Julia Ernst, a May cum laude College of Music and Media graduate, is headed to graduate school at Yale University this fall on a full scholarship to study opera.
Ernst is one of only 100 musicians accepted into Yale's postgraduate program. In addition to the scholarship, the school awarded her a stipend for living expenses.
At Loyola, Ernst studied under internationally renowned soprano and Professor of Practice in Music Irini Kyriakidou-Hymel. She made her professional debut in March 2023 with the New Orleans Opera, singing the role of Kate Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly.
Ernst went on to sing Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze Di Figaro during the summer of 2023 with Saluzzo Opera Academy in Italy. Earlier this year, she sang the roles of Lia in L'enfant Prodigue and La Bergère in L'enfant et les Sortilèges with the Loyola Opera Theatre.
Among her many accolades as an undergraduate, Ernst won first place in the Loyola Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition, the Gulf Coast Steinway Vocal Competition, the Neapolitan Masters International Vocal Competition, and the NATS Southern Region.
Ernst is spending the summer before heading to New Haven, Conn., attending the prestigious Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, Calif., as one of only 20 Lehrer Vocal Institute Fellows. While there, she will cover the role of Micaëla in Carmen.
