An interview with
First Presbyterian Church of Woodbury Heights music director,
Julie-Ann Whitely Green
by Joyce Woodrow
March 2026
Julie-Ann has been our music director for over a year now, starting on January 5, 2025. Her music direction, hymn selections, musical talent with an angelic opera voice, and masterful piano and organ playing have been a true Godsend to our church’s music ministry. She is one of the most interesting and talented people I’ve ever met. Julie-Ann’s bio is truly impressive, as you will read in the next three paragraphs:
GRAMMY® winning soprano, Julie-Ann Green, earned her Bachelor of Arts degree as a double major in Vocal Performance and Music Education (and a minor in piano) from Glassboro State College, now Rowan University. She has earned Artists Diplomas from the Mozarteum Academy in Salzburg, Austria, and has studied Italian Opera, Language, Art, and Culture at the Florence Voice Seminar in Florence, Italy. Her vocal talents have earned her numerous honors, including Encouragement Grant, Marian Anderson Award, Mozarteum Academy Scholarship, and National Winner of the Leontyne Price Vocal Arts Competition.
Ms. Green made her New York solo debut at Carnegie Hall in 1992 and was presented in a solo recital at Weill Hall in 1997. Other major venues include cathedrals in London, Paris, Rome, Vienna, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Madrid, and the Mormon Tabernacle. Popular music performances have been with Michael Buble’, Josh Groban, Barry Manilow, Michael Crawford, Sarah Brightman, and Barbara Streisand. Ms. Green has sung with the Opera Company of Philadelphia since 2001 and has performed solo roles in Porgy and Bess (Strawberry Women), and II Trovatore (Inez), as well as their innovative production, the Hip H’Opera Project. She has performed with the New York City Opera at Lincoln Center, making her debut there in Richard Danielpour’s opera, Margaret Garner. Concert performances of Porgy and Bess (Bess, Clara, Serena) and I Pagliacci (Nedda), and the title roles in Tosca and Aida have left audiences mesmerized. She also sang with Lyric Opera of Chicago and San Francisco Opera in their productions of Porgy and Bess. Other performances include an appearance with the Allentown Symphony, the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors and as soprano soloist for the Verdi Requiem with both the Lancaster Symphony and Vox Ama Deus Ensemble. She is a member of the Philadelphia Symphonic Choir that appeared in the Oscar® nominated film MAESTRO.
As an active teacher and clinician, Ms. Green is an annual presenter at the Burlington County TeenArts Festival, and has taught at the Friends School Mullica Hill, Christus Academy in Camden, and Settlement Music School’s Camden School of Musical Arts. She is currently a vocal teacher at Chartertech High School for the Performing Arts in Somers Point, NJ where she was awarded Teacher of the Year for 2024; Voice Teacher at Stockton University, and Music Director at First Presbyterian Church of Woodbury Heights, NJ. Her students have gone on to prestigious, fulfilling careers in the Performing Arts.
Impressive, Right?!
