NEWS
In order to accommodate the increased demand for music lessons, Rooney Music School is pleased to announce the addition of an associate teacher, D’Arcy Blunston.
D’Arcy is a reputable and experienced music teacher well-versed in classical, musical theatre, and CCM techniques.
D’Arcy holds a Master of Music from the University of British Columbia, and a Bachelor of Music from Mount Allison University. We are thrilled to have an amazing teacher like D’Arcy join Rooney Music School as an Associate teacher in voice and piano!
Julia is delighted to perform in the chorus with Vancouver opera in this playful and stylized production of The Magic Flute featuring a play within a play. Originally directed by Diane Paulus, this whimsical version of Mozart’s beloved classic is revived by director Ashlie Corcoran. Conductor Tania Miller debuts with Vancouver Opera.
GALA CONCERT FEATuring Tenor Gregory Kunde at the Orpheum
Julia Rooney loves performing in the stunning Orpheum Theatre and can’t wait to share this beautiful music in such an elegant hall. Featuring world-renowned tenor, Gregory Kunde with conductor Leslie Dala, and members of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra and Chorus, enjoy a concert program of operatic favourites.
For 2022-2023, Vancouver Opera marks their first full season back post-pandemic with 3 fully produced operas. Julia Rooney is excited to be in the chorus for October’s production of The Pearl Fishers by Bizet as well as the Spring production of Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman. The February production of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream features an ethereal children’s chorus in which 3 of Julia’s talented voice students will perform.
Join us for a free concert presenting popular classical music from the movies! Julia Rooney is happy to be partake in Vancouver Opera’s inaugural Opera in the Park outdoor concert in Burnaby’s Deer Lake Park. This event will feature the Vancouver Opera Orchestra & Chorus with guest soloists, led by Music Director Emeritus Jonathan Darlington.
Julia Joins the Faculty of the UBC SUMMER VOCAL Workshop
This 2-week auditioned voice program takes place in July at the beautiful UBC Vancouver Campus. Julia will bring her teaching and administrating skills to the UBC Summer Vocal Workshop where she will be a faculty member for the first time. Julia will teach voice lessons and masterclasses, collaborate on panels, perform in the faculty recital, and act as the assistant to the program’s co-directors, Anna Theodosakis and Sheldon Baxter.
VAncouver Opera’s Cavalleria Rusticana IN CONCERT
Julia Rooney is welcomes the opportunity to be back on stage at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre after some time away during the pandemic. A beloved masterpiece, Cavalleria Rusticana in Concert delivers intense passion, memorable music and incredible arias. This one-act opera, performed live and in concert, welcomes back Music Director Emeritus Jonathan Darlington to conduct the Vancouver Opera Orchestra and Chorus.
The Healing Powers of Dude ACtor Jace Chapman Wins an Emmy!'
Congratulations to young performer Jace Chapman who took home a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Principal Performance in a Children’s Program! Jace wins for his performance of Noah Ferris in Netflix’s The Healing Powers of Dude. Julia Rooney worked closely with Emmy Award-Winning Actor Jace Chapman and his co-stars Sophie Jaewon Kim and Mauricio Lara as their singing coach for the show’s fictional middle school musical, ET 2: The Musical.
Joined by pianist Matthew Ma, Julia presents a program of art song, musical theatre, and opera favourites on February 14th for The Vancouver Art Gallery’s Out for Lunch Concert Series founded by Artistic Director Gene Ramsbottom. Not your typically romanticized Valentine’s Day concert, Julia weaves together a variety of love-related songs in Love Songs: Naivety, Clarity, Reality.
Featuring hits like “I Know Him So Well” and “Nobody’s Side”, Julia joins Courtney Dugan, Paul Just, and Peter Abando in Benny Anderson, Bjorn Ulvaeus, and Tim Rice’s Cold War-era chess tournament musical inspired by the 1972 “Match of the Century” between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky.
