Julia Norton

Julia grew up in a small Oxfordshire village singing with her mum and brother. Early music, british folk songs, jazz, cabaret and opera were all present in her environment and she wanted to sing them all.  She still does.

She understood from an early age the connection between the emotions and the singing voice and so was delighted to discover Paul Newham and Voice Movement Therapy in London in 1998. 

Voice Movement Therapy, is a dynamic system, based on the artistic & therapeutic possibilities of the singing voice. It was developed in the UK by Paul Newham, and is predominantly built on the work of Alfred Wolfsohn & Roy Hart. It consists of a series of physical postures with corresponding vocal configurations, which tap into previously unknown areas of the voice and strengthen existing ones. This technique informs her teaching as well as her performance and compositions. She is a fearless improvisor.

She is a  former director and qualifying committee member of the International Association for Voice Movement Therapy for more information visit www.iavmt.org 

A largely self-taught musician, Julia has had many works selected and performed worldwide during electronic music festivals and as part of sound installations in museums including: Missing My Mother's Garden, Space-Time,  WBQ, Song For  Flaming Contortionist & Mrs. Macaroni. She has written scores for dance, theatre and circus and music for children's theatre as well as her own award winning lullaby album Lullaby Island www.lullabyisland.com

Julia has been teaching voice and singing for 20 years, from singers on the stages of London's West End, to community choirs, jazz education, expressive arts therapists, lawyers and CEO's ..oh and clowns....lots of clowns.  Julia is also a teaching artist for the San Francisco Opera Guild and has presented at expressive arts therapy conferences all over the U.S.A.

She now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.