ENSEMBLE AND ORCHESTRAL WORKS
Karyryouacou: concerto for violin and strings – Harriet Mackenzie and Ensemble 12 premiere 2022
Salisbury International Arts Festival
Symphonic Stories for symphony orchestra:
When the World Goes Quiet - Liverpool Philharmonic premiere 2018
Jacqueline - Halle Orchestra premiere 2003
Spiritual Fiction of Fact - BBC Concert Orchestra premiere 2005
The Great Sage for big band and orchestral strings - BBC Commission for the Julian Joseph All Star Big Band and and the strings of the BBC Concert orchestra, 2002:
Maestro
Gentle Wisdom
Divine Bloodstream
Mountain of Hope – BBC and the European Broadcast Union Jazz Orchestra.
Ballade of Love – BBC Commission for Jazz Orchestra.
Carry That Sound for symphony orchestra. Commissioned by the Chineke! Foundation. World Premiere July 2018, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, London.
Shape of Things to Come for Birmingham Jazz. Commission for a 10-piece group.
Winds of Change – Birmingham Music, for Julian’s Forum Project band. Premiered in Birmingham and toured nationally. Funded by the Prudential Award.
OPERAS
Bridgetower: A Fable of 1807 (2007 & 2008)
Commissioned by the City of London Corporation for the 2007 City of London Festival to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the first parliamentary bill to abolish slavery, Bridgetower tells the remarkable story of Polish-born violin prodigy George Bridgetower.
Shadowball (Olympic Inspire Mark 2010).
A celebration of the Negro baseball leagues in the United States and the breaking of the colour bar in baseball and sport. Commissioned by the Hackney Music Development Trust, Shadowball is a children’s jazz opera about the US Negro Baseball Leagues which involves young people in performance activities to promote interest in the game whilst addressing issues of racism and discrimination.
Windows into Tristan and Isolde (2013)
A song cycle based on the story of Tristan and Isolde, emphasising its British origins. Julian Joseph and librettist Mike Phillips explore in five scenes from this opera-in-progress the contemporary resonances of this ancient British legend, immortalised in Wagner’s opera. Joseph begins afresh with an original score in which composition and improvisation are entwined. Set in contemporary London, two young people fall under the power of a passionate, eternal love, but past events – and Tristan and Isolde’s complex identities – lead inexorably to tragedy.
Tristan and Isolde Oratorio (2018)
World Premiere in October 2018 at London’s Southbank Centre. Romance and tragedy collide in Julian Joseph’s reworking of the ancient legend of Tristan and Isolde. This oratorio for today draws inspiration from the worlds of jazz and classical music creating a contemporary setting for this heart-breaking tale. With the BBC Concert Orchestra and BBC Singers.
DANCE WORKS & BALLETS
Bare Hands Broad Feet – commissioned by JazzXchange Dance Company, exploring improvisation in Jazz for the musician and the dancer.
White Spirits – commissioned by JazzXchange Dance Company, focusing on Cuban religion and the deities associated with it.
The Brown Bomber (2012) – Commissioned by the Hackney Music Development Trust and New Music 20x12 for the 2012 Cultural Olympiad, The Brown Bomber recreates the historical 1938 rematch for the World Heavyweight Championship between American Joe Louis – 'The Brown Bomber' – and Max Schmeling during the height of the Nazi propaganda campaign
Othello 21 - This is the world’s first full-length dance theatre production of Shakespeare’s Othello. Its compelling story and characters are set to reach a global audience on Broadway and in London’s West End in 2019.
FILM
Tale of a Vampire – soundtrack, 1992.