Justin Julian

Justin Julian was born in Sydney and began learning the violin at 8 years old. Five years later, he switched to the viola and quickly grew to love its unique voice.

Justin is currently Principal Viola of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, where he first won the Associate Principal job at age 21. He has also worked as guest principal with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and as a casual musician with the Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra Symphony orchestras and the Opera Australia Orchestra. While completing his Bachelor of Music at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music under the tutelage of Roger Benedict, Justin was a 2017 Emerging Artist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and completed the 2018 Sydney Symphony Orchestra Fellowship program.

Justin is a passionate chamber musician, and has worked with groups including Klassik Underground, Omega Ensemble and the Verbrugghen Ensemble. He has appeared in chamber music masterclasses for members of the Borodin, Takács and Artis string quartets, the Sitkovetsky Trio and Eberhard Feltz, and taken lessons with members of the Doric, Goldner and Maggini quartets. Justin has performed in festivals in Aldeburgh, Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide, Margaret River, Nanjing and Verona.

As a soloist, Justin has performed with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and taken masterclasses with Anne Sophie Mutter, Isabelle van Keulen, Hartmut Rohde, Jean Sulem, and William Coleman amongst many others. Justin has also participated in prestigious international courses including the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, Mozarteum Summer Academy and the Carl Flesch Academy.

Justin performs on a viola made by Giuseppe Lucci in Rome, 1979 and uses the ‘ex-Vieux’ 1931 Eugene Sartory bow which is generously loaned by an anonymous benefactor.