WATCH/LISTEN BIOGRAPHY NEWS
About
Julian began his musical life as a songwriter, guitarist and singer with various Cheltenham-based rock bands in the 1990s. He attended Cardiff University as a mature student, before studying under John Pickard at Bristol University, where he gained a PhD in Musical Composition.
As well as a composer, Julian is the founder and director of Sound World (formerly New Music in the South West) a Bristol based music and education organisation. Indeed, the success of Sound World forced a hiatus in his composition as it began to consume more and more of his time but, more recently, he has been able to redirect more of his focus back to composing.
Since then he has worked with Kokoro, the new music ensemble of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Zelkova String Quartet, NMSW Trio and Bristol Ensemble.
Julian is particularly interested in projects which develop a “conversation” between music and art and has developed a number of these at The Royal West of England Academy of Art, Hauser & Wirth and Dartington Hall. Artists have included Fiona Robinson, Zhang Enli and Peter Randall-Page.
In 2019 his string quartet In The Steps of Apollo was played at planetaria across the globe as part of a project celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. The music from this audio-visual production is scheduled for release on CD in 2023.
Most recently, Julian’s piece for clarinet and bass clarinet Entwined featured on the “Covid-19” response album Reflections.
Watch/listen
Building The City
Bristol Ensemble (cond. John Pickard). 22nd September 2019. St. George’s, Bristol.
The Pains of Sleep (final section)
An extract from the first performance of Julian’s The Pains of Sleep. In this final section of the piece the first rays of morning sunlight creep through the window blind, bringing an end to this troubled night. A gentle calmness envelops the world, but something of the nightremains.
Anywhere Else But Here
BE String Quartet. 7th September 2014. St. George’s, Bristol.
String Quartet: second movement
written as part of a collaboration with artist Fiona Robinson. The project presented a developing conversation between the two art forms as each created a response to the other’s work.
BE String Quartet. 13th June 2015. Hauser & Wirth, Somerset.
News
Julian’s latest piece (as yet untitled) for clarinet, marimba, piano and cello will be premièred later this year and his string quartet In The Steps of Apollo is scheduled for release in the Autumn.