Julian Wagstaff (b. 1970) - Full biography
Julian lives in his native Edinburgh where he is active as a composer, arranger and guitarist. He graduated with 1st class honours in German and Politics from Reading University in 1993, and worked variously as a translator, television researcher and computer programmer before turning to music as a profession in the late 1990s. His interest in language and political history continues to be reflected in much of his music and in his theatre libretti.
He first came to public attention with the musical John Paul Jones, based on the life of the Scots-born sailor and hero of the American Revolution, which premiered in Edinburgh in 2001. In it, Julian's eclectic compositional style began to emerge. The musical was revived in 2010 in association with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
Julian's specific interest in German history, particularly the history of the former German Democratic Republic, is reflected in Treptow for string orchestra (2005), his most-performed work. This piece, which won the 2005 Emre Araci Prize, was inspired by the Soviet War Memorial in Treptow Park in east Berlin.
In August 2007, Julian Wagstaff presented his hour-long chamber opera The Turing Test on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, to sell-out audiences. The opera takes its name from the test proposed by the English mathematician Alan Turing for human level intelligence in a machine. The opera was cited by the novelist Alexander McCall Smith as his cultural highlight of the year in the Daily Telegraph Review of 2007.
Julian enjoys close connections with many of Scotland's leading musicians, and his works are widely performed throughout Scotland and beyond. His Piano Quintet was released on Circular Records in November 2007 on an album entitled Frontiers and Bridges, recorded by the Edinburgh Quartet and produced by Calum Malcolm. He studied Composition at Edinburgh University with Professor Nigel Osborne, receiving his PhD in 2008.
He was recently appointed Composer in Residence at King’s Buildings, University of Edinburgh, and is published by Europa Edition.