Based in New York City, violinist Julia Birnbaum enjoys a varied career, equally at home in orchestras and chamber ensembles in concert and for private events. Recent highlights include performances with Sigur Rós in Phoenix, Arizona, the Mexican-American band, Fuerza Regida at Madison Square Garden, and as the second violinist on the 2025 national tour of The Evil Dead Live in Concert.
Her extensive orchestral resume includes symphony orchestras, opera, and musical theatre. She played with the Sarasota Opera Orchestra for several seasons and has performed with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony, Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, Modus Operandi Orchestra, Fort Greene Orchestra, Parlando, and several regional orchestras in the San Francisco Bay Area. She also served as concertmaster of the Chicago Arts Orchestra and of the Castleton Festival Orchestra under the baton of Lorin Maazel. She enjoys chamber music, having performed extensively in New York City, the San Francisco Bay area, and Chicago including with the Lincoln Center Stage Piano Quintet and Fever’s Candlelight Concerts. She has appeared on stage with several major artists, including The Beach Boys, Judy Collins, Kygo, Goapele, Evanescence, and Madeleine Peyroux.
Julia enjoys teaching and is currently on the faculty of the United Nations International School while maintaining a private studio in New York City. She has previously taught at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in New York City and has served as the violin sectional coach at the University of Illinois at Chicago and for the Chicago Youth Symphony.
Originally from Maryland, Julia began violin studies at five years old and later completed the certificate program in the Preparatory Division of the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore as a student of Rebecca Henry. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Violin Performance from Northwestern University, where she studied with Chicago Symphony veteran Blair Milton, and then completed a two-year fellowship with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. She also attended the Aspen Music Festival, American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, the Encore School for Strings at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the Indiana University String Academy.
Prior to moving to New York City in 2018, Julia lived and worked in Chicago and in the San Francisco Bay area for several years. She enjoys traveling and spending time in nature, especially with her dog, Jerry.