Biography
Originally from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, baroque violinist Julia Wedman (www.juliawedman.com) joined the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra (www.tafelmusik.org) in 2005 and quickly developed a reputation for her solo performances. She is regularly showcased on the orchestra’s home series and on tours throughout Canada, the U.S.A., Mexico, Puerto Rico, Australia, New Zealand, China, Korea and Japan. The Globe and Mail describes her playing as “extraordinarily intuitive,” “highly communicative,” and, her personal favourite, “zesty!” As a student, she developed a passion for historically informed performance, inspired by her work at Indiana University with baroque violinist Stanley Ritchie, as well as studies at the University of Western Ontario and the University of Toronto.
Julia is a member of the innovative baroque ensemble I FURIOSI (www.ifuriosi.com). In addition to their successful Toronto concert series, IF has performed at music festivals in Canada, the U.S.A, Germany, England and Ireland. She is also one quarter of the Eybler Quartet (www.eyblerquartet.com), a period instrument group who specialize in excellent and underrated Classical works. Their recordings include music by their namesake Joseph Leopold Edler von Eybler, Haydn, Mozart, Backofen, Vanhal, Beethoven’s Op. 18 quartets and most recently the premier recording of Asplmayr's Op. 2.
Over the past few years, Julia has become increasingly sought after as a teacher and coach. In addition to teaching privately, at the University of Toronto and at Tafelmusik’s Summer and Winter Institutes, she has taught classes at the Guildhall School for Music and Drama (London, England), the University of Saskatchewan (Saskatoon), the University of Western Ontario (London), Queens University (Kingston), and Fredonia University (NY), the Eastman School of Music (Rochester, NY), and Penn State (State College, PA). She was also on faculty at the Banff Centre for the Arts as part of their groundbreaking new program EQ: Evolution of the String Quartet with the Eybler Quartet, Parker Quartet and JACK Quartet in 2018 and 2019.
Julia's debut solo recording of Biber’s Mystery Sonatas (Sonoluminus) was released in the spring of 2011 and has received rave reviews. The CD was featured in Gramophone magazine, which read “Rather exceptionally, one suspects, Wedman has approached Biber's music as a true pilgrim, interpreting key moments in the life of Christ thoughtfully, vividly and with evident personal humility and warmth. Her performances exude humanity and have about them a radiance that somehow transcends the sound of her lovely 1694 instrument.”
Recent performance highlights include guest concertmaster/solo debuts with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (London) and the Orchestra of the 18th Century (Amsterdam).
Julia has been focusing intensively on the performance of J.S. Bach’s music both in recital and as part of the exciting new Toronto Bach Festival, directed by Tafelmusik oboist John Abberger. She is also midway through a three-year cycle of Bach’s solo violin music in collaboration with the fantastically expressive dancer Brian Solomon for the Gallery Players of Niagara.