James Ellis

Twenty-one year-old James became a pupil at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester at the age of eleven studying piano with Head of Keyboard, Dr. Murray McLachlan. In June 2015, James passed his FRSM in Piano Performance, becoming a Fellow of the Royal Schools of Music. James passed both his LRSM and Dip.ABRSM Piano Diploma with Distinctions. James also holds piano Grade 8 and clarinet Grade 8 with Distinction. Growing up, James enjoyed considerable success in competitive festivals in Harpenden, Leamington Spa and Chester. He has given concerts at St Martin in the Fields, London, Shrewsbury, Warwick, Stratford Upon Avon, South Shields, Preston, Lytham, Bury, Canterbury, Chester and Manchester Cathedral. In 2011, the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester led by Noriko Ogawa, hosted a series of concerts and events to celebrate 150 years since Debussy’s birth. James was delighted to perform La Cathédrale Engloutie at the Bridgewater Hall together with a contemporary piece entitled Waves by Yuanfan Yang to celebrate the event. In 2013, James was runner up in the Chester Young Musician of the Year competition. 2015 was particularly busy for James. In February 2015, James performed In Dahomey at the British Embassy in Paris. In December 2014, James won the annual Chetham’s Beethoven Competition and was subsequently runner-up in the Beethoven Piano Society of Europe Junior Competition in London. James also won the Under-18 Piano Class and the Casio Prize at the National Final of the EPTA piano competition. James was recently shortlisted in Chetham’s annual Concerto Competition for his performance of Bartok Piano Concerto no.3. In November 2015, he performed the Schumann Piano Concerto with the Alderley Edge Symphony Orchestra. In May 2015, James was asked to play at the memorial service at Manchester Cathedral to celebrate the life of Anne Kirkbride (Deidre, Coronation Street). Back in 2010, James performed at the Commonwealth Resounds in Edinburgh. Then in November 2015, James travelled with a group of Chetham’s students to Malta for the Commonwealth Resounds project. This fantastic opportunity took place alongside the biennial meeting of Commonwealth Governments, and saw the group involved in concerts, workshops, official Commonwealth events and outreach work in schools and hospitals. James performed piano solo works for the President of Malta at the Verdala Palace and also at the Manoel Theatre. James has participated in masterclasses with Paul Badura-Skoda, Vladimir Tropp, Philip Martin, Martin Wilson, Irina Osipova, Richard Ormrod, Christopher Elton, Rona Hart, Tess Nicholson, Michael Schreider, Noriko Ogawa, Philip Shovk, Margaret Fingerhut, Einar Steen Nøkleberg, Matthias Kirschnereit, Kathryn Stott and Anton Voigt. James enjoys all aspects of music making and hopes to pursue a career as a performer or in education. Indeed, James has just been involved as a répétiteur and orchestral pianist in the children’s musical, the “Silver Donkey”, based on the book by Sonya Hartnett in the Bridgewater Hall.