The pianist Julius Drake lives in London and enjoys and international reputation as one of the finest instumentalists in his field, collaborating with many of the world’s leading artists, both in recital and on disc. His passionate interest in song has led to invitations to devise song series for Wigmore Hall, London; The Concertgebouw, Amsterdam; 92nd St Y, New York; and the Pierre Boulez Saal, Berlin. He curates an annual series of song recitals – Julius Drake and Friends – in the historic Middle Temple Hall in London. Julius Drake is a Professor of Collaborative Piano at the Guildhall School of Music in London, and he is regularly invited to give masterclasses worldwide.
Julius Drake’s many recordings include a widely acclaimed series with Gerald Finley for Hyperion Records, of which ‘Song by Samuel Barber’, ‘Schumann: Dichterliebe & other Heine Settings’ and ‘Britten: Songs & Proverbs of William Blake’ won the 2007, 2009 and 2011 Gramophone Awards; recordings with Ian Bostridge and Alice Coote for EMI; with Joyce DiDonato, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson and Matthew Polenzani for Wigmore Live; and with Anna Prohaska for Alpha. His recordings of Janáček’s ‘The Diary of One Who Disappeared’, with tenor Nicky Spence and mezzo soprano Václava Housková for Hyperion Records, won both the Gramophone and the BBC Music Magazine Awards in 2020.
Concerts this season include recitals at La Scala, Milan and the Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid, with Ludovic Tézier; return visits to the Boulez Saal Berlin for the series ‘Lied und Lyrik’; a recital tour in the USA with Ian Bostridge; the complete Mahler songs in five recitals in the Mahler Festival at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam; recitals at the Opera Liceu in Barcelona with Gerald Finley, Sarah Connolly and Iréne Theorin; return visits to the Chamber Music Festivals of Santa Fe, West Cork and Oxford; concerts in Berlin and the Aldeburgh Festival with Andrè Schuen; piano duet recitals with Elisabeth Leonskaja in Austria, including at the Schubertiade Festival; recitals in the USA and Europe with Fleur Barron, Mercedes Gancedo, Christoph Prégardien, Julia Kleiter, Anna Prohaska and Roderick Williams; and at Wigmore Hall, London the Seasoning Opening concert celebrating the Fauré Anniversary, as well as recitals with Alice Coote, Stuart Jackson, Sofia Fomina and Brindley Sherratt.
