James Southall

James Southall was born in Bristol in 1982 and is currently a member of the Music Staff at Welsh National Opera. Until July 2008 he was the holder of the David Bowerman Junior Fellowship at the Royal College of Music, where he was privileged to study with John Blakely and Roger Vignoles. He gained a distinction in his Masters degree in Piano Accompaniment in summer 2007 and was the recipient of the Kendall Taylor Award and the Sir Gordon Palmer Award.

James has a keen interest in song repertoire and was awarded the MBF Accompanist’s Prizes in the Kathleen Ferrier Awards - where he collaborated with winner Ben Johnson - and the Maggie Teyte Competition. James was grateful to work with Graham Johnson as part of the Young Songmakers Project in 2007.

Before his postgraduate studies, James read music at Queens’ College, Cambridge where he was principal cellist of the Cambridge University Orchestra. Alongside his work as a pianist and répétiteur, James recently made his conducting debut at Opéra de Baugé with Mozart’s La finta giardiniera.