Judges sing local soprano Julie Adams’ praises

When Burbank native Julie Adams saw a performance by the Metropolitan Opera in New York City about eight years ago, she knew what she wanted to do with her life.

“I just never looked back,” she said in an interview this week. “This is what I wanted to do.”

Adams said she grew up wanting to sing on Broadway until that point, but was drawn to the challenge of operatic singing. She said singers don’t choose opera, “opera chooses you.”

Late last month, the 26-year-old soprano was one of six young opera singers chosen to receive George London awards in the 44th annual George London Foundation competition for young American and Canadian opera singers.

In terms of prestige for young opera singers, it’s second only to the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, she said, which she won last year.

“It’s all wonderful,” Adams said. “I’m super honored.”

The winners were announced late last month, following a final round of competition before a capacity audience in Gilder Lehrman Hall in the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City.

The award’s namesake, a Canadian-born bass-baritone who attended Hollywood High School in the 1930s before beginning a career in the opera and later directing the Washington Opera, established the award in 1971 as a program to help young opera singers early in their careers, said his widow, Nora London, who is president of the George London Foundation.

“He felt so strongly that they needed to be helped,” she said. “It was just as true then as it is now.”

Past winners include singers who have gone on to great success in the opera, she said. The list includes Joyce DiDonato, Renée Fleming, Sondra Radvanovsky, Neil Shicoff and Dawn Upshaw.

This year, out of 150 applicants, 81 performed preliminary auditions over three days. A jury of six judges, including Nora London, narrowed the field to 21 finalists before selecting the awardees.

The top six each received $10,000 grants, but are not ranked, Nora London said, because her late husband felt it impossible to rank voice types against one another. Eight other finalists received $1,000 “encouragement awards” and seven took home honorable mentions and $500.

Adams, who sang the aria “Elsa’s Dream” from the Richard Wagner opera “Lohengrin,” received the George London-Kirsten Flagstad Award, which recognizes potential Wagnerian singers, “a very special field” Nora London said, and one that the judges felt Adams will mature into it.

“She has an extraordinary voice — remarkable,” she said. “She’s only 26, so the voice is going to develop even further.”

Adams is the daughter of Mark and Lisa Adams of Burbank and the granddaughter of longtime Burbank residents Daniel and Bernadett Savant. She attended John Muir Middle School and Burbank High School before graduating from Los Angeles County High School for the Arts.

She is in her first year of an Adler fellowship with the San Francisco Opera and is an alumna of the 2014 Merola Opera Program, which is like a two-month audition for the fellowship, she said. She also holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Last fall, she sang in the role of Mimi in San Francisco Opera’s presentation of “La Bohe¿me for Families” and last summer she played Blanche DuBois in an opera version of “A Streetcar Named Desire.” She will perform a Schwabacher debut recital with John Churchwell, head of music staff with the San Francisco Opera, on March 29 in San Francisco.

For Adams, opera is one of the most challenging art forms — and one of the most competitive — but also the most rewarding.

“I am at my happiest when I’m singing,” she said. “I can showcase my voice best with opera.”

But, she said, it’s about more than her own happiness. She recalled one frazzled woman who thanked her after a performance for helping her to relax and moving her to tears of joy.

“That, to me, was the most powerful and best compliment,” Adams said.

Nora London said that in addition to a remarkable voice, Adams brings poise, beauty and acting talent — all important traits for opera performers.

“She has so many qualities that I would be very surprised if she didn’t have a very big career,” she said.