Julija Stupnianek Kalėdienė
Associate Professor of the LMTA Department of Vocal Performance. Subjects: Vocal Performance. Languages: Russian (C2), Italian (B2), German (B2).
Julija Stupnianek-Kalėdienė (b. 1971 in Vilnius) is a soloist of the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre (LNOBT), soprano. She entered the LMTA in 1991 to study choir conducting and vocal performance and in 2003 received a master’s degree. To continue to excel as a vocalist, Julija Stupnianek-Kalėdienė followed Professor Ingeborg Wamser’s master classes at the Summer Academy in Vienna, Austria (1999); studied Russian romance interpretation with Galina Preobrazhenskaya (2000); joined a course led by baritone Håkan Hagegård (Sweden, 2000). In 2000, Julija Stupnianek-Kalėdienė became an LNOBT soloist and in 2005 joined the staff of her alma mater where in 2015 she was awarded the title of Associate Professor. Julia also holds qualifications of an opera soloist, a concert singer, and a teacher.
Julia’s performance activity is broad and vivid. The singer made her operatic debut on the LNOBT stage as Violeta (Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata). She continued to create a wide range of opera parts appearing as Rita (Gaetano Donizetti’s Rita), Franziska Cagliari (Johann Strauss’ Wiener Blut), Fiordiligi (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Così fan tutte), Donna Anna (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Don Giovanni), Agathe (Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freischütz), Prilepa (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Пиковая дама (The Queen of Spades)), Liù (Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot ), Juliet (Charles Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette), Apollonea (Edwin Geist’s Die Heimkehr des Dionysos), Princess Eudoxie (Fromental Halévy’s La Juive), Dalia (Balys Dvarionas’ Dalia), Gerhilde (Richard Wagner’s Die Walküre), The Water (Rachel Portman’s The Little Prince), Amelia (Guiseppe Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera), Adina (Gaetano Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore), Eglė (Vytautas Klova’s Pilėnai), Mercédès (Georges Bizet’s Carmen), Marcelina (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro), Uogelė Bruknelė (Jonas Tamulionis’ Bruknelė), Tatyana (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Евгений Онегин (Eugene Onegin)), Rosalinde (Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus), Mimì (Gioacomo Puccini’s La Bohème), and others.
Julija Stupnianek-Kalėdienė’s appearance in concerts has also been plentiful. The singer has given numerous concerts together with the piano and chamber orchestra Cantus (Lithuania). She participated in the Baroque music festival in Poland, Usedom Music Festival (Germany), Rostock Baltic Countries Festival (Finalnd), Pažaislis Music Festival (Lithuania, the Gaida Festival (Lithuania), the International Chamber Music Summer Festival Kuršių nerija (Lithuania), Baroque Festival Riviera delle Palme (Grottammare, Italy, 2014–2017). Julija Stupnianek-Kalėdienė has appeared on the stages of the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society, the Vilnius City Hall, the Old Arsenal Museum (Vilnius, Lithuania), the State Kremlin Palace (Moscow, Russia), the Pillar Hall (Moscow, Russia), and others. With her concerts, she has toured Italy, Poland, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Great Britain, Slovenia, Russia, and Latvia.
The soprano is eager to share her experience leading master classes such as, among others, in Kurmangazy Kazakh National Conservatory (Kazakhstan, 2010), Grottammare (Italy, 2017), and Corfu (Greece, 2019).
Julija Stupnianek-Kalėdienė is the prize-winner of numerous festivals and competitions: she took the 3rd prize in the Dichler-Sato International Competition in Vienna (Austria,1999); the 3rd prize in the International Vocal Competition Romansiada 2000 in Moscow; the 1st prize at Vincė Jonuškaitė-Zaunienė Competition in Vilnius (2000 and 2001); was awarded with the 3rd prize in the International Competition of Concertmasters and Singers in Vilnius (2005); took the Grand Prix at the International Competition for Singers Art in the 21st Century (Kiev, Ukraine, 2005) and Lempaala International Competition for opera singers (Finland, 2006). (Finland, 2006), and the competition Musical Performance and Pedagogy in Lonigo (Italy, 2011). She is also the winner of the Regina di Romanza nomination at the Romanzata San-Marino International Competition (2018).