Julius Drake

Pianist

 

Julius Drake

Pianist

“Julius Drake, the nonpareil collaborative pianist.”

The New Yorker

“I feel tremendously lucky to be able to earn my living playing the piano. I am constantly stretched and stimulated by the music I play and I’m inspired by many marvellous friends and colleagues with whom I share the platform. I am very privileged.”

Latest Videos

Life Victoria Barcelona with Günther Groissböck

Great to return to the brilliant Life Victoria series in Barcelona, this time with the outstanding Austrian bass Günther Groissböck, here together performing Schubert’s beloved Ganymed.

Recital at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam with Thomas Quasthoff

23 years ago Thomas Quasthoff and I went onstage to give a recital o Brahms and Schubert. The radio was there to record it and now it’s been released on You Tube. Hope you enjoy it!

News & Recent Reviews

BBC Music Magazine Awards 2025

Julius Drake and Nicholas Daniel win the Chamber Award for 'Robert and Clara Schumann Works for Oboe and Piano'

Gramophone: Fauré: La Bonne Chanson and Other Songs album review

"Spence, in wonderful voice here, sings with bronzed tone, a keen sense of line and a reined-in intensity that allows words and emotional shifts to register fully. There's a telling surge of feeling at 'Ô bien-aimée', in 'La lune blanche', and a real sense of rapture...

The Guardian: Fauré: La Bonne Chanson and Other Songs album review – the ecstasy of unbuttoned love

"With immaculate French diction, Spence marvellously conveys the scarcely contained ecstasy of each song, his vocal lines beautifully cushioned by the strings of the Piatti Quartet and double-bass player. But the cycle occupies less than half the running time of the...

Life Victoria Barcelona – La Voix Humaine Review (Scherzo)

"Life Victoria Barcelona and the Victoria de los Ángeles Foundation presented their performance in Seville, centered around two lyrical monologues by Francis Poulenc, accompanied by three songs and a piano piece, with the luxurious participation of Julius Drake on the...

BBC Music Magazine: The 13 best classical albums of 2024

"Robert Schumann only wrote one work for oboe – but that hasn’t stopped oboist Nicholas Daniel drawing together a gorgeous album of his music. Played with such warmth and eloquence, the arrangements chosen here often feel as if they were tailor-made for the...

The Guardian: Andrew Clements’ top 10 recordings of the year

In 10th position, Schumann: Works for Oboe (Daniel/Drake) “Pure delight from first note to last.” To read the full article click this link

Wigmore Hall’s Fauré Song Gala: a showcase for the composer’s mélodies (Bachtrack)

✬ ✬ ✬ ✬ Bachtrack Mark Valencia "Both [Susan Manoff and Julius Drake] playing with secure, idiomatic familiarity... a generosity of spirit both to their singers and to each other." "A concert of heavenly length that grouped songs from the composer’s early, middle, and...

Wigmore Hall Fauré Song Gala review (The Guardian)

✬ ✬ ✬ ✬ The Guardian Andrew Clements "A beautifully conceived, finely executed centenary tribute." To read the full article please click the following link: Fauré Song Gala review – subtlety and sensitivity mark centenary of composer’s death

2024 Jean Meikle Duo Prize Winners: Clara Barbier Serrano & Joanna Kacperek

2024 Jean Meikle Duo Prize Winners: Clara Barbier Serrano & Joanna Kacperek The Jean Meikle Duo Prize at the Wigmore Hall/Bollinger International Song Competition has been awarded to soprano Clara Barbier Serrano and pianist Joanna Kacperek. About the Artists:...

Album Review: Robert & Clara Schumann Works for Oboe and Piano (The Guardian)

✯✯✯✯✯ Nicholas Daniel/Julius Drake (Chandos) This eight-work record, some pieces arranged by Daniel, is a dream – despite most of the pieces not being originally written for the performers’ instruments But it’s a measure of the care and sensitivity that Daniel and...

Future Engagements

27may19:30Pierre Boulez Saal with Katrīna Paula Felsberga19:30 Pierre Boulez Saal

31may19:30Wigmore Hall with Anna Lucia Richter and Nicky Spence19:30 Wigmore Hall

06jun19:30Musik und Kunstschule Deutschlandsberg with Elisabeth Leonskaja19:30 Musik- und Kunstschule Deutschlandsberg

08jun15:00Wooler Arts with Roderick Williams and Ben Boskovic15:00 St Mary’s Church

15jun14:00The Grange Festival: The Meath Epilepsy Charity14:00 The Grange Festival

Future Engagements

27may19:30Pierre Boulez Saal with Katrīna Paula Felsberga19:30 Pierre Boulez Saal

31may19:30Wigmore Hall with Anna Lucia Richter and Nicky Spence19:30 Wigmore Hall

06jun19:30Musik und Kunstschule Deutschlandsberg with Elisabeth Leonskaja19:30 Musik- und Kunstschule Deutschlandsberg

08jun15:00Wooler Arts with Roderick Williams and Ben Boskovic15:00 St Mary’s Church

15jun14:00The Grange Festival: The Meath Epilepsy Charity14:00 The Grange Festival

Curated Projects

“Over the last few years, since the inauguration of Temple Song in 2006, I have performed in the glorious Middle Temple Hall with an array of the best singers in the world, most of them discovering the hall for the first time…”

“Middle Temple Hall, the setting for a first-rate concert series, is one of those London spaces that would make a tourist swoon. With its suits of armour and coats-of-arms it seems the perfect setting for stirring songs of martial derring-do.”

Ivan Hewett, The Daily Telegraph

Professorship & Masterclasses

   Julius Drake is a Professor at the Guildhall School of Music in London. Up until 2024, he held a Professorship at Graz University for Music and the Performing Arts in Austria, where he tought a class for song pianists andHe is regularly invited to give master classes worldwide; recently in Aldeburgh, Brussels, Utrecht, Cincinnati, Toronto, Minneapolis, Ann Arbor, Vienna and at the Schubert Institute in Baden bei Wien.

Contact

Julius Drake is represented worldwide by Askonas Holt.

For availability and general enquiries:

Angelica Conner
Artist Manager
Email: angelica.conner@askonasholt.com

Charlotte Bateman
Assistant Artist Manager
Email: charlotte.bateman@askonasholt.com

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