The internationally celebrated American coloratura soprano, Prof. KS Julie Kaufmann, concluded her singing career in opera, art song, chamber music, and concert in 2011 after 35 years.

She began her studies in piano and voice at the University of Iowa in the USA in 1968, before moving to Europe, where she became a member of the opera studio at the Zurich Opera in 1974.This was followed by her bachelor's studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg with Prof. Judith Beckmann in 1976.

Fixed opera engagements included the Hamburg Radio Choir from 1976-79, Theater Hagen from 1979-81, the Frankfurt Opera from 1981-83, and the Bavarian State Opera in Munich from 1983-96.

From 1996, she only performed as a freelance artist both domestically and internationally.

Guest performances took her to La Scala, Covent Garden, the Salzburg Festival, Hamburg State Opera, Ludwigsburg Festival, Stuttgart, Cologne, Dresden, Paris Chatelet, Genoa, Amsterdam, Oslo, Barcelona, among others.

She was highly esteemed for her strong character portrayal. Notable roles included Zdenka (Arabella), Sophie (Rosenkavalier), Oscar (Ballo in maschera), Blondchen (Entführung), Despina (Cosi fan tutte), Blanche (Dialogues des Carmelites), Atalanta (Serse), Dalinda (Ariodante), Susanna (Hindemith's Sancta Susanna).

She performed with renowned conductors such as Fabio Luisi, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Mariss Jansons, Neville Marriner, Sir Colin Davis, Bernard Haitink, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Gustav Kuhn, Franz Welser-Möst.

Her numerous concerts and lieder evenings, including collaborations with Irwin Gage, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Donald Sulzen, Wolfram Rieger, were celebrated worldwide.

Her work is also documented in numerous CDs across all genres.

She taught at the Richard Strauss Conservatory in Munich from 1992-99, before accepting a professorship at the University of the Arts Berlin in 1999.

Since retiring from the UdK in 2018, she continues to teach there on a contractual basis.

In the winter semester of 2020/21, Julie Kaufmann was appointed to a teaching position at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich.

In the winter semester of 2021/22, she received a teaching assignment at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin.

In the summer semester of 2024, she has a teaching assignment at the Nuremberg University of Music.

Some of her students have sung/are singing at the Berlin State Opera, Komische Oper Berlin, Bavarian State Opera, Hamburg State Opera, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf, Zurich Opera House, Munich Gärtnerplatz, in Weimar, Wiesbaden, Schwerin, Nuremberg, Leipzig, Cottbus, Cologne, Kassel, Hannover, Bregenz, Oslo, Copenhagen, Istanbul, Seoul.

She has held masterclasses at universities in Nagoya Japan, Lyon, Norway, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Salzburg, Middlebury, Vermont USA, the Stuttgart Bach Academy, the Kirchheim Lieder Summer, the Cologne Opera, the Kleinkummersfeld Cow Barn Concerts, Forum Artium in Georgsmarienhütte, and the Wolfgang Sawallisch Academy in Grassau.

In the summer of 2024, she will conduct a masterclass at Kloster Ettal.

She has served as a jury member in prestigious singing competitions such as ARD, Deutscher Musikrat, International Schubert Competition Dortmund, and Paula Salomon Lindberg.

She is a member of the board of the Paul Hindemith Society and the Federal Singing Competition.

Julie Kaufmann was awarded the Bavarian Order of Merit in 2001.