Julian Wachner

Born in Hollywood, California in 1969, Julian Wachner is a prolific composer and a conductor of unusual versatility, engaged by orchestras, choruses, opera companies and contemporary ensembles throughout North America.

He began his musical education at age 4 with cello lessons at the University of Southern California and studied improvisation, composition, and organ and theory under Dr. Gerre Hancock while a boy chorister at the St. Thomas Choir School in New York CIty. He attended Boston University's School for the Arts, where, at the age of 20, he was appointed to the faculty as University Organist and Choirmaster of the Marsh Chapel.

In 1994, he became Fellow of the American Guild of Organists, and the following year, he founded the Bach Ensemble, a period-instrument orchestra. In 1996, he earned the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in composition and orchestral conducting from Boston University, having studied primarily with Lukas Foss, Marjorie Merryman and David Hoose. His complete catalogue of music, containing over 50 scores, is published exclusively by E. C. Shirmer.

Wachner has held faculty appointments at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and at Boston University for the Arts, Tanglewood Institute and School of Theology. He was recently appointed Associate Professor of Music and Chair of the Choral Area of McGill University in Montreal.