James Newby
Baritone
Credit: Linden Shots
View GALLERYMedia
with Joseph Middleton, Cardiff, January 2019
News
James returns to the opera stage to sing Guglielmo for Norwegian National Opera, opening on 30 April, reconnecting with conductor Giulio Cilona for the first time since they performed the...
MORENews
In March 2025 James sings and records a new commission for solo baritone and strings composed by Michael Zev Gordon with the Britten Sinfonia, with performances in London, Birmingham and...
MORENews
Following successes in the role of Demetrius in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Garsington Opera, he will return to the BBC Proms for their semi-staging on 10 September and...
MOREJames Newby brings vocalism of great nuance and controlled solemnity to five reflective arias of mounting intensity to texts by the poet Jacqueline Saphra.
James Newby is a former BBC New Generation Artist and Rising Star of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. As well as a 2022 BBT Award winner, he was an ECHO Rising Star (2022/23) with appearances at major concert halls throughout Europe.
Highlights
- Komische Oper Berlin, Norwegian National Opera – Guglielmo Così fan tutte
- Staatsoper Hannover –Eddy in Turnage Greek; title role Eugene Onegin
- Die Schöne Müllerin– Wigmore Hall, Simon Lepper
- The Poet in Otto Ketting’s Ithaka Symphony for solo baritone at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam with Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Antony Hermus.
- Theater an der Wien – Maximilian Candide
- Garsington Opera, Opera North, Opéra de Lausanne – Demetrius A Midsummer Night’s Dream
- Debut solo CD I Wonder as I Wander on BIS Records with Joseph Middleton wins the Diapason d’Or Découverte
Biography
A recipient of the Richard Tauber Prize for best interpretation of a Schubert Lied at the 2015 Wigmore Hall/Kohn International Song Competition, James has since enjoyed a close relationship with the Hall. Appearances there include Mahler Rückert-Lieder in 2023 with Mitsuko Uchida as part of BBT’s 20th anniversary celebrations, Die schöne Müllerin with Simon Lepper and a mixed programme of Dowland, Schubert, Wolf and Liszt with Joseph Middleton.
A member of the Ensemble of the Staatsoper Hannover from 2019 to 2022 he garnered particular praise for his debut as Eddy in Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Greek. Other important role debuts in Hannover included Guglielmo Così fan tutte and the title role in Eugene Onegin.
James has since appeared at Opéra national du Rhin; Theater an der Wien; made his Garsington Opera debut in 2024 as Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and returned to Hannover, as a guest, for Eugene Onegin. This season James will appear as Demetrius A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Opera North and at Opéra de Lausanne in a Laurent Pelly production, as well as Guglielmo for Norwegian National Opera, making his house debut in all three venues. The 2024/25 season also includes an important new commission for baritone by Michael Zev Gordon with the Britten Sinfonia; The Poet in Otto Ketting’s Ithaka Symphony for solo baritone with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra; and recitals at the Oxford Song Festival, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the National Concert Hall, Dublin.
Past concert performances include Haydn The Creation with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Bart Van Reyn; Handel’s Messiah with Harry Christophers and The Sixteen; Berlioz with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Mozart with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also performed baroque repertoire with conductors David Bates, Jonathan Cohen and John Butt and toured in Europe with the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century.
Recordings remain an important part of his schedule and his 2020 debut solo album I Wonder as I Wander (BIS) with pianist Joseph Middleton met with worldwide acclaim and was awarded the Diapason d’Or Découverte.
James studies with Robert Dean.
FOR USE IN THE 2024/25 SEASON
This biography should not be edited without permission from Maxine Robertson Management.Contact:
Mobile: +44 7904 698 231 (Outside office hours)
Email: mr@maxinerobertson.com