Album Notes

During the progressive growth of Julie’s faith, her music matured to meet the demands of her life. She became inspired with eclectic musical idioms which, like faith, meet basic human needs to find hope in adversity, comfort despite despair and promise over insecurity. Julie brings Christ’s timeless gospel to the listener in musical vehicles fueled with melodic genres which speak to the heart of every generation, of every need.

Julie’s life-long partnership with sacred music debuted publicly at age 10 with her performance of F.E. Weatherley’s majestic, "The Holy City". This anthem from 1942 became one of Julie’s signature pieces in an off-and-on 40 year career of performing classical sacred and secular music. Julie has been heard in concert and on radio in such diverse places as Russia, Ireland, Greece, Alaska, Guam and coast to coast in America. As soloist with the Columbia Chorale in Washington State, Julie received critical acclaim for her performances of the great soprano arias of the world’s opera classics.

At age 17, Julie won the Grand Prize in Music from Shenandoah Valley Academy, VA. She was impressed that God had a place for her talent but never quite understood what it was to be. Now, with grown children, a satisfying 34 year marriage, supportive husband and an abiding relationship with Jesus, God has commissioned Julie with her mission.

“Take timeless Christ centered lyrics from the past and make them new with progressive music which reaches deep into the heart and soul.”

Julie and husband, Joe, married young and began a family. Joe embarked on the long difficult road to becoming a successful airline pilot. Her life was filled with frequent moves, the pressures of family, finances and the stressful demands of a pilot’s career quest. Julie found refuge and solace in music. Unable to afford much formal training, she did splurge and found time to submit her enormous innate vocal talent to the guidance of the late Harry Pearson, New York voice coach to early stars of Broadway stage and Hollywood screen.

Raised by devout conservative Christian parents of recent eastern european ancestry, Julie was imbued with traditional values of formalism and order in the music and liturgy of worship. Despite a lyrical prowess and interpretive talent to cause “glory bumps” to rise on a listener’s body, Julie knew she wasn’t reaching people weaned on rock and roll and jazz and musically nurtured on the melodies of country, R&B and pop. For this vast crowd, traditional musical vehicles seemed to fail to carry the “good news” of God’s Grace and the salvation gospel as found in the timeless lyrics of older hymns. Once these hymns were a contemporary, even radical, expression of how faith can touch real life. Sung but not felt, heard but not internalized, the old hymns grew dusty, forgotten and abandoned as unknown. Julie grew increasingly restless and searched for reason in the music of effective contemporary sacred musicians.

One day in 2000, Julie prayed, “Please, God, send your Holy Spirit to guide me. If it will Glorify You, give me new melodies to convey the beautiful words of these hymns to those searching for meaning to life and lead them to Jesus.”

The music of Made New is God’s answer to her prayer.