After the riotous critical success of her role debut as Lulu, the “grandiose soprano” (FAZ) has been nominated for both prestigious German Theater Prize “Der Faust” for that portrayal, and Opus Klassik’s Singer of the Year for her interpretation of Bubikopf in her recording of Der Kaiser von Atlantis. Juliana Zara was featured on the cover of the May 2023 edition of Opernwelt Magazine.

At the beginning of the 2025/26 opera season, she made her house debut at Theater an der Wien as the Cheshire Cat in Unsuk Chin’s Alice in Wonderland. In concert this season, Zara gave her role debut as Woglinde in Das Rheingold with the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Patrick Hahn. She also revived Unsuk Chin’s Puzzles and Games from Alice in Wonderland, a work she debuted at Carnegie Hall the previous season, this time performing with the Munich Chamber Orchestra under Enrico Onofri at the Prinzregententheater. Additional highlights this season are her house debut at the Royal Theatre Copenhagen as Sœur Constance in Barrie Kosky’s production of Dialogues of the Carmélites. In March, she makes her debut in Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Earl Lee.

Juliana recently performed Shoko in Thomas Larcher’s Das Jagdgewehr at Bavarian State Opera, Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos with Dutch Touring Opera, and Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos at Zurich Opera House. She also made her house debut at Bonn Theater as Adina in L’elisir d’amore and returned to Darmstadt State Theater for a revival of the same role. Most recently she sang Leonard Bernstein’s Wonderful town at the National Theater Sao Carlos in Lisbon.

In concert, Juliana sang a New Year’s Gala with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, premiered Matias Vestergård’s Melodrama with the Copenhagen Philharmonic, and gave a recital with pianist Marlene Heiss at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall. She also performed the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland with the Dutch Radio Philharmonic at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Further, she made her North American debut at Carnegie Hall with the Sejong Soloists, performing Unsuk Chin’s Puzzles and Games.

A passionate interpreter of contemporary music, Juliana Zara has performed György Ligeti’s Mysteries of the Macabre with the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra and starred in the world premieres of Fabià Santcovsky’s Transstimme at Munich Biennale and Miroslav Srnka’s Singularity at the Bavarian State Opera. She also debuted as Tinkerbell in the world premiere of Frank Schwemmer’s Peter Pan with the Luxembourg Philharmonic and covered the title role in the world premiere of Stefan Wirth’s Girl with the Pearl Earring at Zurich Opera House. From 2021 to 2023, Juliana Zara was a member of the ensemble at Darmstadt State Theater, where she performed a range of roles, including Olympia in Les contes d’Hoffmann and Morgana in Alcina.

From 2019 to 2021, Juliana Zara was a member of the Opera Studio at Bavarian State Opera, where she performed a variety of roles, including Frasquita (Carmen), Philine (Mignon), and Mercedes (Schön ist die Welt).

She is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the Conservatory of Music “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin.