Dubbed ‘‘The Indiana Jones of Early Music’’ by BBC Radio 3, Julian Perkins brings a dynamic and adventurous spirit to all his music-making. Based in the UK and of dual British-Italian citizenship, he enjoys a busy and varied international career as a conductor/director, chamber musician and solo keyboard player. 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 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). He was shortlisted for the 2021 Gramophone Award for his recording of Eccles’s Semele, and in August 2023 his latest clavichord disc, Handel's Attick, was Instrumental Choice in BBC Music Magazine.

With Sounds Baroque, Julian has directed acclaimed performances with such singers as Dame Emma Kirkby, Helen Charlston, Anna Dennis, Rebecca Evans, James Gilchrist, Benjamin Hulett, Mark Padmore, Christopher Purves, Carolyn Sampson and Lawrence Zazzo. 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, and conducted acclaimed staged and concert productions ranging from over a dozen of Handel's operas and oratorios to Stephen Dodgson's opera, Margaret Catchpole. Earlier in his career, he worked closely with many leading conductors including Christopher Hogwood, Vladimir Jurowski and Trevor Pinnock. 

As a keyboard player, Julian has often performed at the Salzburg Festival and appeared as a soloist with ensembles including the Bayerisches Staatsorchester, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Florilegium, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Orchestra of The Sixteen and Royal Northern Sinfonia. Active as a recitalist, Julian frequently performs with renowned singers and instrumentalists including his wife, Emma Abbate. He features on many radio stations and breaks new ground at international festivals by giving solo clavichord concerts. His prize-winning discography includes world-première recordings of over thirty works by composers ranging from Daniel Purcell to Héloïse Werner. 

Passionate about education, Julian​is an advocate of what he terms ‘‘Historically Inspired Performance’’​. He has led many Baroque and Classical projects with ​the Oregon Bach Festival, London's Sinfonia Smith Square​ and National Opera Studio, ​and the​ conservatoires in Amsterdam, The Hague and London​. Plans for 2025/2026 include masterclasses and workshops at The Juilliard School in New York and the Venice Conservatory. He has also written a variety of published articles on performance practice and reached a global audience through Handel's Green Room, a​n online forum devised with Cambridge Handel Opera and the scholar Dr Ruth Smith.

​Believing that performing musicians have much in common with athletes, Julian admires Novak Djokovic's discipline – and aims to emulate various aspects of his lifestyle. His own sporting prowess, however, is somewhat limited, and he invariably loses at soccer to his pre-teenage twin sons. 

‘The Indiana Jones of early music’ -- BBC Radio 3

JOHN ECCLES | Semele | Academy of Ancient Music (recording)

‘...a scintillating triumph... Thanks to Perkins's deft casting, each principal's vocalism and dramatis persona are wonderfully matched... The Academy of Ancient Music's playing is just as fascinating. Perkins directs from the harpsichord with a demonic intensity. When individual band members take over the storytelling, their solos gild Eccles's invention with their own... Perkins commands a gamut of responses to the ensembles' charms, from crystal-clear voicing to big, fat homophonic swells. ... this is a superb reconstruction of a lost Eccles masterpiece.’ - BBC Music Magazine – Recording of the Month

‘…the pace whips along, as jewel-like solos flash past, interspersed with vividly descriptive instrumental numbers… Julian Perkins gets a fizzing performance out of the Academy of Ancient Music, enough to make Eccles seem a rival to Handel…’ - Financial Times – Critics' Choice 

‘It is difficult to imagine greater justice currently being done to this opera than it receives here. Testament to the depth of thought and preparation that has gone into the performance is fully laid out in the superbly produced accompanying 200-page booklet … The hero of the performance is undoubtably Julian Perkins, who conducts as if every bar means the world to him, pacing the work with assurance and drawing splendid playing from the strings of the AAM … All the major roles are outstandingly taken … as this outstanding recording proves, it’s a damn good opera. As such it fully servers to take a place in the repertoire of British companies.’ - Opera – Disc of the Month

‘'This opera oozes drama’ writes Julian Perkins in his note, and goes on to prove his point. Pacing, not least in the expressive recitatives, is fluid and natural, the playing of AAM strings tingles with theatrical life and the young cast is uniformly fine … superb.’ - Gramophone – Editor's Choice

‘The Academy of Ancient Music’s new recording of John Eccles’ Semele is nothing short of a revelation…. The sheer virtuosity of the Symphony that opens act III is breathtaking, especially when captured in Alexander Van Ingen and Dave Rowell’s superbly present recording. Performed to the very highest vocal, instrumental and scholarly standards, this is simply unmissable.’ - Opera Now 

‘With the Academy of Ancient Music, the director Julian Perkins reveals a work that exceeds the superficially attractive, his charged reading embracing high drama and deep emotion. Excellent performances from Richard Burkhard (Jupiter), Anna Dennis (Semele) and the remarkable Helen Charlston (Juno).’  - Sunday Times

'The work recorded here, [Eccles’] opera Semele, is definitely no tiddler, especially when performed with the forthright flourish that the director and harpsichordist Julian Perkins’s musicians and singers bring to the task … Among the universally strong cast, Anna Dennis makes the most of every word as the confused heroine who bites off rather more than she can chew. Richard Burkhard is properly muscular as Jupiter; William Wallace quivers nicely as the agitated Athamas, Semele’s intended; while Bethany Horak-Hallett makes such an eloquent Cupid that I only wish this god of love had flown into view more often. Handsomely packaged with copious documentation, this is a recording that by rights should put Eccles on the map.' - The Times 

