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 is equally at home in collaborative settings, her chamber music work includes performances with ensembles such as the LA Grand Ensemble, Lizulia Duo, the Coastal Winds, Les Flutes des Salon, Connessa Collective, and she is a member of Duo Flautas Frescas. Orchestral highlights include the San Diego Symphony, LA Dream Orchestra, La Grange Symphony, and the Juneau Symphony, as well as eight-year tenures with both the Midland/Odessa Symphony and Chorale and the Billings Symphony. She joined the Hawaii Symphony as 2nd flute/Associate Principal for the 2024-2025 season.

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Alongside her performing career, Dr. Barnett is dedicated to building musical community through teaching and leadership. She directs the Avanti Flute Choir, an ensemble that brings together flutists ranging from enthusiastic amateurs to seasoned professionals.

Dr. Barnett's artistry has been recognized through numerous awards and honors. She has been a finalist in the Instrumental Soloist Category, and winner in the Chamber Music Category of the American Prize Competition; a two-time finalist in the Coleman Chamber Music Competition; as well as prize winner in the Maverick Flute Competition, the San Diego Young Artist Gold Competition, Musical Merit Foundation of San Diego, San Diego Symphony Concerto Competition, and the La Jolla Symphony Young Artist Competition. While at UCLA, she was named an Elaine Krown Klein Scholar, and she has received scholarships to attend the Brevard Music Festival and the Pierre Monteux School of Orchestra and Conducting.

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A passionate advocate for new music, Dr. Barnett commissioned and premiered her first work—Jacob Barton’s ¡AY! ¡AY! ¡AY! ¡AY!—in 2006, a piece for flute, percussion, and kalimba inspired by Mexican folk songs. Since then, she has premiered numerous new works as both a soloist and ensemble musician and has supported commissions by composers including Kevin Day, Reena Esmail, Amanda Harberg, John Steinmetz, and Samuel Zyman. Recent projects include collaborating with Diana Syrse on the commission of Bichito for piccolo and piano (2024). Through Duo Flautas Frescas, Dr. Barnett and Dr. Alina Windell commissioned and premiered Daniel Dorff’s Perfect Storm for flute, piccolo, and piano and organized a consortium commissioning Elizabeth Brown’s Memoir for two flutes and piano (2025).

 

Dr. Barnett’s work sits at the intersection of lived bicultural experience and artistic advocacy. Shaped by her upbringing in San Diego as a Mexican and American dual citizen, she is dedicated to expanding the classical flute canon by elevating repertoire by Mexican composers—especially contemporary voices. Her doctoral dissertation, “Performing Practice in Roberto Peña’s Concierto para Flauta y Orquesta: Discovering Mexico’s Contemporary Classical Flute Music,” centers on the music of Roberto Peña, a flutist and composer from Chiapas, Mexico, and reflects her ongoing mission to spotlight outstanding works that deserve a wider audience.

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Dr. Barnett 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 Bachelor's Degree under the tutelage of Leone Buyse.