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 James
Burton was Musical Director of the Aylesbury
Choral Society from April 2001 to June 2004.
For the Society's 70th anniversary season in 2002-2003 James conducted
performances of Bach's Christmas
Oratorio in Aylesbury and Elgar's The
Dream of Gerontius at Stowe School. In October 2003 he conducted
the Society, Schola Cantorum
of Oxford and the Oxford
Philomusica orchestra in a repeat performance of Gerontius
at the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford.
James began his musical training in the Choir of Westminster Abbey
where he was head chorister under Simon Preston. He later studied
music at Cambridge where he held a choral scholarship at St John's
College under Christopher Robinson. Further studies followed at the
Peabody Conservatory in
Baltimore where he completed his Master's Degree in orchestral
and opera conducting under Frederik Prausnitz and Gustav Meier.
James was appointed Choral Director at the Hallé
in May 2002. He gave his debut with the Hallé Orchestra and Choir
at the Bridgewater Hall in December 2002, and has prepared the Hallé
Choir for performances of Belshazzar's Feast, The Creation,
Brahms Ein Deutches Requiem and Verdi Falstaff, all
conducted by Mark Elder. Other recent engagements have included two
recordings on the Hallé label, and concerts of Mahler Resurrection
Symphony with Gilbert Kaplan and Mozart Requiem with Christean
Mandeal. 2003 saw the foundation of the new Hallé
Youth Choir, which will give its debut under James' direction
in Christmas 2003 at the Bridgewater Hall.
In addition to his work with Schola
Cantorum of Oxford and Aylesbury
Choral Society, James is the conductor of the Manchester
University Chorus. Together with the University Symphony Orchestra
they will give the world première of Howard Skempton That Music
Always Round Me in December 2003. James is also Associate Conductor
at the St. Endellion Festival
where he recently conducted Stravinsky The Soldier's Tale.
At the 2001 festival he conducted the world première of James Whitbourn
The Mystery of Love with Robert Tear as soloist, and in 2002
he was chorus master for Walton Troilus and Cressida conducted
by Richard Hickox. James has been Associate Conductor of the National
Youth Choir for two years, and his former work as Conductor of
Surrey Youth Choir
won them a place in the final rounds of the 2002 Sainsbury's
Choir of the Year, in which they went on to become runners up.
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