Julius Drake

Drake was educated at the Purcell School and the Royal College of Music; he made his professional debut at the Purcell Room in 1981 and developed a special affinity for the music of Robert Schumann. Drake is now a professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and a visiting professor at the Royal Northern College of Music; he lives in London with his wife and two children and, between performing, recording and teaching, is actively involved in the Jean Meikle Music Trust, a charity set up in commemoration of his mother. Drake is an uncle of theatre and opera director Sophie Hunter. Drake was director of the Perth International Chamber Music Festival in Australia from 2000 to 2003 and was musical director of Deborah Warner's staging of Janáček's Diary of One Who Vanished, touring to Munich, London, Dublin, Amsterdam and New York; he was artistic director of Leeds Lieder 2009 and directs the Machynlleth Festival in Wales from 2009 - 2011. He has devised song programmes for the Wigmore Hall, London, the BBC, the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, and the historic Middle Temple Hall in London with such recitalists as Thomas Allen, Olaf Bär, Ian Bostridge, Alice Coote, Angelika Kirchschlager, Sergei Leiferkus, Felicity Lott, Katarina Karnéus, Christopher Maltman, Mark Padmore, Amanda Roocroft, Ann Mackay and Willard White; he also has a longstanding partnership with oboist Nicholas Daniel. Drake's numerous recordings include playing on screen in David Alden's 1997 film of Schubert's Winterreise for Channel 4 with Ian Bostridge.

The authorities additionally record the heading Julius M. His recorded language was English. He was the child of Michael Drake. He married Belinda Catriona Gow. 2 children are recorded: Katherine Molly Myrtle Drake and Lydia Beatrice Elizabeth Drake.