Born in Tokyo to German parents, Julia grew up in Milan, Prague, Munich, Bonn, London and Hong Kong. Her interest in performance and directing developed early, inspired by an actress, chanson-singer mother and an operatic baritone grandfather. Alongside her studies, she attended performing arts school with a focus on dance and started directing and choreographing whilst at University College London, from where she holds a BA in History and History of Art as well as an MSc in International Public Policy. After working at the United Nations in Paris, she decided to return to London to focus fully on a directing career.

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Opera directing credits include Tosca (Arcola Theatre, Grimeborn Festival 2016 and Celebrate Voice Festival, Salisbury 2016), Madama Butterfly (Arcola Theatre, Grimeborn Festival 2015 and Bury Court Opera) and The Fairy Queen (Bury Court Opera and Kiez Oper at Wilde Renate, Berlin). Julia also gets involved in educational projects and talks and enjoys working with students (Morley College). Most recently, she has also started producing and supporting other shows, such as The Willesden Liederkreis (Arcola Theatre, Grimeborn Festival 2016). Recent work as a revival director includes La sonnambula (Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona), Tristan und Isolde, Ariadne auf Naxos,  Il trovatore (Royal Opera House, London) and Die Frau ohne Schatten (Staatsoper unter den Linden, Berlin).