Julia Elise Hardin, a native of Lawrence, KS, has been touted as a “powerful” and “expressive” singer drawing from her extensive acting background. Beginning with a career primarily based in theater and acting, Ms. Hardin has performed principal and featured roles as a coloratura mezzo-soprano with Chicago Opera Theater, Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Opera in the Neighborhoods, the Castleton Festival (founded by the late Maestro Lorin Maazel), Florentine Opera, Central City Opera, the Fondazione Lirico in Bari, Italy, and more. Orchestral engagements have included regional performances with the Milwaukee Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, Rockford and Ft. Wayne Symphonies, among others.

Ms. Hardin garners accolades and awards from foundations such as NATSAA, Neue Stimmen, Chicago Union League, Bel Canto Foundation and the Friends of Austria. Julia has performed regularly with Chicago performance organizations Music of the Baroque, Aestas Consort and William Ferris Chorale. In 2011, she joined in celebrating the Grammy wins of Florentine Opera’s recording of Aldridge’s Elmer Gantry from the Naxos label, on which she is featured as Mrs. Baines. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas and followed with strict vocal training at Northwestern University from where she holds a MM in Vocal Performance.