Julie Celona-Vangorden

Dr. Julie Celona-VanGorden is an award-winning lyric coloratura soprano originally from upstate New York. She earned her both the Doctorate of Musical Arts and Master of Music in Vocal Performance at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and completed her undergraduate work at the State University of New York at Fredonia.  Specializing in vocal pedagogy during her doctoral work, she attended the Summer Vocology Institute in Denver, Colorado and is a certified vocologist. 

A member of the voice faculty at Elon University for 22 years, Dr. Celona-VanGorden teaches a variety of students including music performance, education, music production and recording, and musical theatre majors. Her students have performed roles in productions on and off Broadway, with national touring theatre companies, regional theatres, and in other productions locally and nationwide. She has had students perform lead roles on Broadway in hit musicals such as How to Dance in Ohio, A Bronx Tale and Newsies  as well as leads and ensemble roles in the National tours of Kinky Boots, Annie, White Christmas, Dirty Dancing, and A Chorus Line, among others.

An active performer and recitalist, Dr. Celona-VanGorden’s has sung oratorio/cantata solos with numerous churches, symphonies, and choral companies.  Most recently she sang the NC debut of Kevin Padworski's Songs from a Mexican Garden with Voices, in Chapel Hill, NC. Recent oratorio performances include Haydn’s Seven Las Words and Lord Nelson’s Mass, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Mozart’s Requiem, and Handel’s Messiah.  Other performances include the role of Clorinda in Greensboro Opera’s production of La Cenerentola, soprano solos in Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with First Presbyterian Chancel Choir as well as the North Carolina debut of Tito’s Say in the Elon Masterworks Series. Solo orchestral experience includes Cantaloube’s Chants d’Auvergne, Bach’s St. John Passion, Vivaldi’s Magnificat, Britten’s Ceremony of Carols, and Requiem masses by Brahms and Fauré.   Dr. Celona-VanGorden made her Capital Opera Raleigh debut as Adina in L'elisir d'amore.  Other operatic roles include the title roles in The Ballad of Baby Doe, and Lakmé as well as Laurie in The Tender Land.   Dr. Celona-VanGorden's interest in art-song has led to a lifetime of recitals and an extensive knowledge of art-song repertoire with an emphasis on American and Spanish Art-Song.  She conducts master-classes and is also a section leader and soloist at the First Presbyterian Church of Greensboro.

Dr. Celona-VanGorden's ability to perform and delight audiences has been recognized in several competitions. In March 2008 she was a finalist in the Long Leaf Opera National Vocal Competition where she won the Audience Favorite Award and "charmed the audience with her bel canto selections and beautiful stage appearance.” She also won first place in the North Carolina National Association of Teacher’s of Singing Artist Award competition in 2006 and placed Third in the Charles Lynem competition in 2005.