Admired for her rich tone and fluid technique throughout the instrument’s range, flutist Julia Barnett is an active performer and teacher in Southern California. As a soloist she has performed with the San Diego Symphony, San Diego Chamber Orchestra, and the UCLA Symphony.  She has performed with chamber ensembles such as the LA Grand Ensemble, Lizulia Duo, the Coastal Winds, Les Flutes des Salon flute quartet, Connessa Collective, and is a member of Duo Flautas Frescas. Her orchestral ensemble work has included the San Diego Symphony, LA Dream Orchestra, and the La Grange Symphony. She was a member of the Midland/Odessa Symphony and Chorale and Billings Symphony for 8 years and will be joining the Hawaii Symphony as 2nd flute/Associate principal for the 2024/2025 season. In addition to her performing career, Dr. Barnett enjoys directing the Avanti Flute Choir, a performing flute choir composed of amateur through professional musicians. She completed her Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree in flute performance at the University of California at Los Angeles, where she studied with Sheridon Stokes. For her Master of Music, Dr. Barnett studied with Christina Jennings at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and attended Rice University for her Bachelors Degree under the tutelage of Leone Buyse.

 

She was a finalist in the 2020 (Instrumental Soloist Category) and winner in the 2021 (Chamber Music Category) American Prize Competition, a two-time finalist in the Coleman Chamber Music Competition, as well as prize winner in the 2021 Maverick Flute Competition, the San Diego Young Artist Gold Competition, Musical Merit Foundation of San Diego, San Diego Symphony Concerto Competition, the La Jolla Symphony Young Artist Competition, and was named an Elaine Krown Klein Scholar at UCLA. Dr. Barnett also won scholarships to attend the Brevard Music Festival, as well as the Pierre Monteux School of Orchestra and Conducting.

 

Dr. Barnett's interest in new music led to the commission and premiere of Jacob Barton's ¡AY! ¡AY! ¡AY! ¡AY! in 2006, a work for flute, percussion and kalimba, based upon Mexican folk songs. She has premiered numerous new works in ensembles and as a soloist, a beloved performance was in February of 2016 with the Los Angeles premiere of John Steinmetz's Whispers for flute, bassoon, and piano. Her desire to share a variety of cultures with her audiences resulted in the world premiere of Panagiotis Theodossiou’s “The Passage,” based upon a Greek play, which used alto flute, viola, and piano to explore the different scenes of the play. She was thrilled to be a part of the Flute New Music Consortium’s Commission Project with Samuel Zyman, and was delighted to perform a world premiere in 2022 of Intuition for two flutes with her duo partner Dr. Alina Windell. Most Recently, she and Dr. Alina Windell performed the world premiere of their commission by Daniel Dorff, Perfect Storm for flute, piccolo, and piano in Atlanta, Georgia in April of 2023. 

 

Dr. Barnett also has a passionate interest in both studying and performing classical flute music by Mexican composers. Her doctoral dissertation, "Performing Practice in Roberto Peña's Concierto para Flauta y Orquesta: Discovering Mexico's Contemporary Classical Flute Music," focuses on the works of Roberto Peña, a flutist and composer from Chiapas, Mexico whose works for flute are a wonderful addition to the flute repertoire. She plans on recording an album of works by Contemporary Mexican composers with her dear friend and pianist Kathryn Lieppman.