Julia Kurzydlak is a conductor from Silesia, Poland. She studied Orchestral and Opera Conducting at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw under Professor Tomasz Bugaj and Professor Rafał Janiak, graduating with a Master’s degree in 2025. She completed her diploma concert with Warsaw Philharmonic, performing Kurt Weill’s 2nd Symphony for the first time in history of the institution.

She is currently Assistant Conductor to Paavo Järvi at the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich.

In 2024, as a participant in the Conductor’s Academy of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich led by Paavo Järvi, she received both the Paavo Järvi Scholarship Award and the Audience Award. During the 2024/2025 season, she was also a recipient of the Scholarship of the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

She has taken part in numerous masterclasses, including those led by Marin Alsop with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice, the Masterclass for Young Conductors organised by the Peter Eötvös Foundation in Budapest, and the Järvi Academy during the Pärnu Music Festival in Estonia.

A passionate advocate of contemporary music, she has conducted numerous world premieres of works by contemporary composers.