The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University

Boulez "Pli selon pli"....For ears sharp and alert, the music proposes no problems or mysteries. Its beauties are deep and real, and they were fully realized on this magical occasion. Bryn-Julson, you might say, owns this music and she's entitled. Its staggering complexities she masters as you and I might master a nursery tune.....Alan Rich...Los Angeles Herald Examiner

With soprano Phyllis Bryn-Julson the clear-voiced soloist - she sings this music as straightforwardly as if it were "Sempre libera"...Daniel Cariaga..Los Angeles Times - Boulez

"The Best American Singer"...Andrew Porter - New York Magazine

BRYN-JULSON may be one of best in world...Syracuse Herald-Journal (Earl George)

....song recital showcases magnetic soprano....Carl Cunningham - The Houston Post

Strauss "Ariadne"...Peabody's production was led by the soprano Phyllis Bryn-Julson as the Ariadne/Prima Donna. Bryn-Julson is a singer well-known for her technique and intelligence. She used both well here: her large arias in the beginning of the opera segment were beautifully phrased and her tone, especially in the middle and lower registers, was rich and expressive...Scott Duncan...Baltimore Evening Sun

The role of Ariadne, one of Strauss's most taxing vocal assignments, was sung by Phyllis Bryn-Julson. By now the world of music from Australia to the Soviet Union, knows the superlative art of this great musician who happens, happily for us her in the Washington area, to live here...In the Ariadne Bryn-Julson's voice was filled with a radiant glory, and her acting was stunning in a role that has its share of the world's most famous stars. ...Paul Hume...WGMS PRESENTS

David del Tredici "An Alice Symphony"...Phyllis Bryn-Julson: sentiment, not goo...But Knussen, Bryn-Julson and the brilliant student instrumentalists made it clear that the symphony works best as one big journey through whimsy, charm, and Victorian psychic nightmare. Bryn-Julson, an absolute mistress of the thorniest of modern scores, not only negotiated this one but also rode it fearlessly and actually played joyously with its humors and snares. ....Leighton Kerner...New York Village Voice

Schoenberg "Erwartung"..CBSO/Rattle...Birmingham, England. Erwartung has no claims to tonality at all, of course, and no continuity other than the irrational impulses of a mind under extreme emotional pressure. Yet, in a performance lik this with Phyllis Bryn-Julson pitching and colouring the soprano part with such extraordinary accuracy, it is frighteningly clear in every detail. ...Gerald Larner

In recital..The Nicholas Music Center, Rutgers, New Brunswick...Phyllis Bryn-Julson's voice thrilled even those who didn't really care for the program. When she was called upon to let fly with a high note, not only did it have an effortless open quality, but most of the time the word was actually understood. She clearly worked hard at connecting with the texts. In a post-concert interview Bryn-Julson spoke of her sensitivity on how the piece is working in each performance. Even in the midst of singing at Nicho9las Music Center, she was evaluating, making conscious decisions about what to change for her Monday performance in Baltimore. It was that kind of clear intelligence and commitment to making contact with both text and audience which informed the whole concert. Indeed it was that very concern which helped sell all three works to her audience. Wuorinen, Dallapiccola, Messiaen...Paul Somers..The Star Ledger

Bryn-Julson's "Pierrot Lunaire" shines...Potomac Gazette

Elliott Carter "A Mirror on Which to Dwell"...The confidence, fervour and sheer beauty with which Phyllis Bryn-Julson delivered Elizabeth Bishop's text surpassed even that on her fine Erato recording. London Musical Times

Chopin..in song...Soprano Phyllis Bryn-Julson performed four of the songs with expressiveness, perfect phrasing and flexible, at times lilting, singing. Joining Bryn-Julson for two duets as well as soloing in two songs, mezzo-soprano Theodora Hanslowe offered a beautiful, rich tone and the same excellent French shown by Bryn-Julson...The Washington Post

Boulez...Once considered impenetrable, this dificult piece is obviously second nature for the Ensemble InterContemporain, and the musicians, with the awesomely precise Phyllis Bryn-Julson as vocal soloist, played like angels...The New Yorker

'Marteau', 'Pierrot'...Bryn-Julson delivered both vocal parts with ease, word-point and authority. In her performance, every word of the Schoenberg work emerged clearly; in "Marteau," tone is more important than text, and the soprano reconfirmed that fact, producing round and expressive sounds consistently....Los Angeles Times

Boulez and Bryn-Julson in fine form...Daily News..LA

GARDEN DOUBLE FANTASY...Le Rossignol by Stravinsky/L'Enfant et les Sortileges by Ravel...The dazzling colorature of the Nightingale itself, efforlessly managed by Phyllis Bryn-Julson...Covent Garden..The London Evening Standard

...In Recital..London...The American soprano Phyllis Bryn-Julson is rightly celebrated for her unrivalled vocal skills in the more far-out areas of 20th century music; she really does sing Boulez and Webern as if they were Mozart. (I suspect she might tell you that they are actually easier then Mozart!) Accompanied here with unobtrusive expertise by her husband Donald Sutherland, she gave a pocket-sized recital of Debussy, Berg and Ives, in which we might have been listening to three different singers, such was the range of her artistry...there is something almost hallucinatory about listening to such microaccurate intonation. Berg's "Seven Early Songs" showed the remarkable breadth of tone in the low register of this supposedly colorature soprano, while the assorted moods of a hatful of songs by Charles Ives - dreamy, serious, zany, contentedly daft - were each deftly captured...The Sunday Telegraph

Le Rossignol/Stravinsky...Paris...performed by Phyllis Bryn-Julson with an assurance, an agility and a remarkable purity of timbre...Le Figaro

Potpourri for the Poor...Some of the area's finest musicians donated their time and their talents Sunday in a concert at Montgomery College to benefit local needy families...Soprano Phyllis Bryn-Julson, who displayed stunning diction in the bach aria "Ich bin vergnuegt in meinem Leiden" and glorious conviction in the chorale of Bach's Cantata No. 51...Washington Post

Handel Messiah...The orchestra hired the most impressive quartet of soloists in memory here...bass-baritone John Shirley-Quirk, soprano Phyllis Bryn-Julson, tenor Jon Garrison, and contralto Birgit Finnilae. Bass-baritone Shirley-Quirk hails from Britain, where the devotion to the "Messiah' is only slightly less than that paid the queen. He gave a spellbinding performance. His "Behold, I tell you a mystery' made the flesh tingle, and should surely serve as a model for anyone who performs this work. Miss Bryn-Julson's creamy soprano, intelligent insight and feeling for this music was remarkable. Her "i know that my redeemer liveth" could chase away the nagging thoughts of any doubting Christian. ...The Pittsburgh Press..