James Gilchrist

James Gilchrist

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

In 2009 James released "The Songs of Muriel Herbert" which joins his other acclaimed recordings on Linn Records, "Oh Fair To See" and the Classic FM Gramophone Award Finalist "On Wenlock Edge". In October 2010 James' new recording "Leighton 'Earth, Sweet Earth ... (laudes terrae)' & Britten 'Winter Words'" will be released on Linn Records.

James' concert appearances include Damon in Acis and Galatea at the Proms (Academy of Ancient Music/Paul Goodwin), Bach cantatas with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra in their celebrated Bach Pilgrimage (Sir John Eliot Gardiner/Europe - America), Tippett's The Knot Garden (Sir Andrew Davis/BBC Symphony Orchestra), Messiah and Monteverdi Vespers (The Sixteen/Japan), Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance and Ralph in HMS Pinafore (Scottish Chamber Orchestra), the title role in Judas Maccabeus (The King's Consort), Septimius Theodora and Haydn's Nelson Mass for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Israel in Egypt (St Louis Symphony Orchestra, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, Collegium Vocale Gent and SCO), B Minor Mass (Semyon Bychkov/Turin, at the Bath Festival in Salzburg and with Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome), Mozart Requiem (Seattle Symphony Orchestra), L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato and a televised performance of Berlioz L'enfance du Christ at the BBC Proms (Monteverdi Choir & Orchestra),  Alexander's Feast in Salzburg, Bach's Christmas Oratorio with Ton Koopman and the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zürich, the Evangelist in the Bach/Mendelssohn St Matthew Passion with the OAE, a residency with the Nash Ensemble at Princeton University, Messiah with both the San Francisco and the Detroit Symphony Orchestras, War Requiem and Dream of Gerontius for the Three Choirs Festival, Mozart's C Minor Mass with the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zürich and at the Salzburg Festival, Bach Cantatas with the Bach Collegium Japan,  St Matthew Passion with North Carolina Symphony Orchestra, at Symphony Hall, Boston, at the Royal Festival Hall and with the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zürich, St John Passion with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Britten's Serenade at The Sage, Gateshead, The Seasons with the Handel & Haydn Society under Sir Roger Norrington at the BBC Proms, Pulcinella for Radio Svizzera in Lugano and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, On Wenlock Edge with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Lechmere Owen Wingrave (concert) for CLS at Cadogan Hall, Ugone Flavio for the Academy of Ancient Music in Birmingham and London, Creation at the Frauenkirche, Dresden, at Westminster Cathedral for the Bach Choir and on tour with Herreweghe, The Pilgrim's Progress with Richard Hickox at Sadler's Wells, Handel's Ode for St Cecilia's Day for the SWR in Germany, Oedipus Rex with BBC NOW, War Requiem with the Dresden Philharmonie and with Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España, Frank Martin's Der Sturm at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Saul (Laeiszhalle, Hamburg), King Arthur with the Concert Spirituel in London, Luxemburg and Paris, Athalia with Concerto Köln in Köln, New York and Paris and On Wenlock Edge with the Endellion String Quartet at the Leeds Lieder Festival. James is a keen exponent of contemporary music and has performed in the world premieres of Knut Nystedt's Apocalypsis Joannis (Oslo Philharmonic), John Tavener's Total Eclipse (Academy of Ancient Music), which was also recorded, and Helen Ottaway's new commission for the Salisbury Festival, The Echoing Green.

As a recitalist, he has appeared with Malcolm Martineau, with Stephen Varcoe and Della Jones at St John's, Smith Square, and with John Constable performing Britten Canticles, Quilter To Julia and Tippett The Heart's Assurance for the BBC.  In his partnership with the pianist Anna Tilbrook, he has performed Schumann Liederkreis (op 24), Finzi Till Earth Outwearsand Poulenc Metamorphoses for BBC Radio 3.  James is also partnered regularly by the harpist Alison Nicholls and recently appeared in recital with the Nash Ensemble at the Wigmore Hall, and at the Bury St Edmunds Festival in a programme featuring a new commission by Alec Roth based on Vikram Seth's ‘All You Who Sleep Tonight'.

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

Amongst his many recordings are title role Albert Herring and Vaughan William's A Poisoned Kiss for Chandos, Bach St Matthew Passion (Gabrieli Consort/McCreesh), Bach 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 variously with Sir John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra, Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, and Masaaki Suzuki and the Bach Collegium Japan. 

Other engagements include Haydn Seasons and Creation with the Monteverdi Choir on tour in Europe and the US, Messiah with the St Louis Symphony Orchestra, Bach Cantatas with NDR Hannover, St Matthew Passion in Koln and Amsterdam, B Minor Mass for the Bach Choir and Mozart Requiem for the Academy of Ancient Music and with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Further engagements include concerts for the Pygmalion Festival and Retrospect Ensemble, Britten Serenade with the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich and Messiah with The Sixteen.

Web: www.hazardchase.co.uk
Tel: 44 (0)1223 312400
Fax: 44 (0)1223 460827