British conductor James Ham enjoys a growing reputation for his versatility and genuine music making.
Passionate about opera; this season, he stepped in to conduct Cenerentola with ENO and returns to Opera della Luna to conduct a new production of Oscar Straus’ The Chocolate Soldier in London, and also at the IF Opera Festival. Other recent performances include La Cenerentola and L’Incoronazione di Poppea with English Touring Opera, and the English premiere of Tchaikovsky’s Oprichnik. In addition to opera, he has guest conducted with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Magdeburg Philharmonie, Neubrandenburg Philharmonie, Brandenburger Symphoniker, Gibraltar Philharmonic, Scottish Ballet, and Northern Ballet amongst others.
James has assisted at the Bayerische Staatsoper (Peter Grimes), Norwegian National Opera (Damnation de Faust), Theater an der Wien (Porgy and Bess), Gärtnerplatztheater (Rigoletto), Longborough Festival Opera (Wahnfried), and been an off-stage conductor with the Royal Ballet and Opera (Tosca). He was previously an Assistant Conductor with the London Philharmonic Orchestra working with Edward Gardner and Vladimir Jurowski.
James studied conducting at the St Petersburg Conservatory and Universität der Künste Berlin, and was Conducting Fellow of the contemporary music programme at the Lucerne Festival Academy.
Last updated: 2nd March 2026