James is a British-born singer, musicologist, teacher, and translator of Polish and Irish parentage. He began his musical education as a chorister at All Saints, Kingston Parish Church, and went on to read Music at the University of Cambridge and Royal Holloway, University of London. He trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and continues to learn privately with Arwel Treharne Morgan and Jeff Stewart.
James has performed as a soloist and ensemble member throughout the UK and Europe. He has sung and toured with renowned groups including the Academy of Ancient Music (Barbican Hall, London; NOSPR, Katowice), BBC Singers (Aldeburgh Festival); Sonoro (St Magnus Festival, Kirkwall; St Gallen Festival, Switzerland), the Hanover Band and Platinum Consort (St John's Smith Square, London), and Musica Saeculorum (Philharmonie Essen). He has recorded for film and video game soundtracks at Abbey Road and AIR Studios, and for over a decade prior to relocating to Yorkshire in 2022, he was highly active within the London choral circuit, singing with some of the city's finest church & cathedral choirs.
As a concert soloist, James has performed much of the standard oratorio repertoire, including works such as Bach's Christmas Oratorio, Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle, Haydn's The Seasons, and Handel's Messiah. Highlights include a performance of Mozart's Requiem with the Brandenburg Sinfonia at St Martin-in-the-Fields, London; a programme of works by Monteverdi (including excerpts from the 1610 Vespers) and his contemporaries alongside the English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble at Lancaster Priory; and Haydn's The Creation at Southwell Minster with the Lincolnshire Chamber Orchestra. On the operatic stage, he made his international debut as Ferrando Così fan tutte with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra at the Birgitta Festival, Tallinn. Other stage roles include Don Ottavio Don Giovanni, Bardolfo Falstaff, Remendado Carmen for OperaUpClose, and Pluto in Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld. He sang the role of Tenor Soloist/Stage Director in the Armonico Consort's highly successful touring production of Too Hot To Handel (Buxton Festival, Malvern Theatres, Theatre Royal Windsor), and created the role of Back-to-Front Policeman in Laura Bowler's The Sandman for Tête-à-Tête Opera Festival. He has also sung Chorus in numerous productions with Grange Park Opera, Opera Holland Park, and Bury Court Opera. James was introduced to opera at a young age, and as a treble sang the role of the Shepherd Boy Tosca alongside Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu for two seasons at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He subsequently recorded the role for EMI (under Antonio Pappano) and also appears in the DVD film version of the opera, directed by Benoît Jacquot.
As a musical director, James has conducted Vaughan Williams' Riders to the Sea (in his own re-orchestrated piano trio version) and Lennox Berkeley's A Dinner Engagement in a double bill performance for Bute Park Opera in 2014; he is a former Musical Director of the Coleridge Choir (part of Cambridgeshire Choral Society); and has assisted on projects for the Early Music ensemble Sforza, including as the Chorus Master for a concert performance of Handel's Semele (St Martin's Church, Cardiff). James has also participated many times (as both a singer and conductor) in masterclasses and specially curated leadership and performance workshops with Danish conductor Peter Hanke and the Voces Academy.
Alongside his various performing engagements, James is also active as a musicologist and is in the early stages of an academic career. He was awarded his PhD from Royal Holloway in 2020, with a thesis on the later chamber music of George Enescu, and has presented his research at conferences throughout the UK and abroad. He is also a published translator of several articles and books (from Polish to English).
James has performed as a soloist and ensemble member throughout the UK and Europe. He has sung and toured with renowned groups including the Academy of Ancient Music (Barbican Hall, London; NOSPR, Katowice), BBC Singers (Aldeburgh Festival); Sonoro (St Magnus Festival, Kirkwall; St Gallen Festival, Switzerland), the Hanover Band and Platinum Consort (St John's Smith Square, London), and Musica Saeculorum (Philharmonie Essen). He has recorded for film and video game soundtracks at Abbey Road and AIR Studios, and for over a decade prior to relocating to Yorkshire in 2022, he was highly active within the London choral circuit, singing with some of the city's finest church & cathedral choirs.
As a concert soloist, James has performed much of the standard oratorio repertoire, including works such as Bach's Christmas Oratorio, Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle, Haydn's The Seasons, and Handel's Messiah. Highlights include a performance of Mozart's Requiem with the Brandenburg Sinfonia at St Martin-in-the-Fields, London; a programme of works by Monteverdi (including excerpts from the 1610 Vespers) and his contemporaries alongside the English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble at Lancaster Priory; and Haydn's The Creation at Southwell Minster with the Lincolnshire Chamber Orchestra. On the operatic stage, he made his international debut as Ferrando Così fan tutte with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra at the Birgitta Festival, Tallinn. Other stage roles include Don Ottavio Don Giovanni, Bardolfo Falstaff, Remendado Carmen for OperaUpClose, and Pluto in Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld. He sang the role of Tenor Soloist/Stage Director in the Armonico Consort's highly successful touring production of Too Hot To Handel (Buxton Festival, Malvern Theatres, Theatre Royal Windsor), and created the role of Back-to-Front Policeman in Laura Bowler's The Sandman for Tête-à-Tête Opera Festival. He has also sung Chorus in numerous productions with Grange Park Opera, Opera Holland Park, and Bury Court Opera. James was introduced to opera at a young age, and as a treble sang the role of the Shepherd Boy Tosca alongside Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu for two seasons at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He subsequently recorded the role for EMI (under Antonio Pappano) and also appears in the DVD film version of the opera, directed by Benoît Jacquot.
As a musical director, James has conducted Vaughan Williams' Riders to the Sea (in his own re-orchestrated piano trio version) and Lennox Berkeley's A Dinner Engagement in a double bill performance for Bute Park Opera in 2014; he is a former Musical Director of the Coleridge Choir (part of Cambridgeshire Choral Society); and has assisted on projects for the Early Music ensemble Sforza, including as the Chorus Master for a concert performance of Handel's Semele (St Martin's Church, Cardiff). James has also participated many times (as both a singer and conductor) in masterclasses and specially curated leadership and performance workshops with Danish conductor Peter Hanke and the Voces Academy.
Alongside his various performing engagements, James is also active as a musicologist and is in the early stages of an academic career. He was awarded his PhD from Royal Holloway in 2020, with a thesis on the later chamber music of George Enescu, and has presented his research at conferences throughout the UK and abroad. He is also a published translator of several articles and books (from Polish to English).