James is a British-born musician and musicologist of Polish and Irish parentage. He is engaged variously as a conductor, singer, musicologist, writer and translator. James started his musical career as a boy chorister at All Saints, Kingston Parish Church, and with the Tiffin School choir. An early career highlight saw him perform the role of the Shepherd Boy Tosca alongside Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu for two seasons at the Royal Opera House. 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. James went on to read Music at Emmanuel College, Cambridge before studying for a Masters and PhD in Musicology at Royal Holloway, University of London. He also completed postgraduate training in Vocal Performance at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
A highly accomplished ensemble singer, James has performed throughout the UK and across Europe with groups including the BBC Singers, English Concert, Academy of Ancient Music, Polyphony, the Armonico Consort, Sonoro Chamber Choir, the Hanover Band, Platinum Consort, Kantos Chamber Choir, and Musica Saeculorum, and in venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Barbican Hall, Sinfonia Smith Square, King's College Cambridge, Saffron Hall, the Aldeburgh Festival, the St Magnus Festival in Kirkwall, the St Gallen Festival in Switzerland, the Philharmonie Essen, the Teatro Real in Madrid, and NOSPR Katowice in Poland. For over a decade prior to relocating to West Yorkshire in 2022 he was highly active on 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. 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; Bach's St John Passion at Ripon Cathedral; and Haydn's The Creation at Southwell Minster. James made his international opera debut as Ferrando Così fan tutte with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra at the Birgitta Festival, Tallinn. He created 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 has also sung Chorus in numerous productions with Grange Park Opera and Opera Holland Park.
Increasingly in demand as a choral conductor, James currently directs Vocalis (one of Yorkshire's finest chamber choirs); the Overgate Hospice Choir (a Halifax-based choral society which since its founding has raised over £400,000 in support of the Overgate Hospice in Elland); and Cantores Olicanae (Ilkley's leading chamber choir). Through various collaborations he has also had the opportunity of conducting orchestras and instrumental ensembles including the National Festival Orchestra, the internationally renowned Hammonds Band, and the Dales Ensemble, with future projects including a collaboration with the Musica Kirklees Youth Orchestra. In 2025, he was selected as a participant in Sonoro's acclaimed Choral Conducting Masterclass with Neil Ferris (BBC Symphony Chorus). He is a former MD of the Coleridge Choir (Cambridgeshire) and has worked with numerous youth and adult community choirs throughout Hertfordshire. James has conducted Ralph Vaughan Williams' Riders to the Sea (in his own piano trio arrangement) and Lennox Berkeley's A Dinner Engagement in a double bill performance for Bute Park Opera, and has assisted on projects for the Cardiff-based Early Music ensemble Sforza, including as Chorus Master for a concert performance of Handel's Semele. He has also participated (as both a singer and conductor) in masterclasses and specially curated leadership and performance workshops with Danish conductor Peter Hanke and the Voces Academy.
Away from performance, James is also an early career musicologist. He holds a PhD in Music (from Royal Holloway) and has research interests in the aesthetics and philosophy of music, focusing predominantly on twentieth-century repertoires from East Central and South East Europe (especially Poland and Romania), as well as France and Britain. He has published articles in top-tier UK musicological journals and has presented his research at major conferences throughout the UK, as well as in Romania and Italy. Public engagements include a lecture recital on the reception of Karol Szymanowski's music at the Ognisko (Polish Hearth) Club in South Kensington; programme notes and panel events for the Wigmore Hall and Opera Holland Park; and a pre-concert talk on Mahler's Resurrection Symphony at St David's Hall, Cardiff. James is also a published translator of several articles and books (from Polish to English). He has taught a number of historical and analytical topics at Royal Holloway and at the University of Oxford, and is formerly a member of the academic music department at Chetham's School of Music. Since 2023 James has also served as the Executive Officer of the Society for Music Analysis.
A highly accomplished ensemble singer, James has performed throughout the UK and across Europe with groups including the BBC Singers, English Concert, Academy of Ancient Music, Polyphony, the Armonico Consort, Sonoro Chamber Choir, the Hanover Band, Platinum Consort, Kantos Chamber Choir, and Musica Saeculorum, and in venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Barbican Hall, Sinfonia Smith Square, King's College Cambridge, Saffron Hall, the Aldeburgh Festival, the St Magnus Festival in Kirkwall, the St Gallen Festival in Switzerland, the Philharmonie Essen, the Teatro Real in Madrid, and NOSPR Katowice in Poland. For over a decade prior to relocating to West Yorkshire in 2022 he was highly active on 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. 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; Bach's St John Passion at Ripon Cathedral; and Haydn's The Creation at Southwell Minster. James made his international opera debut as Ferrando Così fan tutte with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra at the Birgitta Festival, Tallinn. He created 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 has also sung Chorus in numerous productions with Grange Park Opera and Opera Holland Park.
Increasingly in demand as a choral conductor, James currently directs Vocalis (one of Yorkshire's finest chamber choirs); the Overgate Hospice Choir (a Halifax-based choral society which since its founding has raised over £400,000 in support of the Overgate Hospice in Elland); and Cantores Olicanae (Ilkley's leading chamber choir). Through various collaborations he has also had the opportunity of conducting orchestras and instrumental ensembles including the National Festival Orchestra, the internationally renowned Hammonds Band, and the Dales Ensemble, with future projects including a collaboration with the Musica Kirklees Youth Orchestra. In 2025, he was selected as a participant in Sonoro's acclaimed Choral Conducting Masterclass with Neil Ferris (BBC Symphony Chorus). He is a former MD of the Coleridge Choir (Cambridgeshire) and has worked with numerous youth and adult community choirs throughout Hertfordshire. James has conducted Ralph Vaughan Williams' Riders to the Sea (in his own piano trio arrangement) and Lennox Berkeley's A Dinner Engagement in a double bill performance for Bute Park Opera, and has assisted on projects for the Cardiff-based Early Music ensemble Sforza, including as Chorus Master for a concert performance of Handel's Semele. He has also participated (as both a singer and conductor) in masterclasses and specially curated leadership and performance workshops with Danish conductor Peter Hanke and the Voces Academy.
Away from performance, James is also an early career musicologist. He holds a PhD in Music (from Royal Holloway) and has research interests in the aesthetics and philosophy of music, focusing predominantly on twentieth-century repertoires from East Central and South East Europe (especially Poland and Romania), as well as France and Britain. He has published articles in top-tier UK musicological journals and has presented his research at major conferences throughout the UK, as well as in Romania and Italy. Public engagements include a lecture recital on the reception of Karol Szymanowski's music at the Ognisko (Polish Hearth) Club in South Kensington; programme notes and panel events for the Wigmore Hall and Opera Holland Park; and a pre-concert talk on Mahler's Resurrection Symphony at St David's Hall, Cardiff. James is also a published translator of several articles and books (from Polish to English). He has taught a number of historical and analytical topics at Royal Holloway and at the University of Oxford, and is formerly a member of the academic music department at Chetham's School of Music. Since 2023 James has also served as the Executive Officer of the Society for Music Analysis.