BIO – DR. JULIE SILVERA

Whether fronting a swinging rhythm section, big band, orchestra or conducting a gospel choir, Silvera is adept, sophisticated and musical.  Her passion is the music, she sings and swings from the heart.  One critic says, “Listen to the honey – no, the molasses – of her tone…. Just when you cozy into her velvet sound, she growls out a line that is motivated purely by swing. Phrasing around the rhythm and landing in the pocket, she swings, and swings hard.” 

Silvera followed the advice given to her by one of her many mentors, diversify!- She received her Bachelor's Degree in Music, (Classical Vocal Performance) and her Masters' Degree in Choral Conducting from Washington State University while honing her skills as a jazz musician.  She is a three-time Lionel Hampton winner in jazz voice and a two-time Downbeat Magazine Winner in the college vocal category.  She also began to sing for and with some jazz contemporary greats, including Russell Malone, Christian McBride, Roy Hargrove, Ira Sullivan and many more.  

She received a full scholarship to the prestigious University of Miami School of Studio Music and Jazz program where she completed her Doctorate in Musical Performance (DMA) in Jazz Vocal Performance while continuing to work with her own jazz trio.   She added background vocalist to some of today's musical greats, including Josh Groban, Michael Bublé, George Benson, Gloria Estefan, Quincy Jones, Bernadette Peters and KC (of KC and the Sunshine Band) to her list of credits.  Not neglecting her classical roots, she coached and sang with the fourth chorus with the Florida Grand Opera production of Verdi's, Aida, to celebrate the grand opening of the stunning Adrianne Arsht Center's Ziff Ballet and Concert Hall. 

​In 2010 she took up the mantle as choral conductor for the Unity on the Bay Choir in Miami, Florida.  Under her leadership the choir blossomed musically, challenging itself to conquer not only the traditional gospel and spiritual repertoire, but the contemporary literature as well.  The choir would go on to open for Take 6 at the Adrianne Arsht Center in Miami, one of the premier music centers in South Florida, the South Florida Book Fair, various major corporate and private engagements. 

Dr. Silvera would take her unique approach and passion for gospel music to the Blankenese Gospelchor in Hamburg, Germany, where she, at their invitation, conducted several workshops which resulted three sold out concerts.  Hamburg audiences got a taste of Silvera as she gave her first performance in a small club that would eventually lead to her to gracing the stage at both the historic Greenspan and the Birdland Jazz Club.  Other dates were to follow in Berlin, Ahrensburg, Lubeck, she concluded her German tour with exciting performances with the DOWNTOWN BIG BAND, under the direction of Bob Lanese at Planten und Blomen and the Ernst Deutsch Theater and the JAZZ BALTICA BEIBOOT.

She has now taken her unique style with sold out concerts in Paris, Budapest, Rome and the historic Reduta Jazz Club in Prague.   Silvera has enthralled jazz audiences who have taken her to their hearts.  In her they hear the voices of the greats, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae, while still adding her own unique approach to phrasing and subtle nuanced story telling.

She coaches privately in both classical and contemporary styles of voice and piano and is in demand in the United States as well as Europe as a master clinician in jazz, popular vocal style and technique, as well as Gospel choral styles.  Dr. Silvera has performed throughout the United States and Europe and for luminaries, such as the wonderful Jesse Tyson, CEO of Exxon Mobile South America.  She is the former chair of the national vocal panel for YoungArts and is now a Master Artist for the organization.  She is also a classically trained pianist, and arranger.