YULIA VAN DOREN (soprano), described as having “the perfect baroque voice” (Seattle Times), was born in Moscow and raised in an eclectic, music-filled household where she and her seven younger siblings were taught voice and piano by her Russian mother and American jazz pianist father. While still an undergraduate at the New England Conservatory she was awarded the grand prize in the International JS Bach Vocal Competition, third prize in the American Bach Soloists’ Competition, and recorded the role of Ceres in the Boston Early Music Festival’s Grammy-nominated recording of the Lully opera Thésée. In 2007 Yulia made her professional operatic debut as Poppea in L’Icoronazione di Poppea with the Early Music Guild of Seattle to much critical acclaim. She also debuted at Carnegie Hall, the Bach Festival of Philadelphia, the Boston Early Music Festival, and Tanglewood, where as a vocal fellow she sang Belinda in the acclaimed Mark Morris Dance Group production of Dido and Aeneas and performed in a concert of opera scenes coached by Maestro James Levine. During the 2007-08 season Ms. Van Doren appears in concert with internationally-renowned ensemble Teatro Lirico, the Seattle Baroque Orchestra, American Bach Soloists (Weihnacht’s Oratorium), the Cincinnati May Festival (Vivaldi Gloria and Fauré Requiem), the Portland Baroque Orchestra (Messiah), Berkshire Bach Society (Chandos Anthems), Grace Church Choral Society, NYC (Mass in C Minor) and reprises the role of Belinda on tour with Mark Morris Dance Group’s Dido and Aeneas. She will also perform with the Santa Fe Opera as a member of their renowned apprentice program next summer. Yulia is a second-year MM candidate at Bard College in a new graduate vocal program directed by soprano Dawn Upshaw, and is a 2007 recipient of the prestigious Soros Fellowship for New Americans.