Julie began her musical journey in her home town of Strathaven, Scotland. In high school she played in the school band in addition to the Lanarkshire Youth Concert Band and Lanarkshire Youth Orchestra.

​

She attended Napier College in Edinburgh for 2 years studying music and trained with clarinetist Alison Waller. Here she achieved her teaching qualification and performed with the Edinburgh Youth Orchestra and Radio Forth Youth Orchestra. Julie continued her studies at Trinity College of Music in London, England. There she trained with clarinetist John Stenhouse (London Symphony Orchestra) and Chris Gradwell (London Saxophone Quartet). She achieved both a Licentiateship and Fellowship from Trinity.

​

After graduating, Julie free-lanced in and around London as an orchestral clarinetist. She performed regularly with the Forest Philharmonic Orchestra (as bass clarinetist), and as a chamber musician with the Amabile Wind Quintet, Thayer Octet and, as the soprano saxophonist with, the Jazz-A-Belles saxophone quartet.

Julie taught in various schools in the Greater London area maintaining a very busy studio.

​

She moved to Vancouver in 1993 and continued to work as a professional freelancer and established a large teaching studio. Julie is an active clinician working both privately and for the Long and McQuade and Tom Lee education departments directing workshops and taking sectionals for numerous schools and band retreats. She directs the Rising Tide community concert band and the Accidental Jazz Band in North Vancouver. She owns and operates Accent Music Studios in North Vancouver, a music school offering lessons in piano, voice, strings, woodwinds, brass and music theory.

​

She performs as a soloist, in stage productions and in chamber music ensembles. Julie is also a member of the Erato Ensemble, Wind Song Trio and Trio Primario. She also works for Health Arts Society collaborating with pianist Karen Lee Morlang. As an orchestral freelancer, she has performed with Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Lions Gate Sinfonia, Allegra Chamber Orchestra, Kamloops Symphony Orchestra, Okanagan Symphony Ochestra,Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra and Plastic Acid Orchestra.

​