Julian Marshall

Shortly after graduating from the Royal College of Music in 1975, Julian’s professional life as a composer and songwriter took flight with the internationally successful bands Marshall Hain, The Flying Lizards and Eye to Eye.

His compositions include work for film and theatre and a new chapter as a composer of longer-form work (specifically, the cantatas Out of the Darkness and The Angel in the Forest), along with other, shorter, choral-based pieces, began in 2009. Out of the Darkness and The Angel in the Forest both feature settings from Welten, the seventeen-poem cycle by Gertrud Kolmar.

With the addition of two further works from the same cycle (the film, Yearning, and the spoken word and music piece, Garden in Summer), in October 2021 Julian founded The Welten Project. The project’s mission being to conduct research and produce a series of works inspired by, re-imagining or setting poems from Welten. For further details about The Welten Project, click here.

July 2024 saw the release of the EP One Bright Pearl. The EP (released digitally as well as a 45 rpm vinyl) features four tracks – two songs (co-written and performed with the up-and-coming star songwriter and performer, Addi P) plus two instrumentals. For full details click here. 

Autumn 2025 saw the successful launch of The Angel and the Shadow – an immersive lecture recital comprising a talk and a specially curated playlist of pieces taken from the five Welten works created so far. Presentation events took place in October ’25 at Jubilee hall, Aldeburgh and ICMP, London. In May 2026, Julian will present this talk at Sydney University, Australia.

Other 2026 activities include: work on new compositions, preparing for events scheduled for 2027 (more information later in the year) and promotion of existing work.

In addition to composition, Julian teaches and coaches creatives of all ages. He works with clients privately and is Associate Professor of Composition at ICMP, London.

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