British conductor James Ross studied at London’s Southbank International School and won scholarships to Harrow School in London and Christ Church at Oxford University, where he studied Modern History, then Music; his doctorate on French Opera, Politics and the Press was awarded Oxford’s prestigious Sir Donald Tovey Prize. He studied violin, viola and singing, gained extensive orchestral and chamber music experience and was a 1998 BBC Philharmonic Conducting Competition finalist. He has conducted in 20 countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and North America. UK performances include at The Royal Festival Hall, Royal Albert Hall, St John’s Smith Square, Symphony Hall Birmingham, state occasions in Westminster Abbey for Queen Elizabeth II, and Oxford University’s Sheldonian Theatre, for whose 350th anniversary he conducted Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
In the UK, he is Artistic Director of Kent Sinfonia, with whom he released an album of previously unrecorded music by Vaughan Williams for Albion Records in 2024, described by Gramophone as 'Unfailingly sympathetic performances', by Musical Opinion as ‘consistently very good indeed’, The Brazen Head: ‘complete joy from start to finish: my album of the year’; Textura: ‘an abundantly rich gathering of musical treasures’, and MusicWeb International: ‘the most intriguing disc I have reviewed this year … outstanding performances'.
Other UK appointments are Music Director of Sidcup Symphony Orchestra, Haslemere Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Welwyn Garden City Orchestra and Chorus and Bridgnorth Sinfonia. As Artistic Advisor of The Commonwealth Resounds, he conducted The Commonwealth Festival Orchestra in the UK, Malta and Sri Lanka, including the first orchestral performance at Colombo’s Nelum Pokuna Theatre, concerts and tours in Türkiye and Uganda with Purcell and Chetham’s Schools of Music.
He has conducted more than 1,500 works including the complete symphonies of Beethoven, Borodin, Brahms, Dvořák, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Schumann, Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky, operas by Bizet, Britten, Humperdinck, Janačék, Mozart, Puccini, Tchaikovsky, Verdi and Wagner, and many ballet scores. He has worked with some of the world’s leading singers including Sir Thomas Allen, Janice Watson, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Olga Borodina and with the UK National Opera Studio.
As a contemporary music conductor, numerous first performances include collaborations with the City of London Sinfonia and Arts Council, at London’s Saatchi Gallery with Philharmonia Orchestra members, and opera productions for the US Center for Contemporary Opera in Milan and New York.
James Ross has extensive business experience as artistic director of record label and classical music consultancy Ulysses Arts, providing strategy advice, due diligence and label services. Clients include Apple, Deutsche Grammophon, Berliner Philharmoniker, L’Orchestre de Paris, L’Orchestre national de Lille, New York’s 21C Media and Juilliard School, Meyer Sound Laboratories, London’s Barbican Centre and Afghanistan National Institute of Music.
As a speaker, James Ross has lectured at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France; he has taught at Oxford University and contributed to books and journals, especially on French music and culture. He has raised more than £1 million performing for charities, including with English National Ballet for Save The Children. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, James Ross produced more than 30 recordings for Ulysses Arts, conducted a televised concert broadcast and recording in Istanbul with the Büyükada Ensemble. In Türkiye he has also conducted in Ankara at the Presidential Symphony Orchestra Hall and at Hacettepe State Conservatory.
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