Blessed with a radiant voice and great musicality, Julien Behr was not destined to become an opera tenor. After earning a master’s degree in business law at the University of Lyon, he decided to put his legal career on hold to devote himself to music. He was admitted to the CNSMD de Lyon, where he won a first prize. This change of course was no accident: Julien is now considered one of the finest tenors of his generation.

Equally at home in Mozart, French Romantic repertoire and bel canto, Julien Behr has been invited to perform at many prestigious opera houses in France and abroad. The Opéra de Paris, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Opéra-Comique, the Opéra de Lyon, the Opéra national de Bordeaux and the Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg have all opened their doors to him. Internationally, he has appeared at La Fenice in Venice, the Salzburg Mozartwoche, the Barbican Centre in London, Opera Vlaanderen, Oper Köln, the Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg, Minnesota Opera and New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival.

Highlights of Julien’s past seasons include his debut as Roméo in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette at the Theater an der Wien, Cinna in Spontini’s La Vestale at the Opéra de Paris and Gérald in Lakmé at the Opéra national du Rhin. This season Julien makes his debut as Don José in Paris, appears at the Komische Oper Berlin in a staged version of Messiah and sings Jason in Médée at the Opéra-Comique in Paris. He ends the 2024/25 season singing Alfredo in La traviata at the Grand Théâtre de Genève.

Julien has sung under the greatest conductors, including Alain Altinoglu, Louis Langrée, René Jacobs, François-Xavier Roth, Marc Minkowski and Mikko Franck. He has also worked with renowned directors such as Olivier Py, Claus Guth, Robert Carsen and Damiano Michieletto.

Nominated at the 2013 Victoires de la Musique in the “Révélation” (newcomer) category, Julien is also a regular guest on television programmes. For him, these appearances are a chance to share opera with a wider audience and to make it accessible to as many people as possible.