Julie Anne Smith
Julie Anne Smith has been a choral director in the Berkley Public Schools since 1998. During that time, her middle school and high school choirs have repeatedly received excellent and superior scores at the district and state-level choral festivals, performed worldwide, and just made their Carnegie Hall debut in April 2024.
Smith completed her bachelor’s degree in music education at Eastern Michigan University, her master’s degree in choral conducting, her Education Specialist Degree in Educational Leadership, and her school administration certification all from Oakland University. While in Berkley, Smith became an International Baccalaureate-certified school evaluator, workshop leader, and trainer while teaching at Norup International School. Smith has overseen numerous student teachers, serves as a consistent mentor to new music teachers in the district, and has been a leading member of the music team that has earned Berkley Schools the title of the NAMM Foundation’s “Best Community for Music Education” consecutively since 2012.
In addition to teaching musical excellence, Ms. Smith has worked tirelessly in her tenure at Berkley Schools to provide opportunities for her students. When physical space for the program was slim, she led a coalition of parents, students, and community members to turn a forgotten little theater into a beautiful new choir room. When school funding proved inadequate, she re-established Berkley’s Choir Boosters, now a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization offering scholarships and immeasurable support to the program. When her students sought more growth opportunities, Smith founded the district’s private voice lesson program, making lessons accessible and affordable to all interested students. To inspire a love for travel and exploring global places of musical significance, she has led multiple European choir trips for her students.
Ms. Smith has also been the Director of Operetta Workshop of the Michigan Opera Theater (now Detroit Opera) in which time she has directed seven Gilbert and Sullivan operettas on the mainstage. When six saplings from the Anne Frank tree were distributed across the globe in 2012, a cantata entitled “My Name Is Anne Frank” was commissioned to honor the event. The world premiere, in collaboration with the Holocaust Museum, was performed at Berkley High School with Ms. Smith’s choirs and the Berkley High School Orchestra and broadcast on NPR.
Ms Smith won “The Oakland Schools Outstanding High School Teacher of the Year Award” in 2019 where she met Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Julie Anne recently accepted the position of Artistic Director with a newly formed upper voice group named Good Treble Chorus.