JAMES GILCHRIST

Tenor

JAMES GILCHRIST

Tenor

James Gilchrist began his working life as a doctor, turning to a full-time career in music in 1996.

James’ concert appearances include The Seasons and Damon Acis and Galatea (BBC Proms), Bach Cantatas (Monteverdi Choir Bach Pilgrimage and Bach Collegium Japan), Tippett The Knot Garden (BBC Symphony Orchestra), Monteverdi Vespers (The Sixteen), Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance, Ralph HMS Pinafore, Septimius Theodora and Haydn’s Nelson Mass (SCO), title role Judas Maccabeus (King’s Consort), Israel in Egypt (Norddeutscher Rundfunk and Collegium Vocale Gent), Mozart Requiem (Seattle), Alexander’s Feast (Salzburg), Christmas Oratorio (Zürich), Messiah (San Francisco and Detroit), War Requiem and Gerontius (Three Choirs Festival), Mozart’s C Minor Mass (Salzburg Festival)),  St Matthew Passion (in the US and at the RFH), St John Passion (Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra), Britten’s Serenade (Gateshead), Pulcinella (Lugano), On Wenlock Edge (BBC NOW), Lechmere Owen Wingrave (CLS/Cadogan Hall), Ugone Flavio (AAM/Birmingham and London), Creation (Frauenkirche, Dresden, at Westminster Cathedral for the Bach Choir and on tour with Herreweghe), The Pilgrim’s Progress (Richard Hickox/Sadler’s Wells), Handel’s Ode for St Cecilia’s Day (SWR/Germany), Oedipus Rex (BBC NOW), War Requiem (Dresden Philharmonie), Martin’s Der Sturm (Concertgebouw), Saul (Hamburg), King Arthur (Concert Spirituel/London), Athalia (Concerto Köln) and On Wenlock Edge (Endellion String Quartet/Leeds Lieder Festival). Among recent engagements are Haydn Seasons and Creation (Monteverdi Choir), Messiah (St Louis), Bach Cantatas (NDR Hannover) and St Matthew Passion (Koln and Amsterdam). James is a keen exponent of contemporary music and has performed in the world premieres of Knut Nystedt’s Apocalypsis Joannis (Oslo Philharmonic), Tavener’s Total Eclipse (AAM).

James is a versatile and prolific recitalist.  His imaginative programming has been heard in major recital venues including the Wigmore Hall,  Aldeburgh and Perth Concert Halls.    James performs regularly with Anna Tilbrook,   Julius Drake and harpist Alison Nicholls.

Operatic performances include Quint Turn of the Screw, Ferrando Cosi Fan Tutte, Scaramuccio in Strauss’ Ariadne Auf Naxos Gomatz Mozart’s Zaide (Istanbul), Vaughan Williams’ Sir John in Love (Barbican/Radio 3), Hyllus Handel’s Hercules (Berlin), Acis & Galatea (Berlin), Evandre in Gluck’s Alceste (La Monnaie in Brussels) and Purcell’s King Arthur for Mark Morris at ENO.

Amongst his many recordings are title role Albert Herring and Vaughan William’s A Poisoned Kiss (Chandos), St Matthew Passion (Gabrieli Consort/McCreesh), St John Passion (New College Choir/Higginbottom), Rachmaninov Vespers (EMI/Kings College, Cambridge), Schütz Sacred Music (The Sixteen/Collins Classics), Rameau Cantatas and St Mark Passion (ASV), Grainger Songs (Chandos), Kuhnau Sacred Music (The King’s Consort/Hyperion), Bach Missa Brevis (Collegium Instrumentale Brugense), and Bach Cantatas.  More recently James released a disc of Finzi song cycles, “Oh Fair To See”, (Linn Records), Elizabethan Lute Songs “When Laura Smiles” with Matthew Wadsworth and Leighton ‘Earth Sweet Earth’ and Britten’s Winter Words for Linn Records. James and Anna Tilbrook’s critically acclaimed recordings of Die Schöne Mullerin and Schwanengesang (Orchid Classics), have recently been released. The final Schubert cycle, Winterreise, is due for release later this year.

This season James has performed Die Schöne Mullerin at the Wigmore Hall,  Before Life and After (a new staged project with Netia Jones),  ‘Grand Motets’ on tour with Le Concert d’Astree,  Die Jahreszeiten Royal Flanders Philharmonic, Les Illuminations at the Aldeburgh Festival,and St Matthew Passion Rotterdam Philharmonic. Upcoming engagements include Britten’s Serenade for Tenor Horn and Strings with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Messiah with the National Symphony Orchestra, Washington,  Mozart’s Requiem in Moscow and St Petersburg,  a tour of Handel’s Theodora with Concert Spirituel and Haydn’s Creation in Salzburg with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra.

This biography is valid for use until September 2011. We update our biographies regularly and ask that they are not altered without permission. For updated versions, please e-mail annie.osborne@hazardchase.co.uk