Julian Podger

The English tenor and conductor, Julian Podger, was educated in Kassel, Germany, where upon leaving school, he first established himself as a solo singer and conductor. In 1987 he took up a Choral Award to read Music at Trinity College, Cambridge. There, in addition to his many commitments as a solo singer, he was instrumental in the development of the early music scene, and concerts under his direction gained widespread recognition, aided by the use of historical performance practice. As part of his post-graduate studies he carried out research into the performance practice of Tudor church music, and he continues to direct performances of mainly “early” music with his vocal ensemble, Trinity Baroque, experimenting with both historical and new approaches.

As an oratorio soloist Julian Podger is now much in demand in England and abroad, particularly Germany. He has recorded the arias of J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion (BWV 245) with The Scholars Baroque Ensemble and regularly performs as Evangelist, high points being a tour to the Canary Islands with J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244) and a performance of the same in St. John’s, Smith Square, London. He has appeared regularly as a soloist for Paul McCreesh, Christopher Hogwood, John Eliot Gardiner and with Musica Antiqua Köln under Reinhard Goebel. He made a tout to Japan as Lucano in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea with The Purcell Quartet Opera Project and Bach Cantatas with Andrew Parrott and the Taverner Consort at Bachwoche Ansbach. He has appeared in many major concert venues, including the Royal Albert Hall and the Barbican, London, the Mozarteum, Salzburg and the Konzerthaus, Vienna. He regularly performs in music festivals across Europe, working with Philippe Herreweghe, Reinhard Goebel and Frieder Bernius.

Also an ensemble singer, Julian Podger is a member of one of the word’s leading medieval ensembles, Gothic Voices, under Christopher Page, and a regular member of The Gabrieli Consort, London Baroque, The Tallis Scholars and The Harp Consort.

Besides running his own ensemble Trinity Baroque, Julian Podger was recently appointed Choral Conductor for Florilegium, and has since directed their choir and orchestra in various baroque works, including J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248) in St. Pancras Church, London, and the Canary Islands in which he also sang the tenor solos, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at the Sablé-sur-Sarthe festival and most recently George Frideric Handel’s Israel in Egypt at the Noirlac Festival, France. Future conducting projects include further performances of Messiah, Georg Philipp Telemann’s Brockes Passion (TWV 5:1) and Purcell’s King Arthur.

Julian Podger's recent recordings include Bach Cantatas and Psalm settings by Lili Boulanger, both with John Eliot Gardiner. He and has recently been invited to sing for Andrew Parrott in a forthcoming recording.