Julian has been President of Basingstoke Symphony Orchestra since 2022.

​

He has enjoyed one of the most creative careers in music today. As a solo cellist, he has performed with many of the world’s greatest orchestras and conductors, including the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and the London Symphony Orchestra. He has collaborated with a wide range of legendary musicians, from pianists Sir Clifford Curzon and Murray Perahia to jazz artists Stéphane Grappelli, Dame Cleo Laine and Sir Elton John.

​

In 2007, at the invitation of the Secretary of State for Education, Julian founded the UK Government’s In Harmony programme, and he continues to Chair Sistema England. Together, the two programmes have introduced the power of music to more than sixty thousand schoolchildren from some of the least privileged parts of England. Julian was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Music in 1994 and is the recipient of a Crystal Award from the World Economic Forum (1998), the Classic FM Red Award (2005), and the Incorporated Society of Musicians’ Distinguished Musician of the Year Award (2014). He has represented the music education sector on BBC1’s Question Time and The Andrew Marr Show, BBC2’s Newsnight, and BBC Radio 4’s Today, The World at One, PM, Front Row, and The World Tonight.

​

In 2014, Julian was forced to retire from playing the cello due to a neck injury that reduced the power of his bowing arm. In July 2015, he was appointed Principal of Birmingham Conservatoire. During his five‑year tenure, he oversaw the move to a new £57 million building and the merger of the Conservatoire with the Birmingham School of Acting. In September 2017, the Conservatoire was awarded Royal status by Her Majesty the Queen.

​

Julian is married to fellow cellist Jiaxin Cheng. A lifelong Leyton Orient supporter, he was the London Underground’s first official busker and the only classical musician to perform at the Closing Ceremony of the 2012 Olympics.