Juliet Schlefer is a Brooklyn-born, lyric soprano who recently received her 2024 Masters of Music degree from the School of Music, Theater and Dance along with the Earl V. Moore Award for Artistic Achievement. An accomplished performer, Juliet is equally comfortable singing opera, oratorio, chamber music, and recitals with repertoire ranging from the baroque to the avant-garde. In June 2024, during the University Chamber Choir’s combined tour with the Washington National Chorus to Washington DC and Buenos Aires, Juliet performed in Buenos Aires’ CCK as the soprano soloist in Mendelssohn’s Elijah alongside acclaimed baritone, Will Liverman. Her May 2024, MM recital featured work by Messiaen, Kate Soper, Sheila Silver, Korngold, Mahler and Golijov.

Opera experience at UMich included the March 2024 production of Elizabeth Cree as Aveline Mortimer by Kevin Puts, directed by Gregory Keller and Kirk Severtson, and her Power Center debut in November 2022 as the vixen Bystrouška, in Leoš Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, directed by Tara Faircloth and Kirk Severtson. Juliet also had a leading role in the workshop premiere of Tom Cipullo’s opera, Hobson’s Choice, in spring of 2023, and was cast as Adele in the University of Michigan’s, 2020 production of Die Fledermaus, directed by Grant Preisser.

An avid recitalist, Juliet’s 2023-24 collaborative performances with myriad pianists from the studio of Martin Katz featured a wide body of repertoire including Rachmaninoff’s 6 Romances, op. 38, Kaaito Saariaho’s Leinolauluut, Barber’s Hermit Songs, Dvorak’s Cigánské Melodie, and Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Tre Fioretti di Santo Francesco, among others. In March 2023, she performed Villa Lobos’ Bachianas Brazilieras #5 at the inaugural festivities for The University of Michigan’s new President, Santa Ono, and then again on a chamber concert with members of the University Philharmonia Orchestra, under the direction of Jayce Ogren.

Additional UMich highlights include a 2022 BM recital starring herself and a homemade, larger-than-life-sized, musical robot. Together they shared the stage to sing repertoire ranging from Strozzi to Rachmaninoff and Babbitt to Lang. In 2021-22, Juliet performed as the soprano soloist in Haydn’s Theresienmesse, Philip Glass’ Music in 12 Parts and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2. Contemporary music highlights included performances as a featured soloist on David Lang’s UM Penny Stamps Distinguished Lecturer Series about his opera prisoner of the state; additional Lang works, and Steve Reich’s Tehillim with the University’s Contemporary Directions Ensemble.

During summers, Juliet was most recently a 2023 Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center under the direction of Dawn Upshaw. In 2022 she was a Music Academy of the West Studio Artist, joining the company chorus in Eugene Onegin and in summer 2021, she returned to Opera Neo to perform the role of Barbarina and cover Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro. Previously with Opera Neo, in 2020 and 2021, Juliet appeared as the First Spirit in Neo’s fully filmed, edited, and green-screened production of Die Zauberflöte. In Neo’s 2019 season, she appeared in Cavalli’s La Calisto as the Second Fury and was the cover for Diana/Giove in Diana. Additional festivals include The Collaborative Piano Institute in Baton Rouge, LA (2021), the Mostly Modern Festival in Saratoga Springs, NY (2019), SongFest (2018), and the Brancaleoni International Music Festival (2018).

Juliet has an early background in both choral music and musical theater. She was a member of the prestigious Brooklyn Youth Chorus Concert Choir for six years. During her time there, she was a performer and soloist in the premiere and recording of Black Mountain Songs, curated by Bryce Dessner and Richard Reed Parry, featuring works by composers including Caroline Shaw, Nico Muhly, John King, and Aleksandra Vrebelov at the BAM 2014 Next Wave Festival. She also appeared in the premiere of AM I BORN by David T. Little, It’s Motion Keeps by Caroline Shaw and original workshops of Paola Prestini’s The Aging Magician with the Prototype Festival. Featured musical theater roles included Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly! and Cinderella in Into the Woods.

Notable competitions and awards include the 2019 and 2020 semi-finals of the James Toland Vocal Arts Competition, multiple finalist awards from the Schmidt Youth Vocal Competition and an appearance as a featured performer on episode 339 of NPR’s From the Top with Christopher O’Riley. Juliet has also appeared in two movies, First Reformed, and Change in the Air. She is currently working in Ann Arbor, MI at RoosRoast coffee - stop by for a latte!