After the riotous critical success of her role debut as Lulu, the “grandiose soprano” (FAZ) has been nominated for both prestigious German Theater Prize Der Faust for her portrayal of Lulu, and Opus Klassik’s Singer of the Year for her interpretation of Bubikopf in her recording of Der Kaiser von Atlantis. Juliana is featured on the cover of the May 2023 edition of Opernwelt Magazine.
On invitation from the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Juliana joins the cast of Robert Carsen’s Ariadne auf Naxos with the Bayerische Staatsoper on tour in Hong Kong where she gives her role debut as Najade. Further role debuts this season include Olympia in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Adina in L’elisir d’amore, Morgana in Alcina at Staatstheater Darmstadt. She gives her role and house debut at Nationaltheater Mannheim with Belinda in Dido and Aeneas in March, and the Cheshire Cat in concert version of Unsuk Chin’s Alice in Wonderland at Concertgebouw Amsterdam under the baton of Markus Stenz.
Juliana is an enthusiastic interpreter of 20th/21st century repertoire. She looks forward to her Carnegie Hall debut singing Unsuk Chin’s Puzzles and Games for soprano and orchestra with the Sejong Soloists in Zankel Hall. In September 2023, she sang György Ligeti’s Mysteries of the Macabre and Nouvelles Aventures with Patrick Hahn conducting the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra to great acclaim. In 2022, she covered the title role in the world premiere of Girl with the Pearl Earring at Opernhaus Zürich. And in 2021, she performed the world premiere of Transstimme, a full-length opera for only one singer and one actor, by Fabià Santcovsky at the invitation of the Munich Biennale as well as the world premiere of Singularity by Miroslav Srnka at the Cuvilliés-Theater/Bayerische Staatsoper with the Klangforum Wien.
In spring 2023, the Opercussion ensemble of the Bayerische Staatsorchester released their award nominated debut album Original Grooves on which Juliana sang their ultimate track “Gracias a la vida.” The recording of Der Kaiser von Atlantis (BR Klassik) was nominated by Opus Klassik for Best Opera Recording featuring Juliana Zara, and conductor Patrick Hahn leading the Munich Radio Orchestra.
From 2019-2021, Juliana was a member of the Opernstudio at the Bayerische Staatsoper and sang roles such as Frasquita (Carmen), Philine (Mignon) and Mercedes (Schön ist die Welt) as well as Luciano Berio’s Sequenza III. Her repertoire includes Ophelia (Hamlet), Zerbinetta, Najade (Ariadne auf Naxos), Blonde (Entführung aus dem Serail), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Norina (Don Pasquale), Isotta (Die Schweigsame Frau), Fiakermilli (Arabella), Philippe (Der Teufel von Loudun), Adele (Die Fledermaus), Griet (Girl with a Pearl Earring), Cunegonde (Candide), and Chief of Gepopo (Le Grand Macabre).
Since the 2021/22 season, she is a member of the ensemble at Staatstheater Darmstadt. Upcoming role debuts include Olympia in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Adina in L’elisir d’amore, and Morgana in Alcina.
She is graduate of Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin.
