a proud marimba one endorser, Dr. Julie Strom works to expand her passion of crossing “classical” tradition with other forms of music, art, and theater. With an ease of playing, and a casual yet consistent flair, she is known for her versatility, often preaching in favor of generalizing over specializing. She is passionate about encouraging her students at the university of northern colorado to be flexible and letting the “classical” music industry reinvent itself  in order to keep it alive.

Dr. Strom studied at Manhattan School of Music under New York Philharmonic principal percussionist, Christopher Lamb, Metropolitan Opera timpanist, Duncan Patton, Steven Schick, and Grammy Award winning frame drummer, Glen Velez. Following her studies in New York, she landed in Germany on a Fulbright scholarship to complete her Masters degree under the late Peter Sadlo at the Hochschule für Musik (Munich, Germany). Following a short period of study in Copenhagen, Denmark with Gert Mortensen, she returned to the US to complete her Doctor of Arts degree at the University of Northern Colorado.

As an orchestral musician, Strom enjoys playing regularly with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra where she also serves as Orchestra Personnel Manager. She has also toured internationally and/or performed with the Munich Symphonic Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, and Toronto Concert Orchestra, among others. In 2015, she performed the world premiere of Schlagzeug Konzert (Percussion Concerto), written for her by German composer Marco Hertenstein, in Ontario, Canada. Other highlights include performing Bartok’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion with pianist Martha Argerich  (Lübeck, Germany), performing Darius Milhaud'sConcerto pour Percussion et Petit Orchestre with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, performing on Broadway in New York, and writing, producing and performing her own theater percussion show entitled, Alice On Time. 

Dr. Strom  previously held teaching appointments at Regis University (Denver, CO), the Munich International School (Germany), the Copenhagen Music School (Denmark), and Wilfrid Laurier University (Ontario, Canada). She was formerly the lead Teaching Artist for the Very Young Composers program with the Colorado Symphony. 

A former project is her drum and percussion duo, junKtion, that Strom formed in 2013 with award winning drummer Allison Miller. The premise behind their project was to explore improvisation vs. classical backgrounds and compose and perform all original music using a combination of "real" drums and percussion, "found" instruments (junk yard materials and scrap metal), and electronics. Also important to the project was the exploration and acknowledgement of women in the drums/percussion industry.

Dr. Strom has been a featured presenter at Pasic and serves on the university pedagogy committee for the percussive arts society. she is also the vice pres of the colorado chapter of pas.

Dr. strom is passionate about food, cooking, languages, travel, and yoga. she and her partner welcomed a baby boy in november of 2021.