Following success in some of the most competitive international and domestic opera and lied competitions, James Young joins the ensemble of the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden in the 24/25 Season.
In 2024, James received third place (The Richard E. McGinty Award) at the Houston Saengerbund Competition from 190 international applicants in Texas. Preceded by 2nd Place (The Richard Bonynge Award) at the 2023 Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge Bel Canto Awards and Special Prize for best performance of an Aria from Mozart or Handel. 2023 also saw James winning first prize in the ‘German-Australia Opera Grant’ Competition and the Audience Prize.
On the stage in 2023, James debuted the title role in Rachmaninoff’s Aleko, Sprecher in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and returned to Orff with another seldomly presented opera: De temporum fine comoedia – Das Spiel vom Ende der Zeiten.
The 2022 season saw James returning to Schloss Henfenfeld for performances in the role of Masetto in Don Giovanni. After liederabends in Bayreuth and Nuremberg, he performed Baculus in Lortzing’s opera Der Wildschütz at the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg, where he is also currently completing a Master’s degree in Opera Singing under the tutelage of Professor Susanne Kelling. James is a scholarship holder with the Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now program which began in 2022 with accompanist Dahyon Min.
Despite Corona, James’ 2021 program had him returning to Bayreuth for performances of Carl Orff’s rarely heard ‘Prometheus’ in the role of Okeanos. Subsequent engagements included outdoor concert performances of Graf von Eberbach in Der Wildschütz and multiple collaborations with Ensemble Sarband under the direction of Vladimir Ivanoff and with the Polizeiorchester Bayern.
James was engaged as bass soloist for Bach’s Matthäus-Passion in 2020 followed by role debuts as Marullo and Monterone in concert performances of Rigoletto at Schloss Henfenfeld in Germany. In August 2020, James returned as Artist in Residence in Bayreuth, highlighted by an engagement from the Bayreuth Festspielhaus to perform excerpts from Wagner and Mozart in lieu of the cancelled Bayreuther Festspiele and a televised street performance of scenes from Wagner, Verdi and Mozart.
In 2019, James returned to some of the largest opera houses across China for a five week season of Le nozze di Figaro covering the role of Il Conte di Almaviva. Directly following this tour, James was engaged for a range of concerts and performances across Germany, in locations including: Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, Weimar, Nuremberg and Starnberg. In August 2019, James completed his first engagement with the Bayreuth Young Artist Festival and presented a versatile program highlighted by the Antonín Dvorák Biblische Lieder Song Cycle in the Stadtkirche von Bayreuth among various other operatic gala performances and concerts.
In the 2017-2018 Season, James completed his first twenty-three city tour of China in the role of Amonasro from Verdi’s Aida, he also portrayed Masetto in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with GBD Touring Grand Opera Melbourne, and Presto in Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias with Lyric Opera.
Mr. Young’s 2016-2017 operatic season included a principal role in Copland’s rarely staged The Second Hurricane with Victorian Opera, and Masetto in Millennium Opera’s production of Don Giovanni.
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