Julia Zavadsky

Choir conductor + Faculty at Curtis Institute of Music and Temple University

Nomination:

Nominated by Marife Domingo "Julia Zavadsky makes the immigrant population proud with her long time stint in the field of music conducting and education. She serves as a faculty member at Temple University, Rutgers University and Curtis Institute of Music and has conducted diverse choir groups in Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey—she indeed puts the A in STEAM! However, the most amazing side of Julia is her determination, resiliency and resourcefulness in facing various challenges as an immigrant…truly inspiring!"

About Julia:

Julia Zavadsky was born in Ukraine. At the age of 19, she moved to Jerusalem, where she resided until the age of 24 after graduating from the music academy. Soon after, she was accepted to Temple University in Philadelphia to pursue a Master's degree.

Currently, Julia teaches at three universities. She has come a long way, however, for she did not speak English when she first arrived in Philadelphia. She describes that "it is a tragedy that immigrants have to go through this to feel safe or improve our lives" regarding the immigrant experience and the challenges of adapting to a different place. According to Julia, she struggled with the English language for the first ten years of being in the USA.

"Sometimes you feel that you are not smart because you cannot express yourself as well," she says. Yet, at the same time, she found, through the universal language of music, the opportunity to work with other musicians:

"In my profession, I work with people who want to make music. So, we have something in common: they all want to play or sing or listen. I'm so lucky, even though I select people from different political spectrums and different economic stances, that all of them have this common goal to overcome everything in order to make music."

She has also used her skills and experiences to help elders survive isolation and depression through singing. Julia has consistently met with these communities online during the pandemic. 

"Be brave, don't be afraid. Maybe our English is not perfect, but it doesn't mean that we're lacking the skills. So don't let anyone tell you that you are not smart. I believe this is the land of opportunity, but unfortunately, we have to work very hard to get that opportunity".   

Article by I Belong Philly. Created by Waleska Lopez, Maria Gonzalez, and Silvia Roldan.

Quotes from Julia:

"I think listening to people would be the number one actually because people need to be heard and as immigrants we don’t always get a chance to be heard because you have to have patience to listen to an immigrant, so I want to give back to my students, a gift from being heard." 

"I want people to care about each other. I think that will solve a lot of problems if you are caring about each other, rather than just oneselves" 

"I truly love Philadelphia, the City streets, I love this city. I hope I can help improve it in any way."