Julia Kershetsky wearing a white sleeveless shirt and standing in front of a gray backdrop
Faculty

Julia Kershetsky is an actress, a singer, and a professor. In addition to a continuous acting career in theater, she runs Starling Voice Studio, music directs regional theater and teaches with CAP21 (Collaborative Arts Project 21) in New York City.

Biography

Julia Kershetsky (she/her) is a native of Berks County, Pennsylvania, who now teaches and resides in both Philadelphia and New York City. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Classical Voice from Penn State University, a Master of Musical Theatre Performance from New York University and a post-graduate advanced certificate in Vocal Pedagogy, also from NYU. In addition, she has taken doctoral courses in Vocology with the NYU Voice Clinic.

Always a student, Kershetsky continues to do her own research, while staying current as a member of many professional organizations, including the Pan-American Vocology Association, The Voice Foundation, New York Singing Teachers Association, Musical Theatre Educators’ Alliance, and the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). She was a member of the NYC NATS mentorship program in 2018.

Kershetsky has been privately teaching voice lessons since 2011. She has also taught at New York University as an adjunct professor of voice; has been a private voice instructor at Molloy University, Rockville Center, New York, with the well-known CAP21 program in New York City; and began teaching at UArts in the Pre-College program. Outside her work in higher education and her private voice studio, Kershetsky is a judge for the Classical Singer Music Vocal Competition and a Barrymore nominator with Theatre Philadelphia.

Along with her busy teaching schedule, she is dedicated to furthering her own career as an actress and a music director, which allows her to provide current and timely advice to students on the business of singing, in addition to technique. Her favorite onstage roles include Alice Nutting/Edwin Drood in The Mystery Of Edwin Drood, Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls, Diana in Lend Me a Tenor, Little Edie in Grey Gardens, and herself in many cabarets. Kershetsky has served as music director for productions at both Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia and The Candlelight Theatre in Wilmington, Delaware.

She credits her career to an early love of music influenced by her upbringing (her father, as a choral director and a teacher, and her mother, as a dancer, an actor, and a teacher).

Experience

  • Master of Music in Vocal Performance for Musical Theatre and post-master’s advanced certificate in Vocal Pedagogy from New York University

  • Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance for Classical Voice from Penn State University

  • Mentorships: NATS NYC Mentorship, Class of 2018, NATS Annual Symposium mentee (2020)

  • Workshops: Donald Gray Miller’s Singing Voice Science Workshop, Anti-Racism Training: Nicole Brewer (Conscientious Theatre Training), The Annual Voice Symposium (2011–present)

Visit Julia Kershetsky‘s website.

Visit Starling Voice Studio online.

Julia Kershetsky performing in a light blue dress in front of a wood paneled background and holding a magnifying glass in front of her eye
“Something’s Afoot,” Candlelight Theatre, 2020
Julia Kershetsky performing outdoors with her arms outstretched in a blue and white dotted halter top and a straw hat
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Laurel Hill Cemetery, Mechanicals Theatre Company, 2018
Julia Kershetsky dressed as Sarah Brown and performing with another actor on a city street stage set of Guys and Dolls
“Guys & Dolls,” Candlelight Theatre, 2019