Dominican-American pianist and keyboardist, improviser, composer and educator from Chicago who has performed classical and jazz repertoire throughout the United States as well as in Spain, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, France and Belgium. A classically trained artist, graduate of the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and a DePaul University National Concerto Competition First Prize Winner, their work has found a home in jazz performance, improvisation and cross-cultural collaboration since developing experimental collaborative programs as a founding member of the Peabody Improvisers Collective.
Original compositions are central to two projects they direct: the Julián and Friends concert series at The Jazz Showcase, and Mamey, a project inspired in Dominico-Haitian music. Mamey completed a Spring South Arts Jazz Tour of the East Coast, and another recent tour that extended to the Caribbean, and will release its debut album in 2026 thanks to a Pathways to Jazz grant, a donor advised fund of the Boulder County Arts Alliance.
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As a curator at Fulcrum Point New Music Project, Julián continues to expand their practice as an improvisational pianist through performances locally, at the High Zero Festival (Baltimore), the Future Traditions Festival (Austin), and with The Bridge, a transatlantic network connecting French and North American improvisers. Their compositional work has led to participation in the Banff Centre’s Jazz and Sonic Arts Residency, and they were commissioned by the Yarn/Wire Institute to premiere new works at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music in New York, later performing those pieces at the invitation of the Dominican Embassy in Paris. Looking ahead, they are planning a research collaboration at IRCAM in Paris, where they will explore the intersection of linguistics and music improvisation.
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Julián has been in the faculty at The Music Offering in Evanston, Illinois and Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center in Chicago, and is a collaborative pianist at the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago, as well as the creator and host of “The Changes”, a multilingual monthly radio show that presents a mix of local and international jazz innovators, broadcast through Lumpen Radio.
Among other distinctions, Julián studied with Warren Wolf as a recipient of the Merit School of Music's Alice S. Pfaelzer Tuition-Free Conservatory Blue Ribbon Scholarship for the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, the Albert and Rosa Silverman Memorial Scholarship and the Douglas and Hilda Perl Goodwin Endowed Piano Scholarship. They are a 2025 National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures Leadership Institute Fellow, a Chicago Park District Arts Partner, and attended the prestigious Aspen Music Festival, Gijón Piano Festival, Brevard Music Festival and Colburn Piano Festival.
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