Dr. Julia Salerno has served as Senior Lecturer of Violin and Viola at Eastern Washington University since 2010. Her students have been finalists and prizewinners of regional and national competitions, soloists with orchestra, and scholarship recipients at summer programs and prestigious graduate programs.  Julia is a three-time recipient of the Dean’s Excellence Faculty Mentor Award and immensely enjoys collaborating with her students and colleagues. 

Julia began Suzuki violin lessons at age two. Her teachers have included Kathleen Spring, Margaret Pressley, Stephen Shipps, Lyndon Johnston-Taylor, and Martin Chalifour. Julia was a scholarship student at several summer festivals including the Encore School for Strings, Indiana University Summer String Academy, and four summers at the Meadowmount School of Music. Julia graduated with a DMA in Violin Performance from the University of Southern California. She was awarded major scholarships for music study at the University of Michigan and University of Southern California, where she received her B.M. and M.M., respectively, in violin performance summa cum laude. 

Competition awards include winning first prize and the festival medal in the 2000 Seattle Young Artists Music Festival; national finalist for the String division of the 2001 MTNA collegiate competition; and String Division Young Artist Winner of Musicfest Northwest in 2004. Salerno has also served as concertmaster of many orchestras, including three years at the University of Michigan. During their 2004 season, the UM orchestra made the GRAMMY Award winning recording of William Bolcom's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, conducted by Leonard Slatkin. Julia was concertmaster and a violin soloist in that recording. Dr. Salerno has also been a featured soloist with many orchestras, including the Northwest Philharmonia,, Spokane Symphony, Ann Arbor Symphony, Sunnyside Symphony, EWU Symphony Orchestra and the Walla Walla Symphony. Internationally she performed with the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra in Prague and presented a recital for their International Diplomat Series.

Julia has enjoyed many other diverse musical experiences, including a small appearance in the 2009 movie The Soloist, the 2009 Academy Awards Governors Ball Orchestra, a PBS Documentary honoring Ella Fitzgerald, and performances with musicians like Stevie Wonder and Natalie Cole. She also performs annually as a live soloist with Coriolis Dance in Seattle, with their next show in June 2019. 

As a chamber musician, Julia enjoys frequent collaborations with artists all over the US. She is a frequent guest artist for the Rochester Chamber Music Society, and has also performed for the Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival and alongside principal members of the LA Philharmonic. In Spokane she recently performed for ‘Mozart on a Summer’s Eve’ in collaboration with cellist Zuill Bailey and as a guest artist with the Spokane String Quartet.  Julia also performs around the US in the violin duo "SEEING DOUBLE" along with violinist Sarah Whitney of Sybarite5.  In addition to a private studio in Spokane, Julia serves as co-director of the Walla Walla Suzuki Institute and also enjoys teaching in Vermont at the Green Mountain Suzuki Institute each summer. She is now learning the art of Suzuki parenting while helping her three children with their violin, cello, guitar and piano studies!