Professor Julian Hepple

Biography

Renowned digital disruptor, Professor Julian Hepple, has achieved international acclaim for his ground-breaking work across sound design, sound engineering, and the Recording and Audio-Visual sector. He has collaborated with some of this century's most culturally significant musicians. His CV is as diverse as it is substantial. Hepple’s partnership with sitar player and cross-genre musician, Anoushka Shankar has garnered four Grammy nominations. Other recording output includes five full orchestration productions for Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber and credits for a multitude of artists ranging from Emma Bunton to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. In 2016 Hepple collaborated with Robert Glasper and the Miles Davis estate, to provide Robert with source material from Miles’ vault to compose contemporary music, in the spirit of Miles. “Everything’s Beautiful” by Miles Davis and Robert Glasper (Blue Note/Columbia), reached No. 1 on the Jazz Billboard Charts. 

As a front-of-house sound engineer and sound designer, he has produced tours for superstars in their fields. In 2014 he was the personal engineer to Prince for the infamous ‘Hit and Run’ tour, noted by critics as one of the decade’s most memorable rock and roll moments. From One Direction (That is What Makes You Beautiful 2012) to his decade-long stint of tours and collaboration with Robert Glasper, a 6-year stint with Keith Jarrett, and over 11 years of touring with Anoushka Shankar; Hepple has undertaken at least 1500 engagements from 2014 to date, spanning fifty countries over six continents. His collaborators’ musical breadth and critical success demonstrate his world-leading standing in amplification and live mixing. Over the last decade, he has delivered live mixes for artists from Patty Austin to Jacob Collier, Westlife to the Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Branford Marsalis, and Common. He has mixed orchestral performances for the London Symphony Orchestra and Lincoln Centre Jazz Orchestra. 

His 2017 “Shiraz” collaboration with Shankar, saw him co-write, orchestrate, and design a large-scale project for the British Film Institute & British Council, co-composing a 104-minute film score for the 1919 silent film of the same name. The process was the subject of a BBC4 documentary.  “Shiraz” debuted at the Barbican Concert Hall and subsequently toured the largest concert halls in India and Europe. In recognition of his state-of-the-art methodology, the BFI invited Hepple to deliver talks to composition students around the use of technology for composition and performance for silent film.  

During his tenure as the Guildhall School’s Head of Recording and Audio-Visual, Hepple has aligned the profile of the R&AV department with world-leading commercial ventures. In 5 years, he has grown the department from a 4-person service provider to an 11-strong team of engineers and lecturers.  Hepple has enabled staff and students to experience career-enhancing opportunities, through connecting his musical collaborators with the department. Outcomes include Grammy nominations for two R&AV staff. 

In recognition of technology as an evolutionary model, Hepple created a responsive department that nurtures innovation in technological practice, revolutionising the school’s learning model, and achieving international acclaim. In 2020, Hepple successfully raised funding to create the country’s largest NDI video network. He piloted the R&AV team through the development of a system that allows the transportation of HD video from any space on campus to another in under 1/10th of a second and an audio network to pass audio from microphone to speaker anywhere on campus in 6/1000’s of a second. During the pandemic, Guildhall School presented what is presumed to be the world’s first remote synchronous full symphony orchestra. The complexity and innovation of the low-latency project was awarded “Best Performance Venue” in the global Mondo-DR Awards 2021. Hepple cites facilitating an educational establishment to win the national, broadcast-wide AV Awards “Entertainment Project of the Year” accolade as ‘my proudest professional achievement.’ An award subsequently won by Abba Voyage, a £175 million budget immersive project; followed in 2023 by the Eurovision Song Contest. Over 30 international institutions, from Sydney Conservatoire to the LSO have sought Hepple’s guidance into how the Guildhall system works and its meaningful practical applications. His ongoing research of long-distance low latency partnerships makes him a world leader in this innovative technology.  

Hepple’s identifying professional ethos is to promote inclusivity and diversity within the sector. He embeds opportunities for industry hopefuls across his work. Under his leadership, Guildhall R&AV is a female-majority department, progressively advocating for equity within the industry. They lead by example. The team partners with the charity, the F-list to offer free recording sessions to underrepresented female and non-male performers, delivered by female and gender-expansive staff and students, to non-male musicians in a safe space.  

Professor Hepple was awarded conferment to the title of Professor of Digital Performance & Practice in 2023 at the age of 36. 

A man of broad interests, Hepple pursues passions outside of his expansive work life. He is co-authoring a children’s beginner piano book, focusing on the magic of making noise, with Prof. Dominic Murcott (Trinity Laban) and illustrations from the award-winning illustrator Kim Hillyard (Ladybird books). He loves fatherhood, proper Indian food, Quincy Jones, Thierry Henry, and old tiled pubs.