Tenor James Way is fast gaining international recognition for the versatility of his ‘lush and nimble’ voice (The New York Times) and commanding stage presence. A former Britten Pears Young Artist, he is a laureate of Les Arts Florissants’s Jardin des Voix academy and one of the OAE’s Rising Stars, 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.

On the concert platform James has appeared with major orchestras across the UK, Europe and the US. Performances with the BBC Symphony Orchestra have included Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été, works by Lili Boulanger, Vaughan Williams’s Serenade to Music at the Last Night of the Proms, and the European premiere of Ross Harris’s Face.

James’s love of Baroque music has led to appearances with the finest early music ensembles in Europe, including the Freiburger Barockorchester (René Jacobs and Trevor Pinnock), Dunedin Consort (John Butt), The English Concert (Laurence Cummings) and Les Arts Florissants (William Christie). He has worked with conductors including Jakub Hrůša, Thibault Noally, Mark Wigglesworth, 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 his performances, including those as Sellem in a global tour of Stravinsky’s The rake’s progress.

James’s growing discography includes Stanford songs (with Roderick Williams and Andrew West) and, with the Gabrieli Consort and Paul McCreesh, Purcell’s Fairy Queen and King Arthur, the latter winning BBC Music Magazine’s Recording of the Year award.

An avid recitalist, James enjoys programming and collaborating on song projects, and recently performed Wolf’s Italienisches Liederbuch with Christopher Glynn at the Lammermuir Festival, Liverpool’s St George’s Hall, St George’s Bristol and Wigmore Hall. Other recital engagements include the Oxford Lieder, London Song and Newbury Spring festivals, as well as the curation of the Devon Song Festival and SongSpiel. James directs his own ensemble, The Assembled Company, with whom he has conducted Schütz’s Christmas story and performed Handel’s nine German arias with Rachel Podger at St Martin-in-the-Fields in a new English translation by Jeremy Sams.