James Ham enjoys a growing reputation across the orchestral, opera, and ballet repertoire for his versatility, wealth of ideas, and genuine music making.
Recent performances include concerts with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Magdeburg Philharmonie, Neubrandenburg Philharmonie, Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Brandenburger Symphoniker, Ensemble Modern Akademie and Gibraltar Philharmonic. His recent opera work includes conducting La Cenerentola and L’Incoronazione di Poppea with English Touring Opera, Der Tapfere Soldat with Opera della Luna, and leading the first performance in England of Tchaikovsky’s The Oprichnik.
As an Assistant Conductor, James has worked at the Bayerische Staatsoper (Peter Grimes), Norwegian National Opera (La Damnation de Faust), Theater an der Wien (Porgy and Bess), Gärtnerplatztheater (Rigoletto), and been part of the music staff at the Royal Ballet and Opera (Tosca). He was previously an Assistant Conductor with the London Philharmonic Orchestra working with Edward Gardner and Vladimir Jurowski.
James also works in ballet and has conducted with Scottish Ballet and Northern Ballet, having previously been Conducting Fellow with Birmingham Royal Ballet. He studied conducting at the St Petersburg Conservatory and was Conducting Fellow at the Lucerne Festival Academy.