Julie Aherne
Pianist, Harpsichordist & Conductor
Biography
Please note this biography is not to be used for programmes. Please contact me for an up-to-date and/or shortened version.
Julie Aherne is a British-Irish pianist, coach, and conductor, with a special interest in Italian opera. As a coach for Melofonetica, she teaches the ground-breaking approach to sung Italian developed by Dr Matteo Dalle Fratte at UK workshops and at the Veneto Opera Summer School and Arte Lirica Festival in Italy.
As a co-founder of The Black Cat Opera Company, she has worked as répétiteur and producer on productions including La bohème, Don Giovanni, Falstaff, and Così fan tutte. In 2016 the company performed their production of Così to a packed house at the Birgitta Festival in Tallinn alongside the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, with Julie at the harpsichord.
In demand as an accompanist, Julie frequently plays for amateur and professional groups including choirs and opera societies, as well as for competitions, exams, and recitals. She is the official accompanist for the annual LVS Performing Arts Festival, an accompanist for the Association of British Choral Directors, and regularly appears as a deputy with groups including Laudamus Chamber Choir, Park Opera, and Quire Voices.
Julie directs Woking Ladies Choir, an inclusive community choir of around 30 voices, and recently appeared as a guest conductor with Genesis Chorale in a programme including Sibelius’ Hymn To The Earth.
Passionate about providing access to music for all, Julie works with Lost Chord UK to deliver interactive music sessions to people living with dementia. She also teaches piano, theory, and aural skills at Staines Preparatory School and Sir William Perkins’s School, as well as to private students, and has led singing sessions in several schools as part of Pimlico Opera’s ‘Primary Robins’ programme.
Julie studied at Royal Holloway, University of London, with James Kirby, and later with Matthew Stanley. As a soloist she has performed concertos by Grieg, Mozart, Bach, and Finzi, with orchestras including RHUL Symphony Orchestra and Westminster Chamber Orchestra. Julie continues to appear with Westminster Chamber Orchestra as a continuo player.