'Colourful musical gem… impeccably produced… The role of Semele herself is beautifully sung by Anna Denns, and the rest of the large cast is excellent, too. Julian Perkins conducts them and the AAM players in a performance that’s gratifyingly light on its feet… puts this Semele, and its composer, firmly on the map.' - The Guardian 

'I enjoyed this disc immensely… what Perkins and his performers bring out is that this Semele is as vivid as a drama as its successor… Reviving one of the forgotten gems of English opera, this first professional recording of Eccles and Congreve’s drama is revelatory, bringing out the work’s wit, charm and drama…' - Planet Hugill

'...lavishly packaged, presented and researched new account… gives this work the passionate advocacy it has long been waiting for… Perkins directs a crisp, energised account from the orchestra, with plenty of character in the continuo playing.' - Limelight – Editor's Choice 

'Long deprived of a modern edition, Eccles' music is beginning to resurface as evidenced by this recording of his Semele … Julian Perkins leads a dozen excellent soloists and the joint forces of the Cambridge Handel Opera Company, Cambridge Early Music and the Academy of Ancient Music … This new version is a real revelation.' - Les amis d’Ovide  

'Eccles tended to work on a smaller scale than the operatic but he is notably deft when it comes to instrumental touches, such as violin obbligati, the structurally important use of the wind machine, and of tempest-styled intensity. It’s this adrenalin that I also ascribe to Julian Perkins, who directs the Academy of Ancient Music from the harpsichord. I’ve just listened to his vivacious playing of the keyboard music of the obscure English composer John Worgan (Toccata TOCC 0375) who was active compositionally after Eccles had retired, and his performance of sometimes somewhat eccentric music is wonderfully vivid, as is his direction of Semele. He encourages bracing tempi without allowing them to become breathless or short-winded. Pacing of the recitatives is finely judged (the opening recitative of Act II between Juno and Iris is a perfect case in point – not wilfully rushed but maintaining its own natural rhythm). Orchestral discipline is assured, and individual contributions are poised. The Symphony that opens Act III is pizzicato laced and full of interest. ...your ear will be enjoying this tightly produced, outstandingly well sung and splendidly performed Italianate opera.' - MusicWeb International

STEPHEN DODGSON | Margaret Catchpole | Perpetuo Ensemble (recording)

'...The Perpetuo ensemble play beautifully throughout, the whole directed impeccably by Julian Perkins.' - Gramophone

'Conductor, Julian Perkins, does a superb job with Chamber Orchestra, Perpetuo. The musical Interludes between the scenes were not only a delight but moved the story forward in an interesting way. ...It’s a long time since I have been so gripped by an opera narrative and so involved in all its characters and that is due to the cohesiveness of the piece. But the biggest surprise to me was the wonderful score. Naxos has produced a marvellous recording and the sleeve notes are excellent. Highly recommended – this opera will appeal to a wide audience.' - ArtMuseLondon

'Throughout, Dodgson links his scenes with atmospheric orchestral interludes which greatly add to the interest of the opera, and Perkins gets fine performances of these from the members of Perpetuo. These interludes partly contribute to the work's leisurely feel, but yet they are musically so strong, and Perkins and his players make them an integral part of the opera....The recording is notable for the vividness of the performances and the tidiness of detail in a contemporary piece is admirable. Dodgson's final opera has full justice done to it on disc.'  - Planet Hugill

HANDEL | Rodelinda | Cambridge Handel Opera

‘The young cast – hand-picked by Perkins, who led the medium-sized orchestra from the harpsichord with verve and suavity – could scarcely have been bettered. …such a direct, powerful production.’ - Classical Music and Opera Now

‘...the opera is directed by Julian Perkins with verve and wit.’ -- Early Music Today

HANDEL | “Handel Furioso: A pasticcio” | Grimeborn Festival London

'...Perkins's dynamic direction of the single strings and theorbo ensemble combined to stylish and sincere effect.' - The Independent

 D PURCELL | The Judgment of Paris | Spiritato (recording)

‘…heartening dramatic energy under Julian Perkins’s assured direction’.  - Gramophone

‘Perkins and his forces give a delightfully involving and stylish performance which is more than recommendable on its own terms.’- Planet Hugill

STRADELLA San Giovanni Battista /ARNE The Cooper |Guildhall School of Music & Drama

‘Musically and dramatically, the evening was a triumph. Julian Perkins conducted with energy and a continuous sense of rightness.’- MusicWeb International

‘...the orchestra claimed our full attention with a precise and idiomatic overture, full of joyful energy under the direction of Julian Perkins.’ - The Arts Desk

A SCARLATTI | La Giuditta | Sounds Baroque

‘I have seldom seen singers and players enjoying themselves quite as much as in this performance… Julian Perkins’s clear direction must have been a delight to follow.’ - Early Music Reviews

Music of ZELENKA | Spiritato/Barts Chamber Choir

‘Conductor Julian Perkins gave impressively clear directions to both choir and orchestra...’ - Early Music Reviews

‘Perkins and his forces give a delightfully involving and stylish performance which is more than recommendable on its own terms.’ - Planet Hugill