Biography

James Whitbourn was born in Kent and educated at Skinners' School before winning a scholarship to Magdalen College, Oxford, where he gained his first two degrees. His international reputation as a composer developed from his early career as a programme maker at the

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, during which he produced many award-winning programmes and developed a style known for its direct connection with audiences. His close association with the BBC Philharmonic resulted in three large-scale commissions for voices and orchestra. His "Son of God Mass" has had many performances worldwide, especially in the US and Europe. In 2005, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with the Choir of Clare College Cambridge, under

Leonard Slatkin Leonard Edward Slatkin (born September 1, 1944) is an American conductor, author and composer. Early life and education Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a Jewish musical family that came from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. His fat ...

, premiered his largest choral work'' Annelies'', a setting of the Diary of Anne Frank, at London's Cadogan Hall to wide critical acclaim. The work was later re-scored in an alternative chamber version which was premiered in The Netherlands on Anne Frank's 80th birthday by the British violinist Daniel Hope and the American soprano Arianna Zukerman. He wrote a number of works for the late British tenor

Robert Tear Robert Tear (pronounced to rhyme with "beer"), CBE (8 March 1939 – 29 March 2011) was a Welsh tenor singer, teacher and conductor. He first became known singing in the operas of Benjamin Britten in the mid-1960s. From the 1970s until his ...

, with whom he also collaborated as librettist, including a festal setting of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis for

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

, a cantata for the St Endellion Festival and three Christmas carols. Other major works include the choral work ''Luminosity'', scored for choir, viola, organ, tanpura and percussion and ''The Seven Heavens'' for choir and orchestra, which portrays the life of C.S.Lewis in the imagery of the medieval planets. ''The Seven Heavens'' was premiered at the

Ulster Hall The Ulster Hall is a concert hall and grade A listed building in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Situated on Bedford Street in Belfast city centre, the hall hosts concerts, classical recitals, craft fairs and political party conferences. History ...

with the Belfast Philharmonic and the Ulster Orchestra. Since 2006 his compositions have been performed in several major concerts devoted to his music at

Westminster Choir College , mottoeng = Let us be judged by our deeds , established = 1926 , type = Private , president = Gregory G. Dell'Omo , dean = Marshall Onofrio , city = Dayton, OH (1926–1929), Ithaca, NY (1929–1932), Princeton, NJ (1932–2020), Lawrenc ...

in Princeton, New Jersey with whom he continues to have a close association. In 2010 the Oxford-based chamber choir Commotio released a disc of his choral music on the Naxos label, ''Luminosity'', which attracted much attention especially in the USA. In 2011, The Williamson Voices released the second Naxos choral disc, ''Living Voices'' with the Saxophonist Jeremy Powell, and Organist Ken Cowan under conductor James Jordan. 2013 saw the release on Naxos of '' Annelies'', with Arianna Zukerman, The Lincoln Trio, Bharat Chandra and the Westminster Williamson Voices under James Jordan. Television credits include music for the BBC's coverage of the Queen Mother's funeral, and major BBC series '' Son of God''. Among many international awards and achievements, he has earned three GRAMMY nominations (including Best Choral Performance for '' Annelies'') and a Royal Television Society Award. He is Senior Research Fellow of St. Stephen's House, University of Oxford, and is a member of Oxford's Faculty of Music. In April 2020, he was appointed Director of Music at

St Edmund Hall, Oxford St Edmund Hall (sometimes known as The Hall or informally as Teddy Hall) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The college claims to be "the oldest surviving academic society to house and educate undergraduates in any universit ...

Career highlights

* 2000 – winner of Sandford St Martin Premier Award (with poet

Michael Symmons Roberts Michael Symmons Roberts FRSL (born 1963 in Preston, Lancashire) is a British poet. He has published eight collections of poetry, all with Cape (Random House), and has won the Forward Prize, the Costa Book Award and the Whitbread Prize for Poetr ...

) for ''Pika''. * 2001 – ''A Finer Truth'' – debut album of choral works sung by Clare College Choir Cambridge – released by Et'cetera. * 2001 – orchestral score of multi award-winning BBC1 series ''Son of God''. * 2002 – ''Living Voices'' premiered in New York concert on the first anniversary of 9/11. * 2004 – set prayer by Desmond Tutu for the Commonwealth Observance, Westminster Abbey. * 2005 – movements from '' Annelies'' performed at the National Holocaust Commemoration, Palace of Westminster. * 2005 – World premiere of ''Annelies'' given in London with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under

. * 2007 – U. S. premiere of ''Annelies'' by Westminster Choir College's Williamson Voices under the direction of James Jordan. * 2008 – Premiere of ''Luminosity'' in Philadelphia Cathedral, US with Daniel Stewart (viola), Westminster Williamson Voices and Schola Cantorum and Blair Academy Singers under James Jordan with Archedream Dance Theater. * 2009 – The Netherlands premiere of ''Annelies'' in The Hague on the 80th anniversary of Anne Frank's birthday, with Daniel Hope (violin) and Arianna Zukerman (soprano). * 2010 – release of Naxos disc ''Luminosity''. * 2011 – release of Naxos disc ''Living Voices''. * 2012 – two GRAMMY nominations (Best Opera Recording). * 2013 – release of Naxos disc ''Annelies''. (GRAMMY nomination for Best Choral Performance, 2014) * 2015 – World premiere of ''The Seven Heavens'', the life of C S Lewis in the imagery of the medieval planets, at the Ulster Hall, Belfast with the Belfast Philharmonic and the Ulster Orchestra. * 2016 – release of Naxos disc ''Carolae''. * 2019 - signs as house composer to Oxford University Press

Selected works

* ''Pika'' for tenor, speaker and orchestra (2000) * ''Son of God Mass'' for mixed chorus, soprano saxophone and organ (2000) * ''The Wounds'', Passiontide Sequence for mixed chorus, speaker, violin, cello and organ (2000, 2007); words from the Bible and by

* ''Whirlwind'', Cantata for tenor, speaker, gospel choir, orchestra (2002); words by

* ''Annelies'' for soprano, choir, orchestra (2004); or for soprano, choir, violin, cello, piano and clarinet (2009); text from '' The Diary of Anne Frank'' * ''Missa Carolae'', Christmas Mass for mixed chorus, organ, piccolo, brass ensemble and percussion (2004) * ''Luminosity'', Cantata-Meditation for double mixed chorus, viola,

tanpura The tanpura (), also referred to as tambura and tanpuri, is a long-necked plucked string instrument, originating in India, found in various forms in Indian music. It does not play melody, but rather supports and sustains the melody of an ...

tam-tam A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...

and organ (2007) * ''The Canticles of Mary and Simeon: Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (Eboracum)'' for mixed chorus, viola and organ (2011) * ''Requiem Canticorum'', Requiem of Canticles for mixed chorus, soprano saxophone and organ (2011) * ''The Seven Heavens'', the life of C.S.Lewis in the medieval planets for mixed chorus and symphony orchestra (2015)

References

External links

James Whitbourn official site

James Whitbourn's homepage at G Schirmer Inc

James Whitbourn's homepage at Chester Music

Encore publications home page

WWFM composer webcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitbourn, James Living people English composers Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford 1963 births Musicians from Kent People educated at The Skinners' School