Julian Perkins - Topic

Julian Perkins is a British conductor and keyboard player. Shortlisted for the Gramophone Award in 2021, he is Artistic Director of the Portland Baroque Orchestra in the US. He lives in London, England and is also Founder Director of the early music ensemble Sounds Baroque and Artistic Director of Cambridge Handel Opera Company.
As a conductor, Julian Perkins has been praised for his 'heartening dramatic energy' and 'dynamic direction', while his harpsichord playing has been described as 'superbly creative' and 'wonderfully adept and stylish'. He conducted the first professional recording of Eccles's Semele with the Academy of Ancient Music, and the world première recordings of Daniel Purcell's opera-oratorio The Judgment of Paris and Stephen Dodgson's opera Margaret Catchpole. His solo discography includes world premières of virtuosic harpsichord suites by James Nares, John Christopher Smith and John Worgan, clavichord works by Herbert Howells and Stephen Dodgson, Johann Sebastian Bach's French Suites and a clavichord programme entitled Handel's Attick.