Julian Perkins

Dubbed “The Indiana Jones of Early Music” by BBC Radio 3, Julian Perkins brings a dynamic and adventurous spirit to all of his music-making. He is delighted to have been appointed Artistic Director of Portland Baroque Orchestra, with whom he looks forward to combining artistic excellence with meaningful scholarship in creating thrilling, historically inspired – yet contemporary – performances. He is also Artistic Director of Cambridge Handel Opera and Sounds Baroque, and enjoys a busy and varied career as a conductor/director, chamber musician, and solo keyboard player.

Julian was shortlisted for the 2021 Gramophone Award for his recording of Eccles’s Semele with the Academy of Ancient Music and Cambridge Handel Opera, and in August 2023 his latest solo disc, Handel’s Attick, was Instrumental Choice in BBC Music Magazine. He has been praised in print as both conductor and keyboard soloist for his “demonic intensity” (BBC Music Magazine Recording of the Month), “fluid and natural pacing” (Gramophone Editor’s Choice), and “verve and suavity” (Classical Music), conducting “as if every bar means the world to him” (Opera Disc of the Month), and giving “performances that reach to the heart of the music” (International Record Review).

With Sounds Baroque, Julian Perkins has directed many acclaimed performances with such singers as Dame Emma Kirkby, Mark Padmore, and Carolyn Sampson. He has directed numerous instrumental groups ranging from the Academy of Ancient Music, Croatian Baroque Ensemble, and Deutsche Händel-Solisten to the Northern Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of Welsh National Opera, and St Paul’s Sinfonia, and has worked closely with conductors including Ivor Bolton, Christopher Hogwood, Vladimir Jurowski, and Trevor Pinnock. He has also led over twenty Baroque projects with Southbank Sinfonia and conducted a wide range of celebrated staged opera productions. His frequent appearances directing Sounds Baroque include ground-breaking performances of newly-minted pasticcio operas, co-created with librettist Stephen Pettitt, which tell cogent stories, challenging notions of “authenticity.”

As a keyboard player, Julian Perkins performs regularly at the Salzburg Festival and has given concerto performances with ensembles including the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Florilegium, and Orchestra of The Sixteen. Passionate about singing, he has appeared as solo harpsichordist or fortepianist for the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and Welsh National Opera, among others. He features regularly on BBC Radio 3 and has performed as a soloist at prestigious venues such as London’s Wigmore Hall, New York’s Lincoln Center, and Sydney Opera House. Active as a recitalist, Julian often performs with renowned instrumentalists and singers, and regularly breaks new ground at international festivals by giving solo clavichord concerts. In addition to numerous Baroque and Classical works, his wide-ranging discography includes world-première recordings of modern pieces by composers such as Stephen Dodgson, Iain Farrington, Nicola Lefanu, Peter Maxwell Davies, Rhian Samuel, and Héloïse Werner.