Julie King (born May 26, 1982), known as Yulianna, is internationally acclaimed American singer-songwriter. She achieved popularity in the early 2000s by combining classical training with

mainstream pop Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the Un ...

music, and her song "Don't Take Your Love Away" charted at number 1 on the Billboard Dance/Club Songs Chart in 2013. Yulianna has been credited with coining the term '' popra'' for the combination of pop and

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

Early life and training

Born in

Almaty, Kazakhstan Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to 1936 as an autonomous republic as part of ...

, in the former

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, Julie King was trained as a vocalist and violinist. She grew up in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coa ...

, and earned a master's degree at the

California Institute for the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of bot ...

before moving to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

to pursue a career in entertainment. Julie King's early career included vocal training with Russian opera singer

Vladimir Chernov Vladimir Nikolaïevitch Chernov (born 22 September 1953) is a Russian baritone, particularly associated with the Russian and Italian opera repertories. Early life Vladimir Chernov was born in a small village near the town of Krasnodar in south ...

(now a music professor at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

) and the composer

Daniel Catán Daniel Catán Porteny (April 3, 1949 – April 9, 2011) was a Mexican composer, writer and professor known particularly for his operas and his contribution of the Spanish language to the international repertory. With a compositional style ...

Career

In 2009, Julie King met with music producer Robin Nixon, and the two went on to produce her first album, ''La-La-Land''. In 2012, she released her first single, "Race Car", with help from Nixon. "Race Car" was generally well received by critics, and the

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...

, directed by Waleed Moursi, won Best Music Video at the 2012 Colorado Film Festival. Julie King's first hit was "Forgiveness", a collaboration with

Walter Afanasieff Walter Afanasieff (born Vladimir Nikitich Afanasyev; February 10, 1958), formerly nicknamed Baby Love in the 1980s, is an American record producer and songwriter of Russian-Chinese descent. He was a collaborator with Mariah Carey on her first ...

. The song and video garnered over a million views on YouTube. It was submitted for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist for the

55th Annual Grammy Awards The 55th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 10, 2013, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. E ...

in 2012. The video won several awards, including Best Music Video at the Naperville Film Festival and the Las Vegas Film Festival. In 2013, Julie King released her first full-length dance album, ''Californ-i-a,'' written and produced with

RAS Ras or RAS may refer to: Arts and media * RAS Records Real Authentic Sound, a reggae record label * Rundfunk Anstalt Südtirol, a south Tyrolese public broadcasting service * Rás 1, an Icelandic radio station * Rás 2, an Icelandic radio stati ...

and Spencer Nezey. ''Californ-i-a'' featuring

The Game The Game or The Games may refer to: Sports and games * The Game (dice game) (German: ''Das Spiel''), a dice game designed by Reinhold Wittig * The Game (mind game), a mind game, the objective of which is to avoid thinking about The Game itself * ...

, was well received by critics and was distributed internationally. The single "Don't Take Your Love Away" remixed by DJ Lynwood, Excel Beats and Erik Mota reached the Top 50 ''Billboard'' chart. Julie King's album, ''Popra Soldier'', released in 2014, with

Ruslan Sirota Ruslan Sirota is a Grammy Award winning pianist, composer, and producer. Early life Ruslan was born in Uman, Ukraine to a Jewish family on November 4, 1980. His father, Yefim, who was an active local guitarist, introduced him to music at an earl ...

as the featured piano player.

References

{{authority control 1982 births Living people 20th-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American singer-songwriters American women pop singers American women rock singers American women singer-songwriters American rock songwriters American film actresses American music industry executives California Institute of the Arts alumni Musicians from Almaty 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women singers