British conductor James Ham enjoys a growing reputation across the orchestral, opera and ballet repertoire for his versatility, wealth of ideas, and genuine music making.

Recent performances include English National Opera (La Cenerentola), English Touring Opera (L’Incoronazione di Poppea and La Cenerentola), the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Scottish Ballet (The Nutcracker), Northern Ballet (The Great Gatsby), Opera della Luna (Oscar Straus’ operetta The Chocolate Soldier), and the first ever performance in England of Tchaikovsky’s opera The Oprichnik. His other performances include orchestral concerts with the Magdeburg Philharmonie, Neubrandenburger Philharmonie, Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Brandenburger Symphoniker, Ensemble Modern Akademie, New London Orchestra, Gibraltar Philharmonic, and the London Orchestra Project – which he founded with the Concertmaster of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

James was previously an Assistant Conductor with the London Philharmonic Orchestra working with Edward Gardner and Vladimir Jurowski on several projects. In opera, James has conducted performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Le Nozze di Figaro, Eugene Onegin, Il Tabarro and Tosca. He has assisted on Peter Grimes at the Bayerische Staatsoper, La Damnation de Faust at the Norwegian National Opera, Porgy and Bess at the Theater an der Wien, Rigoletto at the Gärtnerplatztheater in Munich, Wahnfried at the Longborough Opera Festival, and been part of the music staff for Tosca at the Royal Opera House. With Birmingham Royal Ballet, during his time as Conducting Fellow, James conducted several performances of The Nutcracker, Coppélia, The Grand Tour , and a number of mixed bill programmes. He has assisted on Le Sacre du Printemps with the Bayerisches Staatsballett and has also assisted Sir Mark Elder with the Bergen Philharmonic and Karel Mark Chichon with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie on several occasions.

James studied conducting at the St Petersburg Conservatory and Universität der Künste Berlin, establishing his interest in German, Russian, and English music from the 19th and 20th centuries, along with that of central Europe. James also has a keen interest in contemporary music, based on his specialist training as a conductor with the London Sinfonietta Academy, Ensemble Modern Akademie, and Lucerne Festival Academy, where he was Conducting Fellow on the contemporary music programme.