 James
Ross was born in 1972 and won scholarships to
Harrow
School in London and to Christ Church at
Oxford University.
There he studied history, took a master's degree in music and a
doctorate on French opera under
Roger Parker, winning the Sir Donald
Tovey Memorial Prize. He was a finalist in the
BBC Philharmonic
Orchestra's 1998 Conducting Competition and since then has
conducted in Austria, Bosnia, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, France,
Hungary, Italy, Serbia, Sri Lanka and the USA.
In addition to his work as Music Director of the St
Albans Symphony Orchestra, James is
also music director of Oxford’s
Christ Church Festival Orchestra, the
Welwyn Garden
City Orchestra and Chorus,
Northampton
University Orchestra and the
Royal College of Paediatrics Orchestra
and Chorus. Previously he has been Associate Conductor of
Midland Youth
Orchestra in Birmingham and Head of Strings for
Oxford University
Orchestra. In September 2005, he takes up the position as
conductor of
Oxford University Sinfonietta.
James Ross has a
repertoire of over 500 works ranging
from Baroque
to contemporary music, including
symphonies by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn,
Tchaikovsky, Dvorák, Brahms, Bruckner, Mahler, Sibelius and
Shostakovich, choral works including Brahms, Eines Deutsches Requiem
and Elgar, The Dream of Gerontius, numerous solo works including
Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with
Sir Thomas Allen and Elgar 'Cello
Concerto with
Guy Johnston, 20th-Century works
including Stravinsky's Rite of Spring and Bartók, Music for
Strings, Percussion and Celesta, opera, much specialist French music
and first performances. He has performed
in leading UK concert halls,
including Symphony Hall, Birmingham,
St. John's Smith Square, London, and
the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford.
In 1996 he was an assistant for
Bernard Haitink’s Don Carlos
recording with
The Royal Opera, London; in January
2006 he will conduct
Oxford University Orchestra's first
commercial recording, of Copland's Organ Symphony and
Jonathan Clarke's Organ Concerto, with
David Goode.
His teachers have
included Tsung Yeh (USA and Hong Kong) Zdenek Bilek (Czech Republic),
Victor Feldbrill (Canada), Ernest Schelle
(Switzerland) and
Alan Hazeldine (Guildhall School of
Music and Drama, London); he has also received advice from
Bernard
Haitink,
Paul Daniel,
Peter Donohoe,
Sir David Willcocks and
Sir Charles Mackerras. He is a frequent
guest speaker, including at the
Bibliothčque Nationale de France; he
has also taught at
Oxford University and has
contributed to
Music and Letters (Vincent d'Indy's
opera Fervaal, 2003),
Opera,
English Historical
Review,
Musical Times and is a co-author of
French Music
From the Death of Berlioz, published by Ashgate Press
this year. He is a member of the Performers and Composers Section of the
Incorporated Society
of Musicians (UK) and of the
Conductors Guild (USA).
Visit James'
homepage for more
information.
|
