Composers
James Whitbourn
© Simone Canetty-Clarke
Born: 1963
Brief Biography: An established composer for concert hall and screen, James Whitbourn began his career as a programme maker at the BBC, where he won several awards. His close association with the BBC Philharmonic resulted in three large-scale commissions. In addition to his lush orchestral scores, James has a special affinity for choral music. His Son of God Mass in particular continues to receive many performances over five continents and has been recorded and broadcast and performed often in US and Europe. Television credits include music for the BBC’s coverage of the Queen Mother’s funeral, and the sixtieth anniversary of D-Day and the landmark BBC series Son of God.
For a complete biography, click here.
Key Works:- Pika
(2000; tenor, speaker, orchestra) - Son of God
(orchestral score for BBC/Discovery landmark series) - Son of God Mass
(2000; choir, saxophone, organ) - Annelies (2004; soprano, choir, orchestra. 2009; soprano, choir and chamber ensemble)
- Missa Carolae (2004; choir, piccolo, organ, brass ensemble, percussion)
- Luminosity (2008; choir, viola, tanpura, organ, percussion)
| Career Highlights:- 2000 winner of Sandford St Martin Premier Award (with poet Michael Symmons Roberts)
- 2001 A Finer Truth - debut album of choral works release 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
- 2002 Bridge over Tay used by the BBC for all its coverage of the Queen Mother's funeral
- 2004 setting of words by Desmond Tutu sung at the Commonwealth Observance, Westminster Abbey, before the Queen
- 2005premiere of Annelies in London under Leonard Slatkin; excerpts performed at the National Holocaust Memorial event before the Queen
- 2006Missa Carolae & Songs of the Nativity - choral album released
- 2007 US premiere of Annelies at Westminster Choir College
- 2008 Luminosity premiered in Philadelphia with Black Light dance ensemble Archedream and choirs of Westminster Choir College
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Full Biography:
James Whitbourn is a versatile composer of film, television and concert works. He studied music at Oxford University and began his career as a programme maker for the BBC, winning many awards, including a Royal Television Society Craft Award and a Sony Gold.
His range of style moves from the lush symphonic scoring heard in BBC landmark series such as Son of God to the sonorities of his choral album, which combine choir with saxophone and world instruments. He memorably composed the BBC’s title music for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and was commissioned with former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion to write a new work for the broadcast of a Westminster Abbey service for the victims of 9/11 - subsequently performed in New York on the first anniversary of the attacks. He also composed the title music for the BBC Events coverage of the sixtieth anniversary of D-Day as well as music for several other series.
Other projects have included a collaborative piece with the former Archbishop of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu, a Christmas mass for Rochester Cathedral and compositions for the Choir of King's College Cambridge. Annelies, a large-scale oratorio for choirs and orchestra written from The Diary of Anne Frank, was premiered by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to great critical acclaim under the baton of Leonard Slatkin at Cadogan Hall, London in April 2005, with excerpts from the work also being performed by the same orchestra at the National Holocaust Memorial concert attended by the Queen. The work went on to receive its US premiere in 2007 and will be heard in The Hague, Netherlands in 2009 on Anne Frank's 80th birthday in a new chamber version with violinist Daniel Hope and American soprano Arianna Zukerman.
His orchestral commissions include the award-winning work Pika, based on the bombing of Hiroshima, one of three large-scale compositions written with the poet Michael Symmons Roberts and performed by the BBC Philharmonic, who have also recorded many of his television scores. His collaborations with the poet have also resulted in a set of songs written for and recorded by the mezzo soprano Katherine Jenkins.
Many of his choral works have been recorded by the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, with saxophonist John Harle and tenor Robert Tear under Timothy Brown, on an album devoted to his music described as ‘accessible, melodic and very beautiful’. His Son of God Mass has been performed all over the world, from the East Coast of America to Texas, to New Zealand, Iceland, Japan and many European countries.
Whitbourn has developed a close association with leading choral conductor James Jordan and his choirs at Westminster Choir College, who have performed many of his works, including Son of God Mass, Annelies and Luminosity, the last of which was commissioned by the college. He has worked on both sides of the Atlantic as choral clinician.
He also enjoys a profile as a conductor and producer. As well conducting the BBC Philharmonic and other orchestras in recordings of his scores, he directs the London-based vocal ensemble The Choir, whose acclaimed DVD recording of John Tavener’s choral music received a Gramophone nomination. The Choir, under James Whitbourn, has also recorded for many television appearances.
External Websites
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