Julie Fowlis is a multi-award winning Gaelic singer who is deeply influenced by her early upbringing in the Outer Hebridean island of North Uist. With a career spanning ten years and four studio albums, her 'crystalline' and 'intoxicating' vocals have enchanted audiences around the world. An artist with a genuine curiosity to explore other traditions and natural ability to cross genres, Julie has collaborated, recorded and performed with artists such as violin virtuoso Nicola Benedetti, and acclaimed singers Aled Jones, GRAMMY® Award winning James Taylor and Mary Chapin Carpenter. Her passion for folk culture, song and music is exemplified in her collaborations in 2015 such as with the celebrated Québécois band Le Vent du Nord, her Vocal ConneXions project in Summer 2015 with singers from Bulgaria, Brittany, Finland and Norway and her continued musical friendship with Irish singer and musician, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh.Nominated as 'Folk Singer of the Year' at the 2015 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, and 'Best Artist' at the Songlines World Music Awards 2015, Julie is a warm and engaging live performer who has graced stages around the globe, from village halls in the Highlands to theatres in Paris and Vienna, London and New York, to singing live at the opening ceremony of the Glasgow XX Commonwealth Games in 2014, to a TV audience of over 1 billion people.She will forever be recognized for singing the theme song to 'Brave', Disney Pixar’s Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA winning animated film, set in the ancient highlands of Scotland. The track was recorded when Julie was eight months pregnant with her second child, and has since been a worldwide smash hit, and was indeed long listed for an Oscar nomination in 2013.Julie’s most recent studio album of traditional songs in Gaelic, 'Gach Sgeul / Every Story', was released in 2014, and received five-star glowing reviews from the likes of Songlines World Music magazine, and which led to her and her regular touring band winning 'Folk Act of the Year 2014' at the Scots Trad Music Awards, and she also made history as the first Gaelic solo artist to win a Scottish Music Award in December 2014.Julie has also become a sought-after and successful presenter on radio and television, on BBC ALBA, BBC Radio 2, and 4, BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Scotland TV, SKY ARTS HD and TG4 in Ireland.A quiet torchbearer for her native tradition, Julie still finds time to deepen her knowledge of Highland and Gaelic culture, tradition and history through continued research and academic projects. In addition to her two degrees (a BA Honours in Applied Music and an MA in Material Culture & The Environment), she was also awarded an Honourary Doctorate of Music by Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen.
Julie Fowlis
Carrollton Center for the Arts