James Gilchrist
James Gilchrist emerged as one of the leading English tenors in the latter part of the 20th century. He has sung a wide range of repertory, from J.S. Bach (St. John Passion) to Berlioz (L'enfance du Christ) to Britten (War Requiem), and on to such modern fare as Knut Nystedt's Apocalypsis Joannis. He has scored equal successes in lighter works, like Gilbert & Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore, where he portrayed Ralph.
Gilchrist was born in Banbury, Oxfordshire, on April 29, 1966. While he exhibited a strong talent for music in his youth, his choice of profession initially was that of medicine. Until he was 30 years old, he was a practicing doctor who only sang on the side, despite his impressive educational credentials: he studied at Winchester College, then later at King's College, Cambridge, earning the distinction of choral scholar. As he continued his medical studies, he sang with such prominent groups as the Sixteen, the Cardinall's Musick, and the Tallis Scholars. His decision to focus on music was prompted by his many triumphs on the stage and in the recording studio in the late 1980s and early '90s. He had appeared on a number of successful recordings while still a doctor: he sang on a pair of Naxos releases containing masses by William Byrd (1994) and Dufay (1995).
In the new century, Gilchrist continued to expand his repertory, taking on such roles as the Evangelist in Haydn's The Seasons in St. Louis, and taking on such roles as Damon in Handel's Acis and Galatea (2004) at the Lufthansa Festival of Music at St. John's, Smith Square, London, and the Evangelist in Bach's St. Matthew Passion (2006) in Boston. In the 2010-2011 season, he performed Schubert's Die schöne Mullerin at Wigmore Hall, Britten's Les illuminations at the Aldeburgh Festival, and Serenade for tenor, horn, and strings with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta.
Gilchrist has been heard on over 100 albums and has recorded with numerous labels, including Hyperion, Chandos, Collins Classics, and EMI. In 2020, he was featured on several albums, including a 2019 performance of Bach's St. Matthew Passion, with the King's College Choir, under the direction of Stephen Cleobury, shortly before his retirement. Gilchrist was also heard on the Chandos release Solitude, accompanied by Anna Tilbrook, and the first volume in Somm's One Hundred Years of British Songs series, with Nathan Williamson.
© Robert Cummings & Keith Finke /TiVo
Similar artists
-
On This Shining Night
James Gilchrist, Sophie Bevan, Roderick Williams, Coull Quartet
Classical - Released by SOMM Recordings on Jun 17, 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bach, J.S.: Cantatas, Vol. 21 - Bwv 65, 81, 83, 190
Robin Blaze, James Gilchrist, Peter Kooij, Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki
Classical - Released by BIS on Mar 1, 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hummel: Mass in E-Flat Major, Te Deum & Quod in orbe
Richard Hickox, Collegium Musicum, Susan Gritton, Ann Murray, James Gilchrist, Stephen Varcoe
Masses, Passions, Requiems - Released by Chandos on Oct 1, 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Britten: My Beloved is Mine
James Gilchrist, Anna Tilbrook
Classical - Released by Linn Records on Sep 17, 2012
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Songs of Sir Lennox Berkeley
James Gilchrist, Anna Tilbrook, Alison Nicholls
Mélodies - Released by Chandos on Jun 1, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Cantatas, Vol. 12
Choral Music (Choirs) - Released by SDG on Oct 26, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
FINZI: Dies natalis / Farewell to Arms / 2 Sonnets
James Gilchrist, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, David Hill
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Naxos on Apr 12, 2008
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: Songs of Travel
James Gilchrist, Philip Dukes, Anna Tilbrook
Mélodies - Released by Chandos on Jan 1, 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Julian Marshall: The Angel in the Forest
James Gilchrist, Philharmonia Chamber Players, The Rupa Ensemble
Chamber Music - Released by Orchid Classics on Nov 18, 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Howard Skempton: Chamber Works
Roderick Williams, Tim Horton, James Gilchrist, Ensemble 360
Classical - Released by First Hand Records on Oct 18, 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
JEFFREYS, J.: The Far Country
Classical - Released by Divine Art on Aug 21, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Themes and Variations
Guy Johnston, James Gilchrist, Tom Poster
Chamber Music - Released by Orchid Classics on Mar 1, 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Inn Stetter Hut: 16th-Century Viol Music for the Richest Man in the World, Vol. 2
The Linarol Consort, James Gilchrist
Classical - Released by Inventa Records on Jan 13, 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Vaughan Williams: On Wenlock Edge
James Gilchrist, Anna Tilbrook, Fitzwilliam String Quartet
Classical - Released by Linn Records on Jan 1, 2007
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
STAINER: Crucifixion (The)
James Gilchrist, Simon Bailey, Stephen Farr, The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, Tim Brown
Classical - Released by Naxos on May 1, 2005
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stephen Dodgson: The Peasant Poet Songs, Vol. 1
Classical - Released by SOMM Recordings on Nov 18, 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Songs of Muriel Herbert
James Gilchrist, Ailish Tynan, David Owen Norris
Classical - Released by Linn Records on May 1, 2009
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
One Hundred Years of British Song, Vol. 1
James Gilchrist, Nathan Williamson
Classical - Released by SOMM Recordings on Oct 16, 2020
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Song Cycles
Anna Tilbrook, James Gilchrist
Classical - Released by Linn Records on Sep 18, 2015
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Parry: 12 Sets of English Lyrics, Vol. 2
Roderick Williams, Sarah Fox, James Gilchrist, Andrew West
Classical - Released by SOMM Recordings on Mar 30, 2018
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
One Hundred Years of British Song, Vol. 3
James Gilchrist, Nathan Williamson
Classical - Released by SOMM Recordings on Jan 21, 2022
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo