Julian Raphael (B.Mus, M.Phil, PTCS) is a highly experienced community musician, music educator, composer and performer who works alongside children and grown-ups with a philosophy and teaching style that is influenced and informed by music-making of the world's cultures. He is director of Community Music Junction, which has been operating in Wellington for the past ten years, enabling both children and adults to sing together and learn a variety of musical instruments. He is a student and teacher of music from the Shona culture of Zimbabwe and is one of the very few New Zealand facilitators of African marimba and mbira.

Julian also tours the country leading choral and instrumental workshops for schools, teachers and singing communities. In 2012 he and Carol Shortis established the Song Leaders’ Network Aotearoa, an organisation designed to support the work of vocal leaders in schools and communities. Julian was a guest conductor at the NZCF’s Sing Aotearoa in 2013 and has been invited to lead the Tui stream in 2016.

He facilitates the ‘accessible concert’ programme for Chamber Music New Zealand in conjunction with Arts Access Aotearoa and is a passionate advocate of the Arts for All philosophy. As a vocal leader Julian leads the Wellington Community Choir and MaleVocale as well as a number of daytime informal singing groups where he enjoys accompanying songs and improvisations on the guitar and piano.

Julian is a composer and arranger of music for voices and his recent works include An African Tale (2011), and Sing it to my Face (2014) a collaboration with Jo Randerson & Barbarian Productions. Our Songs, a multi-choir work in collaboration with Hinemoana Baker premiered at the 2015 CubaDupa Festival and in June Nota Bene gave the first NZ performance of his song cycle Untold Stories. Julian was commissioned by the Wellington Community Choir to compose the song Singing People Together for their 10th birthday concert (August 2015) at the Michael Fowler Centre.

(Source: SOUNZ website)