British baritone James Atkinson is a graduate of the Royal College of Music Opera Studio, where he studied with Alison Wells. From September 2023, James joins the BBC New Generation Artist scheme in conjunction with Radio 3. His many awards include the Royal Over-Seas League Singers’ Prize (2022), the Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards (2018), the Mozart Competition and the Audience Prize at the Somerset Song Prize (2019).
After a hugely successful debut singing Masetto/Don Giovanni for the Welsh National Opera in 2022, James returns in the 2023/24 season for Guglielmo/Così fan tutte. He also makes his debut in Boston with the Handel & Haydn Society singing Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem conducted by Bernard Labadie. Further debuts include performances of Fauré’s Requiem conducted by Jonathan Nott with the Orchèstre de la Suisse Romande, and concerts with the Oxford Philharmonic for both Handel’s Messiah and Mozart’s Requiem.
He is in high demand as a recitalist and returns this season to the Oxford International Song Festival. James has previously sung at the London Song Festival, the Lewes Song Festival, The Red House in Aldeburgh, the North Norfolk Music Festival, and the Ludlow English Song Weekend. Following his 2021 recital with Sholto Kynoch at the Lammermuir Festival, James’s 2023 recital with Simon Lepper at the NI Opera Festival of Voice was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 as part of their Lunchtime Live Concert series.
Further highlights from the 22/23 season included a number of debuts for James: with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra for Haydn’s Creation under Bernard Labadie and at the Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg as Steuermann in the revival of Festival d’Aix-en-Provence’s production of Tristan und Isolde. He sang Belcore in the Wild Arts tour of Elisir d’Amore and made a return to the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra for Orest/Elektra conducted by Jonathan Nott.
With the RCM Opera Studio, he sang the roles of Buonafede Il mondo della luna, Ramiro L’heure espagnole, Sam Trouble in Tahiti, Le Gendarme Les mamelles de Tirésias and Blazes The Lighthouse. Other roles include Lysander The Enchanted Island (British Youth Opera), Boots Der Rosenkavalier (Garsington Opera), Papageno Die Zauberflöte and Aeneas Dido and Aeneas (Hurn Court Opera), and cover Aeneas (English Touring Opera).
Upcoming events with The Mozartists:
Le nozze di Figaro
21 October 2024 – Cadogan Hall, London
Le nozze di Figaro
23 October 2024 – Teatro Massimo Communale, Syracuse
British baritone James Atkinson is a graduate of the Royal College of Music Opera Studio, where he studied with Alison Wells. From September 2023, James joins the BBC New Generation Artist scheme in conjunction with Radio 3. His many awards include the Royal Over-Seas League Singers’ Prize (2022), the Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards (2018), the Mozart Competition and the Audience Prize at the Somerset Song Prize (2019).
After a hugely successful debut singing Masetto/Don Giovanni for the Welsh National Opera in 2022, James returns in the 2023/24 season for Guglielmo/Così fan tutte. He also makes his debut in Boston with the Handel & Haydn Society singing Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem conducted by Bernard Labadie. Further debuts include performances of Fauré’s Requiem conducted by Jonathan Nott with the Orchèstre de la Suisse Romande, and concerts with the Oxford Philharmonic for both Handel’s Messiah and Mozart’s Requiem.
He is in high demand as a recitalist and returns this season to the Oxford International Song Festival. James has previously sung at the London Song Festival, the Lewes Song Festival, The Red House in Aldeburgh, the North Norfolk Music Festival, and the Ludlow English Song Weekend. Following his 2021 recital with Sholto Kynoch at the Lammermuir Festival, James’s 2023 recital with Simon Lepper at the NI Opera Festival of Voice was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 as part of their Lunchtime Live Concert series.
Further highlights from the 22/23 season included a number of debuts for James: with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra for Haydn’s Creation under Bernard Labadie and at the Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg as Steuermann in the revival of Festival d’Aix-en-Provence’s production of Tristan und Isolde. He sang Belcore in the Wild Arts tour of Elisir d’Amore and made a return to the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra for Orest/Elektra conducted by Jonathan Nott.
With the RCM Opera Studio, he sang the roles of Buonafede Il mondo della luna, Ramiro L’heure espagnole, Sam Trouble in Tahiti, Le Gendarme Les mamelles de Tirésias and Blazes The Lighthouse. Other roles include Lysander The Enchanted Island (British Youth Opera), Boots Der Rosenkavalier (Garsington Opera), Papageno Die Zauberflöte and Aeneas Dido and Aeneas (Hurn Court Opera), and cover Aeneas (English Touring Opera).
Upcoming events with The Mozartists:
Le nozze di Figaro
21 October 2024 – Cadogan Hall, London
Le nozze di Figaro
23 October 2024 – Teatro Massimo Communale, Syracuse