In July 2019, Julia makes her debut with Heroic Opera as Second Witch in Macbeth - Verdi’s take on the infamous Scottish play by Shakespeare. Stage director Jeanine Fynn and musical director Perri Lo, bring this dramatic tale of ambition and greed to life at the Orpheum Annex Theatre. This fully-staged production will accompanied by piano and sung in Italian with English translations. Andrew Greenwood stars in the title role along side Melissa Ratcliff as Lady Macbeth.
Julia receives the 2018 Broadway World Vancouver Award for Best Actress in a Musical (Professional) for her performance as the Baker's Wife in Into the Woods with North Shore Light Opera in May 2018 at Centennial Theatre in North Vancouver. This production also took home the award for Best Musical (Non-Professional), and Best Actor (Professional) which was awarded to Paul Just who played Cinderella’s Prince.
Don’t miss Julia Rooney as she makes her debut with Opera Mariposa as they launch into their 2018-19 season by bringing a classic Mozart opera into the 21st century! Directed by Robin Hahn, Così fan tutte, is a rollicking tale of disguise, scandal and romantic antics, set at a beachside resort and brought to life by a talented cast of multi-award-winning artists from across North America and Europe.
Julia is looking forward to another great season with Vancouver Opera! You can catch Julia onstage at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre this October in a lavish Art Nouveau production of Franz Lehár's operetta The Merry Widow with vibrant direction by Canadian Kelly Robinson. In the new year, Julia joins the new roaring 20's production of Puccini's La Bohème by Canadian designer-director duo André Barbe and Renaud Doucet, and during the third annual Vancouver Opera Festival, Julia will appear in Gounod’s sublimely melodic masterpiece of 19th century French opera, Faust.
Julia is excited to join North Shore Light Opera in the role of The Baker's Wife in Stephen Sondheim's fairy tale mashup, Into the Woods. The production runs for 5 show May 9-12, 2018 at the Centennial Theatre in North Vancouver.
May 28, 2017
Julia has been named a recipient of a Vancouver Opera Chorus Endowment (VOCE) Grant for Professional Development for the third consecutive year. Julia's 2017 project funded by the grant includes a Performance Masterclass Series with Patrick Street Productions; Voice Lessons with Bass-Baritone Daniel Okulitch; Coachings with Tina Chang; Dance Classes at Harbour Dance Centre.
April 2, 2017
With less than a month to go, Julia is excited to be part of the Inaugural Vancouver Opera Festival which runs from April 28th to May 13th, 2017. Julia will appear as the Paralegal and chorus in Dead Man Walking, and in the chorus for Otello. Vancouver Opera celebrates theatrical and vocal arts by presenting 3 stunning new productions, several special events, and numerous engaging community activities.
January 3, 2017
Featuring music from Lehar's The Merry Widow, The Land of Smiles, Frasquita, Giuditta, and more by Mozart, Zeller, and Johann Strauss, Julia rejoins tenor Eric Schwarzhoff and pianist Richard Epp for Operettennachmittag with the German-Canadian Benevolent Society of BC.
NOVEMBER 17, 2016
Julia is excited to appear as a soloist in this holiday favourite with sing-along choruses at Knox Presbyterian Church, Calgary under the baton of Paul Grindlay.
JuLy 22, 2016
JULIA NAMED LAUREATE FOR 2016 JEUNES AMBASSADEURS LYRIQUES
Joining 17 other singers from across Canada, Julia will perform a series of concerts in Montreal this November as a 2016 Laureate of Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques with Théâtre Lyrichorégra L20.
JUNE 21, 2016
Julia has been awarded a 2016 Professional Development Grant by the Vancouver Opera Chorus Endowment (VOCE). With the grant, Julia will train at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts this summer for two weeks at the New York City Campus.
May 2, 2016
"Vancouver Opera's rendition of the hit musical delivers" -Janet Smith, Georgia Straight
March 7, 2016
Vancouver Opera's Madama Butterfly "A Consistently Engaging Mounting of an all-time opera favourite"
"Vancouver Opera's Madam Butterfly Has it All" -David Gordon Duke, Vancouver Sun