James Gilchrist

James Gilchrist Tenor

Biography

James Gilchrist began his working life as a doctor, turning to a full-time career in music in 1996. His extensive concert repertoire has seen him perform in major concert halls throughout the world with conductors including Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Sir Roger Norrington, Bernard Labadie, Harry Christophers, Harry Bicket, Masaaki Suzuki and Richard Hickox. Recent highlights have included Britten’s Church Parables in St Petersburg, London and at the Aldeburgh Festival, Britten’s Nocturne with the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo and War Requiem with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and National Youth Orchestra of Germany. He has recently sung Reverend Adams in Peter Grimes for Teatro Real Madrid and Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and then with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Edward Gardner at the Edinburgh Festival, the Royal Festival Hall, in Grieghallen and at the Den Norske Opera.

Other highlights of his career include Haydn’s Creation in a new staged production for Garsington Opera and Ballet Rambert, then with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Elias with the Göteborg Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Masaaki Suzuki. He was also reinvited by the Cambridge King's College to sing in St Matthew Passion during the Easter Week. His repertoire also featured Bach’s Passions of St John and St Matthew, and Christmas Oratorio. Highlights of the 2022/23 season include a European tour with the Bach Collegium Japan, performing Bach's Mass in B minor and a programme of cantatas, the St John Passion with the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra in Toronto and the Christmas Oratorio with the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra at the Großes Festspielhaus in Salzburg.