Julian Knowles is a composer, performer, media artist and researcher, specialising in new and emerging technologies. His creative work spans the fields of composition for theatre, dance, film and television, electronic music, sound design and media arts, popular music and record production.

His practice-based research demonstrates a long-standing, high-level engagement with technologically-mediated music and sound practices and the relationships between audio-visual media. This has resulted in the creation of more than 50 innovative works that have been disseminated by high profile record labels, broadcasters and art institutions internationally. In the course of his career Julian has worked with many of Australia’s best-known musicians in the experimental music scene and has been a member of the Australian electro-environmental audio group Social Interiors since the mid 1990s. As a solo artist, Julian’s music and audio/visual works have been presented at events and venues such as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Experimental Intermedia in New York City, What is Music?, Australian Perspecta, Liquid Architecture, the Melbourne International Film Festival, VIVID Sydney and the Sydney Opera House. In 2020, Julian’s work ‘The Billion’ was presented as part of the major international retrospective “Audiosphere: sound experimentation 1980-2020” at the Museo Nacional de Arte Reina Sofia in Spain. In 2023, he premiered Solar Halo: a new work for solo music performer and 16 atmospheric weather stations at Harvestworks in NYC.

Julian has an extensive background in the Australian and UK independent music scenes, playing in and producing records for bands from the late-1980s onwards. He was a member of the bands Shrinking Violets (Phantom Records), Dutiful Daughters (Dislocation Records) and Even As We Speak, who achieved significant chart success in the UK and was one of only four Australian bands ever to be invited to record sessions for the prominent BBC Radio 1 DJ, John Peel. Side projects include Tapioca Tundra with Beth Arzy (Jetstream Pony, The Luxembourg Signal) and Mary Wyer (Even As We Speak) and co-production of an album ‘Second Winter’ for Ed Kuepper (The Saints, The Aints, Laughing Clowns).

Julian is active as a podcaster, together with Professor Nicole Anderson he co-writes and co-presents The Futures of Democracy which brings together world leading experts to examine the emerging challenges to, and possible futures for democracy in the 21st Century.

Julian has had a long academic career, beginning in 1994 when was appointed on the foundation staff to establish a new music degree at the University of Western Sydney (now Western Sydney University). Within a period of 8 years he was appointed to the position of Associate Professor and Head of the School of Contemporary Arts (2002-4). This began a period of service in senior academic leadership positions that has spanned 25 years, including Professor and Head of the School of Music and Drama at the University of Wollongong (2005-7); Professor and Head of School – Art, Design, Music, and Dance at QUT (2007-12), where has was also an integral member of the leadership team (Interim CEO) for the $40m CRC in Arts and Entertainment Futures bid. From 2015, he served as Associate Dean (International) in the Faculty of Arts at Macquarie University and as Discipline Chair, Media & Communications. Julian was appointed to the role of Executive Dean, Faculty of Arts and Design at the University of Canberra in April 2024.

Julian is an experienced chair and director in the not-for-profit arts sector. From 2007-2013, Julian was Chair of QMusic, the peak body for the music industry in Queensland. As part of that role, he provided expert advice to, and participated in, a range of music export initiatives for the Queensland Government. From 2003-2007, Julian was appointed by the Minister for the Arts to the Music Board of the Australia Council for the Arts (now Music Australia). Significant past directorships include the Sydney Olympic Park Arts Development Advisory Panel and the Australian Network for Art and Technology. Since 2013, Julian has been Chair of MusicNSW, the peak body for the music industry in NSW, where he has worked to grow organisational capacity and reach. In this role he has provided expert commentary for a number of NSW government inquiries in the arts and music sector. More information on his academic and not-for-profit leadership career can be found on his LinkedIn page.