Julia Derflinger ’23 is native to Virginia and has trained over 10 years in various genres, including specializations in opera and classical music. Since being personally recruited by the now dean of the Liberty University (LU) School of Music and completing her Bachelor of Music in PreK-12 Choral Music Education there in 2020, she is now pursuing a Master of Music in Voice Performance at Shenandoah Conservatory in further pursuit of a career in voice performance and opera. Additionally, she is co-founder and president of the ShenCo master and doctoral Performance and Vocal Emphasis Club.

Recent credits include her assistant directing debut under Ella Marchment in Shenandoah Conservatory Opera’s Fall 2021 Gothic Opera production, where she also played the role of Medoro in the Handel’s Orlando excerpt, as well as roles in The Vanishing Bridegroom and Macbeth excerpts. Other performance credits include her professional operatic debut with Opera on the James and Liberty University Opera's production of Amahl and the Night Visitors, Pirates of Penzance with LU Opera, and Così fan tutte Act 1 Finale with the LU Opera Workshop. She is incredibly grateful to God, her mentors, family and friends for their love and steadfastness.