First Parish welcomes our new Alto Soloist, Julia Jaffe! She will begin singing with the choir in September.

Julia Jaffe, was born in Minsk, Belarus, where she attended a specialized music school majoring in piano. At age 15 she immigrated to the USA and pursued dual studies as an opera/classical singer and a linguist. As a singer Julia had been a lifelong learner. After completing a BA in vocal performance from the University of Utah she worked privately with a New England Conservatory teacher as well as Hebrew College Cantor. Julia sang the lead roles with the Lowell Opera House and Commonwealth Lyric Theatre in Boston as well as in the ensembles of Utah Opera House and Opera Tampa. She was a soloist with the Blessed Sacrament Church in Cambridge for nearly 10 years. Currently, Julia is enjoying a stylistically eclectic concert career — she performs programs of Russian and Gypsy romances; Lieder; Hebrew, Yiddish, and Ladino songs, opera arias, and early music. Julia believes that performing music  in a church is the best way to blend spiritual, emotional and expressive needs for the singer and listener alike.  She aspires to heal and connect through music.