Julia Zahra
Julia Zahra (born July 28, 1995 in Indianapolis , USA ; actually: Julia van der Toorn ) is a Dutch singer-songwriter with influences from pop , soul , rock and reggae .
Private
Shortly after she was born, Julia was adopted by a Dutch couple. She grew up in Bussum , North Holland . Her adoptive mother died when Julia was eight years old. As a teenager, she played an active hockey team in her home country. She got her first guitar as a little girl and started singing when she was 13. She took guitar lessons and, as a teenager, sang in the band of her two year older brother, who was on drums. First public appearances with guitar and piano followed. Julia van der Toorn studied at the Hochschule für Künste in Utrecht , but interrupted her studies when she won The Voice of Holland in 2013 in order to actively devote herself to her music career. She has been in a relationship with the Dutch singer-songwriter Anne Roos Peterse since September 9, 2017 and lives in Utrecht . Since September 2019 they have been studying together at the Codarts School of Art in Rotterdam .
Career
Julia van der Toorn achieved great fame in 2013 as the youngest winner of The Voice of Holland and in 2015 as the overall winner in the TV format De Beste Zangers van Nederland . The singer performed sensitive ballads, rhythmic pop-rock and R&B. Julia van der Toorn has been performing under the stage name Julia Zahra since March 2015. At the beginning of her career she also appeared live on stage with the artist groups “Jellyfish in Concert” and “Will Nuruwe & Friends”.
The Voice of Holland (2013)
On December 20, 2013, Julia van der Toorn won the singing casting show The Voice of Holland with 51.2 percent of the audience. To date, she is the show's youngest overall winner. Her songs performed in the blind auditions were interpretations of Oops! … I Did It Again and Empire State of Mind . Her debut single Oops!… I Did It Again (2013) and her debut album Julia van der Toorn (2014) reached the top of the Dutch charts.
| Phase (date) | song | Original interpreter |
|---|---|---|
| Blind Auditions (October 11, 2013) | Oops! ... I Did It Again | Britney Spears |
| Empire State of Mind | Alicia Keys | |
| Battle (October 18, 2013) | Suit & Tie | Justin Timberlake |
| Liveshow (November 22, 2013) | Fallin ' | Alicia Keys |
| Liveshow (November 29, 2013) | Man down | Rihanna |
| Live show (December 6, 2013) | All of me | John Legend |
| Semi-finals (December 13, 2013) | Empire State of Mind | Alicia Keys |
| Age | Lianne La Havas | |
| Final (December 20, 2013) | Oops! ... I Did It Again | Britney Spears |
| Age | Lianne La Havas | |
| Take your time girl | ft. Niels Geusebroek |
De Beste Zangers van Nederland (2015)
In 2015 she was seen - now with the new stage name "Julia Zahra" - in the TV show De Beste Zangers van Nederland and was again extremely successful as the overall winner of the show. With her cover of the BZN song "Just an Illusion" she landed another chart success in the Netherlands.
| Phase (date) | song | Original interpreter |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Show // Julia Zahra (June 13, 2015) | Zaterdag | Bløf |
| 2. Show // Jan Keizer (June 20, 2015) | Just an illusion | BZN |
| 3rd Show // Anouk Maas (June 27, 2015) | Maniac | Michael Sembello |
| 4th Show // Martin Buitenhuis (July 4th 2015) | Zij maakt het verschil ' | De Poema's |
| 5th Show // Frans Duijts (July 11, 2015) | She's a lady | Tom Jones |
| 6th Show // Thu (July 18, 2015) | Summer of '69 | Bryan Adams |
| Zij gelooft in mij (with Lange Frans) | Lange Frans | |
| 7th Show // Lange Frans (July 25, 2015) | Dit moet a zondag zijn | Lange Frans & Baas B. |
Julia Zahra (2016-2018)
After Julia Zahra's Just an Illusion shot to the top of the Dutch iTunes charts in 2015 , the song gained fame Down Under in the summer of 2016: the song made it into the charts throughout the South Pacific. In Papua New Guinea , Julia Zahra was at times in the top 100 charts with 11 songs at the same time, in the Fiji Islands with Just an Illusion for weeks at number 1 in the single charts. In Norway, the single briefly reached the top 10 of the iTunes charts in summer 2016.
