[2][3] They ultimately settled in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio, where she was active in high school plays and musicals, including starring in the lead role of Annie.
Kogan's operatic roles have included Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte, Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, Blonde in Die Entführung, Madame Herz in Der Schauspieldirektor, Greta Fiorentino in Street Scene, and Fiordiligi Cosi fan tutte at the opera houses of Avignon, Indianapolis, Limoges, Manitoba, Toulon, Toulouse and in Oxford.
She has been described as "a lively actress"[4] with "a warm voice, round, elegant and expressive phrasing, and a remarkable knack for coloratura passages",[5] "up to the challenge of a stratospheric soprano line".
Julia Kogan wrote and presented the BBC Radio 4 documentary "The Lost Songs of Hollywood", which aired on 12 November 2015.
She is also credited with originating and co-screenwriting the 2016 film Florence Foster Jenkins starring Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant based on the true story of an early 20th century socialite and amateur soprano known for her poor singing ability.