortalized in a motion picture that has since become a reference in the filmed opera genre. The soundtrack not only brought her a Grammy Award but even more worldwide notoriety that allowed her to access the greatest theaters in the world.
To this day, Julia Migenes has recorded more than 20 albums. Among the most recent : “Vienna” conducted by Lalo Schifrin, a Gold record six months after its release ; in 1996, “Man of la Mancha” (“L’homme de la Mancha”), conducted and arranged by Paul Gemignani, with Placido Domingo, Samuel Ramey, Mandy Patinkin ; in 1999, “Robert Stolz” and “The music of Franz Lehar” for BBC and in 2000, Donizetti’s “Catarina Cornaro”.
In 1998, Julia Migenes wrote “Diva on the Verge”, a one-woman-show mingling monologue and opera often mocking its rigid world, revealing her daring wit and sense of humor. In 1999, she performed this show in the language of Moli?re in Paris and throughout France and French-speaking countries. She is preparing a Spanish version of this show for a tour in Spain and South America.
In May 2001 Julia Migenes created “Passions Latines”, a choreographed recital in which she interprets a repertoire of Latin music, both classical and traditional, from Granados, Villa Lobos, to flamenco, tango and the great contemporary salsa songs. She presented this show at the Paris Olympia in March 2002 followed by several international summer festivals. In July 2002, she created for the Festival d’Avignon “La Argentina”, a tribute to tango accompanied by the Argentinian quintetTiempo Sur. An international tour will follow, including a stop at the London Royal Festival Hall in November 2002 and in at the Paris Th??tre du Chatelet in November 2003.
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