Julius Drake

British pianist Julius Drake is a leading specialist in the performance of chamber music and vocal accompaniment. He started piano lessons at the age of seven. He has made numerous recordings, including: Sibelius songs with Katarina Karnéus; Haydn Canzonettas with Christoph Genz; French songs with Hughes Cuenod; French sonatas with Nicholas Daniel; spirituals with Ruby Philogene; clarinet and piano works with Emma Johnson; Ivor Gurney songs with Paul Agnew; Schubert and Schumann discs with tenor Ian Bostridge; and the Britten Canticles with Ian Bostridge and David Daniels. In addition to frequent collaborations with Bostridge, Drake has worked with a long roster of celebrated artists, including Sir Thomas Allen, Barbara Bonney, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Derek Lee Ragin, Emma Johnson, Felicity Lott, Michael Chance, Edith Mathis, Angelika Kirchschlager, Yvonne Kenny, Joan Rodgers, Gerald Finley, Jill Gomez, Julian Lloyd Webber, Matthias Görne, Nathan Berg, Sally Burgess, Natalie Clein, Robert Cohen, Peter Coleman-Wright, Nicholas Daniel, William Dazeley, Wolfgang Holzmair, Ruby Philogene, Victoria de los Angeles, and Paul Whelan. Drake has performed at major international music festivals and concert halls in Britain and Europe, including five recitals at the 1995 Cheltenham International Festival and a series of Schubertiads in the song recital series at Wigmore Hall. He has also performed the complete songs of Gabriel Fauré for the BBC. In 2000, Drake was appointed artistic director of the Perth International Chamber Music Festival in Australia.