James Baillieu

Born in South Africa, James studied in Cape Town and London. He was a Borletti-Buitoni Trust and Young Classical Artist Trust artist and was shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society Outstanding Young Artist Award and the Chamber Music and Song Award. He is an International Tutor in Piano Accompaniment at the Royal Northern College of Music and head of the Song Programme at the Atelier Lyrique of the Verbier Festival Academy.

An accomplished chamber musician, soloist and accompanist, James’ partnerships include Lawrence Power, the Heath Quartet, Mark Padmore, Sir Thomas Allen, Dame Kiri te Kanawa, Pumeza Matshikiza and Pretty Yende. Venues include Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Berlin Konzerthaus, Vienna Musikverein, Bridgewater Hall, National Concert Hall Dublin and the Bergen, Spitalfields, Aldeburgh, Cheltenham, Bath, St Magnus, Norfolk & Norwich, Edinburgh, Brighton, Verbier and Aix-en-Provence Festivals. As a soloist, he has appeared with the Ulster Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra and the Wiener Kammersymphonie.

James has presented his own series at the Wigmore Hall with Adam Walker, Jonathan McGovern, Ailish Tynan, Tara Erraught, Henk Neven, Iestyn Davies, Allan Clayton and Mark Padmore amongst others. This series was shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Chamber Music and Song Award for an outstanding contribution to the performance of chamber music and song in the UK during 2016. He appeared with Benjamin Appl and Peter Moore as part of the ECHO Rising Stars series. Recent collaborations include Markus Werba, Jamie Barton, Tara Erraught, Lise Davidsen and Peter Moore.

This season's engagements include a Scandinavian recital tour with Lise Davidsen, a North American tour with Benjamin Appl, his Carnegie Hall debut with Pretty Yende, appearances with Tara Erraught, Allan Clayton and Angel Blue at venues including London’s Wigmore Hall, Norwegian National Opera, Barbican and Dallas Opera.