James Way

Tenor James Way is fast gaining international recognition for the versatility of his voice and commanding stage presence. A former Britten-Pears Young Artist, he is also a laureate of William Christie’s Les Arts Florissants ‘Jardin des Voix’ and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s Rising Stars young artist programmes and was awarded an Independent Opera Voice Fellowship. James was the winner of the Second Prize in the 62nd Kathleen Ferrier Awards at Wigmore Hall.

James' recent successes span from the concert platform to the opera stage, performing with ensembles such as BBC Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Handel and Haydn Society Boston, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Fondazione Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano and L’Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, and in the Baroque world with the Freiburger Barockorchester under René Jacobs, the English Concert, Les Arts Florissants and the English Concert as well as the title role in Samson with John Butt and the Dunedin Consort. James has appeared as Jupiter in Handel's Semele with the OAE, conducted by Christophe Rousset.

James has worked with conductors such as René Jacobs, Jakub Hrůša, Thibault Noally, Mark Wigglesworth, Alpesh Chauhan, Harry Bicket and Robin Ticciati. Since being selected for the inaugural Equilibrium Young Artists Programme, he has worked closely with Barbara Hannigan and has been widely praised for performances including Sellem in a worldwide tour of The Rake’s Progress.

Opera credits include The Son in Laurent Pelly's production of Les Mamelles de Tiresias at Glyndebourne Festival (winner of Best New Opera Production at the 2022 Opera Awards), productions of Dido & Aeneas and King Arthur at Staatsoper Berlin, Holy Fool Boris Godunov at the Royal Festival Hall, Lechmere Owen Wingrave for Grange Park Opera, Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno (Tempo) for Opéra national de Montpellier, the Young King in George Benjamin’s Lessons in Love and Violence at St Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre and the Ballad Singer Owen Wingrave for the Aldeburgh and Edinburgh International Festivals.

The coming year will see the release of his recording of Handel L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato with Les Arts Florissants and William Christie and the forthcoming recording of Stanford Requiem with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, on Hyperion. These will add to James' growing discography, which includes 'Songs of Faith, Love and Nonsense,' a disk of Stanford songs recorded with Roderick Williams and Andrew West, Purcell's Fairy Queen with Gabrieli Consort, conducted by Paul McCreesh and King Arthur, which won BBC Music Magazine's Recording of the Year.

James also directs his ensemble The Assembled Company with whom he has conducted Schütz A Christmas Story and most recently performed Handel 9 German Arias with Rachel Podger in a new English translation by Jeremy Sams at St Martin-in-the-Fields.

Highlights of the upcoming seasons include Flute in Midsummer Night's Dream at Glyndebourne Festival, Lurcanio in Ariodante with Il Pomo d’Oro conducted by George Petrou, Valcour L'Amant anonyme for Glyndebourne on Tour, and concerts including Bach St Matthew Passions with Les Talens Lyriques under Christophe Rousset and as the Evangelist with the Irish Baroque Orchestra and Peter Whelan, Pulcinella with Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra under Barbara Hannigan, and Zadok in a tour of Handel’s Solomon with the English Concert and Harry Bicket, culminating in a performance at New York’s Carnegie Hall.

Updated 18/05/2023