A Rochester and NYC-based composer and pianist, Julian Stuart-Burns writes music that focuses on the juxtaposition of discrete musical objects, sharp and unexpected contrast, and on drawing connections with literature. His writing is informed by radical politics, with recent works drawing heavily on leftist perspectives of Cuban revolutionary history. He is inspired by sounds, images, and writings related on the one hand to crystals, shimmers of light, and comic relief, and on the other to desolation, tragic prophesy, and apocalypse. Julian is also a firm believer in the punctuating power of silence, seeking to integrate it into his work at a similar level of import as any striking sonic gesture.

Julian has been awarded the 2025 Bernard Rogers Memorial Prize for his solo piano sonata Toward the Surface. His sinfonietta piece In a Few won a Belle S. Gitelman Award in 2024. His work has been performed by Mivos Quartet, loadbang, Musica Nova, and the Eastman Graduate Composers’ Sinfonietta. His music has been premiered at the Paul Hindemith Center in Blonay, Switzerland, the Societat Ateneu Musical del Port in Valencia, Spain, the Sheen Center in New York City, and Field Recital Hall in Chicago.

In addition to his composing work for concert performance, Julian writes for film and other media. He recently collaborated with animator Deanna Morehead on the operatic short film A Fish and a Bird, having written a libretto and full score for the project. He also has experience in music for video games and dance performance.

Julian has taught composition and music theory at Eastman School of Music and Eastman Community Music School. He has also given lectures on orchestration to classes of undergraduate students at Eastman. He currently has a studio of in-person and zoom students in composition and piano.

Julian is an active participant in the world of classical and contemporary music even outside of his capacity as a composer and performer. He has worked with the Rochester-based contemporary music ensemble fivebyfive as their social media chair and production intern. At WXXI Classical 91.5, he has been a guest on-air host and archives intern under Music Director Mona Seghatoleslami. Additionally, Julian worked at the New York Philharmonic as an assistant in the Archives and Exhibitions department, curating exhibits for David Geffen Hall’s Gary Parr and Bruno Walter galleries.

Julian completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Chicago where he received a B.A. in Fundamentals: Issues and Texts. There, he studied composition with Anthony Cheung, Dongryul Lee, and Augusta Read Thomas. Julian received a Master’s degree in composition at the Eastman School of Music, having studied with Robert Morris, Carlos Sanchez-Guttierez, and Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon. Julian is a member of the Pi Kappa Lambda and Phi Beta Kappa honor societies. He has also received the Jamie Redfield Award for Excellence in Fundamentals, which is granted to the student who has earned the highest honors scholastically in UChicago’s Fundamentals program.