James Harrison graduated with First Class Honours from the University of Auckland, New Zealand; and after a year as an Emerging Artist with NBR New Zealand Opera, studied with Margaret Kingsley at the Royal College of Music where he won the prestigious Lies Askonas Prize, the McCulloch Prize for Opera and a special Director’s Prize. James went on to the National Opera Studio. On the concert platform James has sung with Sir David Wilcocks (Messiah) at the Royal Albert Hall; the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge (Creation) also at the Royal Albert Hall; the Classical Opera Company at the Barbican; and Peter Schreier (Weihnachts Oratorium) at St John’s Smith Square. His operatic roles include Christus in the London Handel Festival’s world premiere staging of Handel’s Brocke’s Passion; the Marquis de la Force/Dialogues des Carmelites for the Benjamin Britten International Opera School; Conte Alamaviva/Le Nozze di Figaro for Southbank Sinfonia; Marcello La Boheme Sharpless Madame Butterfly for the Mannanan Festival; Mauregato in Schubert’s Alfonso und Estrella; Onegin/Eugene Onegin for Riverside Opera and extracts from Don Giovanni with the London Mozart Players. James is committed to music in New Zealand and has returned to sing Valentin in the NBR Zealand Opera’s season of Faust; concerts for both Christchurch City Choir and Auckland Choral Society, and also completed a New Zealand tour of Humperdink’s Hansel & Gretel.

James wishes to gratefully acknowledge the support of New Zealand’s Circle100 group.

Source: Auckland Choral

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