Our Musical Director — Julie Harvey

A brief history..

Born a Lancashire Lass, Julie's musical training began at 9 with piano as her first instrument and flute as second.

Julie performed for exams, festivals, competitions and with youth orchestras but chose to pursue a vocational career. Qualifying as a Speech and Language Therapist (BSc Hons University of Manchester), she worked in the NHS for many years with adults, children and families affected by communication difficulties. Where possible, Julie integrated music into her work – using singing to encourage language development; to connect with people with autism, in stroke recovery and with voice disorders. Her training fuelled her interest in and gave her a working knowledge of the human voice.

Julie later qualified as a primary teacher (P.G.C.E. Homerton College, Cambridge) and enjoyed teaching for several years.

She became a full-time freelance music teacher in 2009 and loves her work – teaching singing and piano to all ages and levels , whilst continuing to perform as a soloist and with chamber choirs.

Julie's Songline

Julie sang from an early age and having a natural ear for harmony was encouraged to sing alto, only discovering her soprano range in later years. She began voice training privately after university and sang semi-professionally with choral societies and chamber choirs – developing a particular love of Baroque music.

Whilst living in Cumbria, she was a founder member of the Herdwyck Consort. She performs annually at Bassfest in Cumbria, with The Wordsworth Singers and the newly formed Scottish Vocal Ensemble.

Trained in the Estill Voice programme, she uses the approach successfully in her own teaching and singing.

Since moving to the Scottish Borders in 2013, Julie has worked as a musical director/vocal coach on various local shows (Lion King Jr, Anything Goes, South Pacific, Oliver).

In the past, she has directed children's choirs (Amabile Girls' Choirs, Sing Out Eastgate and worked with NYCoS).

Conducting an adult choir has been a new direction for Julie and she loves her role as MD of Traquair choir.

I believe completely in the power of singing to bring people together.

Singing allows us to discover our own unique voice, express our creativity, experience emotion through music and relieve stress and anxiety. Singing in a group and making music together renews our sense of being a collective and our connection to one another. It's also good fun!