In April 2016, Geen Held [German: No Held ] released her first own single in Dutch, followed in June 2016 by Ik blijf bij jou [German: I stay with you ] and in August 2016 Met mijn ogen open [German: With open Eyes ]. On October 4th, 2016 Julia Zahra made her first appearance in Germany at the invitation of friends in Kaiserslautern. On December 6th, 2017 Julia Zahra released her first EP with only her own songs and the title Something New . With her new songs she is also successful beyond the Dutch borders. On January 15, 2018 Julia Zahra made her first appearance in Switzerland in the canton of St. Gallen . A club tour followed in the Netherlands in spring 2018. On June 6, 2018, Julia Zahra opened the Young Impact Celebration at Ahoy Rotterdam .
Julia Zahra & Band (from 2019)
| Julia Zahra | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| origin | Amsterdam , Netherlands |
| Genre (s) | Pop , soul |
| Website | https://www.juliazahra.com |
| Founding members | |
Vocals and guitar |
Julia Zahra |
| Current occupation | |
Drums |
Casper van Helvoirt |
Keys |
Daniel Zouitni |
Backing vocals |
Louisa Brunhoso |
Backing vocals & guitar |
Anne Roos Peterse |
Guitar |
Lodewijk Bakker |
bass |
Huy Le |
| Live and session members | |
Sound engineer |
Friso Keunen |
In spring 2019 Julia Zahra played a first club tour in the Netherlands with a newly formed band. All concerts of their “Remedy Tour” were sold out, after which the tour was continued in autumn 2019 as “The Remedy Tour - Part II”. In March 2019, “Do You”, the first single of a possible new album, was released, followed by “Another Way” in October 2019. Julia Zahra started a crowdfunding project to record her second studio album . The target amount was reached and even exceeded in a short time. So far it is known that the new album will be recorded in Haarlem in the studios of Huub Reijnders. One of the main reasons for this is that Julia Zahra wants to assume a live sound with her band. Overall, a modern pop-neo-soul album is being created, which should actually be released in summer 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the recordings on the studio album had to be interrupted. Julia Zahra used the time to publish a live recording of the past Remedy Tour in the form of a new EP. The "Live Recordings from The Remedy Tour" were released in May 2020. On June 19, 2020 her single "Tired" was released, a protest song in the context of the Black Lives Matter movement . The song is currently enjoying great media coverage in the Netherlands.
Discography
album
- Julia van der Toorn (2014)
Singles
- Oops! ... I Did It Again (2013)
- Man Down (2013)
- All of me (2013)
- Age (2013)
- You and I (2014)
- Feel like Falling (2015)
- Just an Illusion (2015)
- Geen Hero (2016)
- Ik Blijf Bij Jou (2016)
- Met Mijn Ogen Open (2016)
- Something New [Dawnley Remix] (2018)
- Do You (2019)
- Another Way (2019)
- Tired (2020)
EP
- Something New (2017)
- Live Recordings from The Remedy Tour (2020)
Web links
- Official website of Julia Zahra
- Julia Zahra at Discogs (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Portrait of the Dutch songwriter Julia Zahra in the magazine LEVEN Utrecht
- ↑ Portrait of the Dutch songwriter Julia Zahra in the magazine LEVEN Utrecht
- ^ Young Dutch musicians with international appeal . In: The Holland Times of November 14, 2015, (PDF 2.0 MB)
- ^ Julia Zahra // artist page at 8ball Music
- ↑ Elsevier // Julia van der Toorn wint The Voice of Holland ( Memento of the original from August 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Showbizznetwork // Julia Zahra wint voor de tweede keer De beste zangers van Nederland
- ↑ Discover Benelux // Island Vibes - Share a Unique Musical Experience (page 91)
- ^ Jellyfish in concert
- ^ Hype about the Dutch songwriter Julia Zahra on the Fiji Islands
- ↑ All kinds of music-related data ( Memento of the original from August 27, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Opening Young Impact Celebration 2018 on YouTube
- ↑ The crowdfunding campaign for Julia Zahra's new album
- ↑ TV premiere of the single TIRED at Margriet van der Linden 2020 on YouTube
- ↑ Julia Zahra with TIRED in the 3FM Live Box on NPO Radio 3FM 2020 on YouTube
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Zahra, Julia |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Toorn, Julia van der (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Dutch singer-songwriter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 28, 1995 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Indianapolis , USA |