Julien van Mellaerts

Julien van Mellaerts

Biography for Julien van Mellaerts, Bass

Julien Van Mellaerts is originally from Northland, however he has found his home in Dunedin over the past few years. In 2010 he graduated from the University of Otago with a Bachelor of Music, First Class Honours, and a Bachelor of Arts in French. Last year Julien started working part-time as an itinerant Singing and Piano Teacher throughout Dunedin whilst studying his own singing privately.

After five years of study, there were two things that Julien understood very well – singing and vodka. The consumable passion led Julien to start up his own business – Namida Wasabi Spirit Ltd. He is now the Director and Chief Executive Officer of this business which manufactures Wasabi Vodka and sells it all over the world, exporting to Hong Kong, Macau, Cape Town and London. He has recently returned from a very successful business trip where he officially launched his product in London.

At the end of last year, he won the prize of Most Promising Voice at the New Zealand Aria Competition, held in Rotorua. This year Julien is studying towards a Masters of Music in Performance Voice under Flora Edwards and Professor Terence Dennis at the University of Otago. Julien hopes to pursue an international singing career as well as continue his internationally expanding business.