James Whitbourn
Encyclopedia
Biography
James Whitbourn was born in Kent and educated at Magdalen College, OxfordMagdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
, where he was a choral scholar and gained a degree in Music. His international reputation as a composer for concert hall and screen, developed from his early career as a programme maker at the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, during which he produced many award-winning programmes. His close association with the BBC Philharmonic resulted in three large-scale commissions for voices and orchestra. His "Son of God Mass" has had many performances worldwide, especially in the USA and Europe. Television credits include music for the BBC’s coverage of the Queen Mother’s funeral, and major BBC series Son of God
Son of God (TV series)
Son of God is an award-winning British documentary series that chronicles the life of Jesus Christ using scientific and contemporary historical evidence. It was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on 1 April 2001, and was presented by Jeremy Bowen...
. In 2005, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with the Choir of Clare College Cambridge, under Leonard Slatkin
Leonard Slatkin
Leonard Edward Slatkin is an American conductor and composer.-Early life and education:Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a musical family that came from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. His father Felix Slatkin was the violinist, conductor and founder of the Hollywood String Quartet,...
, premiered his oratorio Annelies
Annelies
Annelies is a full-length choral work based on the Diary of Anne Frank. The music is by British composer James Whitbourn and the libretto is compiled from the diary by Melanie Challenger....
, based on the Diary of Anne Frank, at London's Cadogan Hall to wide critical acclaim. The work was later re-scored in an alternative chamber version which was premiered in The Netherlands on Anne Frank's 80th birthday by the British violinist Daniel Hope
Daniel Hope
Daniel Hope is an English television and film actor. He graduated from Mountview Theatre School in 1999 and has been in numerous plays and television dramas, the most notable of which include Only Fools and Horses, EastEnders and Casualty...
and the American soprano Arianna Zukerman
Arianna Zukerman
Arianna Zukerman , is an American lyric soprano who has performed with some of the world's finest orchestras and opera companies. Her voice was described in the Washington Post as "remarkable" combining the "range, warmth and facility of a Rossini mezzo with shimmering, round high notes and...
. He wrote a number of works for the late British tenor Robert Tear
Robert Tear
Robert Tear, CBE was a Welsh tenor and conductor.Tear was born in Barry, Glamorgan, Wales, UK, the son of Thomas and Edith Tear. He attended Barry Boys' Grammar School and during this period sang in the chorus of the first Welsh National Opera's production of 'Cavalleria Rusticana' in April 1946...
, with whom he also collaborated as librettist, including a festal setting of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis for King's College Cambridge, a cantata for the St Endellion Festival and three Christmas carols. Other major works include the choral work Luminosity, scored for choir, viola, organ, tanpura and percussion and written for the dance ensemble Archedream. Since 2006 his compositions have been performed in several major concerts devoted to his music at Westminster Choir College
Westminster Choir College
Westminster Choir College is a residential college of music, part of Rider University, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States.Westminster Choir College educates men and women at the undergraduate and graduate levels for musical careers in music education, voice performance, piano...
of Rider University, New Jersey with whom he continues to have a close association. In 2010 the Oxford-based chamber choir Commotio released a disc of his choral music on the Naxos label, Luminosity, which attracted much attention especially in the USA. In 2011, The Williamson Voices
Williamson Voices
The Westminster Williamson Voices is a highly select ensemble that emphasizes in choral music both old and new. It is named for Westminster Choir College's founder, John Finley Williamson, who believed that choral music performed at the highest level should be accessible to all...
release the new Naxos choral disc, Living Voices with the Saxophonist Jeremy Powell, Organist Ken Cowan
Ken Cowan
Ken Cowan is a Canadian organist. A native of Thorold, Ontario, he has toured extensively in the United States, Canada, and Europe, and currently serves as Assistant Professor of Organ and Coordinator of Organ and Sacred Music at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. He has made...
, pianist Jonathan Palmer Lakeland and percussionist Jacob Ezzo under conductor James Jordan.
Career highlights
- 2000 - winner of Sandford St Martin Premier Award (with poet Michael Symmons RobertsMichael Symmons RobertsMichael Symmons Roberts is a British poet. He has published five collections of poetry, all with Cape , and has won the Whitbread Poetry Award, as well as major prizes from the Arts Council and Society of Authors. He has been shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize twice, the Griffin International...
). - 2001 - A Finer Truth – debut album of choral works sung by Clare College Choir Cambridge – released by Et’cetera.
- 2001 - orchestral score of multi award-winning BBC1 series Son of God.
- 2002 - Living Voices premiered in New York concert on the first anniversary of 9/11.
- 2004 - set prayer by Desmond TutuDesmond TutuDesmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid...
for the Commonwealth Observance, Westminster Abbey. - 2005 - movements from AnneliesAnneliesAnnelies is a full-length choral work based on the Diary of Anne Frank. The music is by British composer James Whitbourn and the libretto is compiled from the diary by Melanie Challenger....
performed at the National Holocaust Commemoration, Palace of Westminster. - 2005 - World premiere of AnneliesAnneliesAnnelies is a full-length choral work based on the Diary of Anne Frank. The music is by British composer James Whitbourn and the libretto is compiled from the diary by Melanie Challenger....
given in London with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Leonard SlatkinLeonard SlatkinLeonard Edward Slatkin is an American conductor and composer.-Early life and education:Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a musical family that came from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. His father Felix Slatkin was the violinist, conductor and founder of the Hollywood String Quartet,...
. - 2007 - U. S. premiere of AnneliesAnneliesAnnelies is a full-length choral work based on the Diary of Anne Frank. The music is by British composer James Whitbourn and the libretto is compiled from the diary by Melanie Challenger....
by Westminster Choir College's Williamson Voices under the direction of James Jordan (conductor)James Jordan (conductor)Dr. James Jordan is a writer, conductor, and professor at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey where he is currently the Senior Conductor and directs the select touring ensemble Williamson Voices and the Sophomore choir, Schola Cantorum...
. - 2008 - Premiere of Luminosity in Philadelphia Cathedral, U.S. with Daniel Stewart (viola), Westminster Williamson Voices and Schola Cantorum and Blair Academy Singers under James Jordan with Archedream Dance Theater.
- 2009 - The Netherlands premiere of AnneliesAnneliesAnnelies is a full-length choral work based on the Diary of Anne Frank. The music is by British composer James Whitbourn and the libretto is compiled from the diary by Melanie Challenger....
in The Hague on the 80th anniversary of Anne Frank's birthday, with Daniel HopeDaniel HopeDaniel Hope is an English television and film actor. He graduated from Mountview Theatre School in 1999 and has been in numerous plays and television dramas, the most notable of which include Only Fools and Horses, EastEnders and Casualty...
(violin) and Arianna ZukermanArianna ZukermanArianna Zukerman , is an American lyric soprano who has performed with some of the world's finest orchestras and opera companies. Her voice was described in the Washington Post as "remarkable" combining the "range, warmth and facility of a Rossini mezzo with shimmering, round high notes and...
(soprano). - 2010 - release of Naxos disc Luminosity.
- 2011 - release of Naxos disc Living Voices.
Key works
- Pika (2000; tenor, speaker, orchestra)
- Son of God Mass (2000; choir, saxophone, organ)
- The Wounds (2001; soprano, speaker, strings)
- Whirlwind (2002; tenor, speaker, choir, orchestra)
- Annelies (2004; soprano, choir, orchestra) (2006; soprano, choir, violin, cello, piano and clarinet)
- Missa Carolae (2004); choir, organ, piccolo, brass ensemble and percussion)
- Luminosity (2007; Choirs, viola, tam-tam, organ, tanpura)