At the Opéra Garnier, soprano Julia Bullock sings the blues of Joséphine Baker
Soprano Julia Bullock stars in 'Perle noire: Meditations for Joséphine' at the Opéra Garnier in Paris. The production honors the life and legacy of Joséphine Baker, an American-born French icon.
Why it matters
Celebrates the intersection of opera, history, and civil rights, marking the 120th anniversary of Baker's birth.
Julia Bullock in 'Perle noire: Meditations forJoséphine," directed by Peter Sellars, at the Opéra Garnier in Paris, September 7, 2026. BENOÎTE FANTON/ONP Star of the Revue nègre in 1925 at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris with her "Danse Sauvage" ("wild dance"), a secret agent for the French Resistance during World War II, an icon of the American Civil Rights Movement and mother to a "rainbow tribe" of 12 children: Joséphine Baker (1906-1975) undoubtedly embodied all the qualities necessary for an operatic figure.
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