Julia Adolphe’s music has been described as “alive with invention” (The New Yorker), “colorful, mercurial, deftly orchestrated” (The New York Times) displaying “a remarkable gift for sustaining a compelling musical narrative” (Musical America). Adolphe’s works are performed across the U.S. and abroad by the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Verona Quartet, and soprano Hila Plitmann, among others.
In February of this year, the Sitkovetsky Trio gave the world premiere of Adolphe’s , piano trio, which was commissioned by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Adolphe’s comic opera for all ages, A Barrel of Laughs, A Vale of Tears, based on the novel by Jules Feiffer with libretto by Stephanie Fleischmann, received initial workshops directed by Elkhanah Pulitzer at National Sawdust and Boston Court Pasadena in 2019. Also in 2019, the New York Philharmonic and Decca Gold released their recording of Adolphe’s Unearth, Release, a viola concerto commissioned for Cynthia Phelps. In November 2017, the May Festival Chamber Choir, under the baton of Robert Porco, gave the world premiere of Adolphe’s Equinox, which was commissioned by the May Festival Chorus.
Adolphe’s awards include a 2017 ASCAP Young Composer Award, a 2016 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award, a 2016 OPERA America Discovery Grant, and a 2015 Charles Ives Scholarship from the Academy of Arts and Letters. A native New Yorker living in Nashville, Adolphe holds a Master of Music degree in Music Composition from the USC Thornton School of Music and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University.