Dubbed ‘The Indiana Jones of Early Music’ by BBC Radio 3, Julian Perkins enjoys a busy and varied international career as a solo keyboard player, chamber musician and conductor/director. He is Artistic Director of Portland Baroque Orchestra in Oregon, USA, and Founding Artistic Director of Cambridge Handel Opera and the period-instrument ensemble Sounds Baroque in the UK.

Julian has been praised 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). He 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 solo clavichord album, Handel’s Attick, was Instrumental Choice in BBC Music Magazine.

With Sounds Baroque, Julian has directed many acclaimed performances with such singers as Dame Emma Kirkby, Anna Dennis, James Gilchrist, Mark Padmore, Christopher Purves and Carolyn Sampson. His appearances include directing ground-breaking performances of new pasticcio operas, co-created with librettist Stephen Pettitt, which tell cogent stories, challenging notions of “authenticity”. He has also directed numerous other ensembles ranging from the Academy of Ancient Music, Croatian Baroque Ensemble, Deutsche Händel-Solisten, New London Singers and Tesserae Baroque to the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra & Charlotte Master Chorale, Northern Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of Welsh National Opera and St Paul’s Sinfonia. In the earlier part of his career, he benefited from working closely with leading conductors including Christopher Hogwood, Vladimir Jurowski and Trevor Pinnock.

Passionate about education, Julian has led Baroque and Classical projects at The Juilliard School in New York, Oregon Bach Festival, London’s Sinfonia Smith Square and National Opera Studio, and the conservatoires in Amsterdam, The Hague, London and Venice. His online forum, Handel’s Green Room, has reached global audiences.