Julian Perkins

Julian Perkins is a British conductor and keyboard player (harpsichord, fortepiano and clavichord).[1] He is Founder Director of the early music ensemble Sounds Baroque and Artistic Director of Cambridge Handel Opera Company.[2]

Julian Perkins in rehearsal, 2012

As a conductor, Julian Perkins has been praised for his 'heartening dramatic energy' and 'dynamic direction',[3][4] while his harpsichord accompaniment has been described as 'superbly creative' and 'wonderfully adept and stylish'.[5][6] His solo discography includes premières of harpsichord suites by James Nares and John Christopher Smith,[7][8] clavichord works by Herbert Howells and Stephen Dodgson,[9][10] and Johann Sebastian Bach's French Suites on clavichord.[11] He directed the first recording of Daniel Purcell's opera-oratorio The Judgment of Paris,[12] which he subsequently performed in London at St John's, Smith Square.[13] Other recordings include two discs of Italian cantatas and one of songs by Henry Purcell featuring the soprano Anna Dennis with Sounds Baroque.[14][15] Duo recordings comprise Franz Schubert's violin sonatas of 1816 with Peter Sheppard Skærved and, with Emma Abbate, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's complete sonatas for keyboard duet and Carl Maria von Weber's complete works for keyboard duet.[16][17][18][19]

Julian Perkins has directed the Academy of Ancient Music,[20] and performed concertos with Florilegium, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Orchestra of The Sixteen and Royal Northern Sinfonia. He works annually with the Southbank Sinfonia, has conducted staged opera productions for organisations including the Buxton Festival,[21] Dutch National Opera Academy, Grimeborn Festival and Guildhall School of Music & Drama,[22][23] and devised an opera pasticcio about Casanova with librettist Stephen Pettitt that he directed for the Baroque Unwrapped series at London's Kings Place in May 2016.[24] He has appeared live on BBC Radio 3,[25] featured on The Early Music Show and contributed to the station's pioneering podcast about George Frideric Handel's Orlando with Welsh National Opera.[26][27] Since 2014, Julian Perkins has been the Artistic Director of Coram's Handel Birthday Concert,[28] that raises money for vulnerable children. He has given solo recitals in international festivals at St Albans, Buxton, Canterbury, Deal, King's Lynn, Lammermuir, Northern Aldborough, Oundle, Petworth, Roman River, Ryedale, Swaledale, Two Moors and Tel Aviv. He wrote an introduction to the clavichord for BBC Music Magazine,[29] and his article about John Christopher Smith was published by Early Music Today.[30] He is a harpsichord tutor at the Royal Northern College of Music.[31]