David James
David James is a British countertenor, known for his solo and ensemble singing and his championing of contemporary as well as early music. He attended Oxford University as a Choral Scholar in Magdalen College. After graduation, he joined the choir of Westminster Abbey.
He entered one of the leading vocal competitions, the 1978 's-Hertogenbosch Competition in the Netherlands, and won the First Prize, establishing his international career. In the meantime, he was one of the three co-founders of the Hilliard Ensemble, which was formed in 1974. The Ensemble became a noted force in the early music movement, specializing in music written before 1600. The group, a vocal quartet for most of its existence, came to find points of similarity between the freely polyphonic music of the Renaissance, with its frequent complex harmonies and dissonance, and the newer tonal music being written in its own time. They have premiered a considerable amount of new music by such composers of Arvo Pärt, Elena Firsova, James MacMillan, Stephen Montague, Veljo Tormis, Heinz Holliger, Edward Cowie, John Tavener, and Gavin Bryars, and worked with the improvisatory Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek. Many of its recordings of this repertory are on the ECM New Series label.
He sang and recorded the alto arias in the reconstruction of Bach's Passion According to St. Mark with the European Community Baroque Ensemble and participated in a recording of Giya Kancheli's Third Symphony with the London Philharmonic on the EMI label.
David James also has sung with the larger vocal ensemble The Sixteen. His sweet and distinctive countertenor tone is credited as a major factor in the success of both groups. With The Sixteen he has recorded J.S. Bach's Passion According to St. John, Handel's Messiah, and Bach cantatas. He is in demand for operas with countertenor roles, which include many Baroque ones and a few modern operas, including Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream. He has sung major roles with the English National Opera, the Handel Opera, the Geneva Opera, and the Aldeburgh Festival.
As a solo singer he sings a wide range of pre-Classical and contemporary repertoire. He frequently works with Heinz Holliger (recording for ECM and widely singing Holliger's song cycle Beiseit) and Gavin Bryars, singing in the world premiere of Bryars' opera Dr. Ox's Experiment with the English National Opera, and recording several others of Bryars' compositions.
© TiVo
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Vita Nova
David James, Gavin Bryars String Trio, The Hilliard Ensemble, Gavin Bryars
Classical - Released by ECM Records on 1 Jan 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verspers/ Ave Verum Corpus - Mozart
Lynne Dawson, David James, Rogers Covey-Crump, Paul Hillier, Choir of King's College, Cambridge, Cambridge Classical Players
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 30 May 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Don't Take the Goodtimes for Granted
Pop - Released by Crimson on 29 Jan 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
That's The Life
Country - Released by MDM Recordings on 1 Oct 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Awakening
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by David James on 5 May 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Starts With a Girl
Country - Released by MDM RECORDINGS on 6 Sep 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wouldn't Want It Any Other Way
Country - Released by Edsel on 15 Sep 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Charles Rosen Plays Chopin – Sonatas
Classical - Released by Globe on 3 Aug 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Then There's You (feat. Genevieve Fisher)
Country - Released by MDM Recordings on 18 Sep 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Eisenhower High
Country - Released by Troppo Forte on 1 Jan 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
If I Were You
Country - Released by MDM Recordings on 13 Mar 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cars, Girls, and the Radio
Country - Released by MDM Recordings on 9 Nov 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Downtown Kids
Country - Released by MDM Recordings on 1 Jun 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Book Of James
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by DESERT EAGLE ENTERTINMENT on 1 Jan 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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If I Were You
Country - Released by MDM Recordings on 6 Mar 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
King Kong Blues/The Return of Rock N Roll Vol. 2
Blues - Released by Bluesmobile on 1 Jan 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Don't Mind If I Do
Country - Released by MDM Recordings on 9 Apr 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo