NEC Baroque Orchestra + Chamber Singers: Handel + James Burton

Artist(s)

NEC Baroque Orchestra
NEC Chamber Singers

vocal soloists:
Yumeng Xing, Kira Lim, soprano
Preston McNulty Socha, countertenor
Mirah Johnston, mezzo-soprano
Maoyu Hou, tenor
Qinglin Liu, baritone

James Burton, guest conductor

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NEC's Baroque Orchestra is part of The Pratt Early Music Program at New England Conservatory, established by Harold I. Pratt ’17 hon. DM and his wife Frances G. Pratt, which seeks to invite and engage the NEC community with performers and scholars in the historically informed performance field. Master classes, symposia, and performances by nationally- and internationally-recognized scholars and performers are funded through this endowment. In addition, The Pratt Early Music Program at New England Conservatory aims to provide NEC students within the College and Expanded Education, which includes NEC Prep, with the opportunity to study early music and historically informed performance with experts in the field, as well as to expand the historical instrument collection at NEC.

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The NEC Chamber Singers is an ensemble, open to all majors at NEC, of 24–30 musicians who perform challenging works from all style periods, with a particular emphasis on 19th-21st century a cappella works. The choir rehearses three times a week and experiences choral music-making in an intimate ensemble setting, typically in the round.

Each NEC Chamber Singer is a musician seeking to understand the principles and nuance of superior choral artistry so that they may be prepared for professional opportunities and expectations outside of the Conservatory. The choristers diligently prepare their music outside of scheduled rehearsals which makes the brief time spent together musically invaluable. The ensemble typically performs eight to ten times each academic year — on campus in the Conservatory’s Jordan Hall and at off campus venues in and around greater Boston.

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Born in London, James Burton is a conductor and composer widely recognised for his dynamic leadership of choirs and orchestras on both sides of the Atlantic. Well known to audiences in Boston, James was appointed Choral Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Conductor of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus in 2017. Over the subsequent eight seasons he was deeply involved in the musical life of New England, appearing as guest conductor with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, The Handel and Haydn Society, the Boston Pops, the Vermont Symphony, the Connecticut Early Music Festival, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, as well as conducting the Boston Symphony’s choirs for many collaborations which included recording Shostakovich’s symphonies on Deutsche Grammophon. James was Director of Orchestral Activities at Boston University’s College of Fine Arts (2020-2024), leading the orchestral programme and teaching post-graduate orchestral conducting. As well as his appearance with NEC musicians this week, he returns to Boston to conduct the Handel and Haydn Society in May.

Now based in the UK, James was recently announced as the next Artistic Director of Ex Cathedra. Based in Birmingham UK, Ex Cathedra will welcome James to lead their concerts starting in autumn 2027. James has conducted leading professional choirs such as the Gabrieli Consort, Tenebrae, the Choir of the OAE and the BBC Singers, and orchestras including the RLPO, the Hallé, the OAE and the BBC Concert Orchestra. Last year, he conducted three projects with the Ulster Orchestra, and this season he performed Messiah with Opera North and the Huddersfield Choral Society. Internationally, James has conducted Mexico’s National Symphony Orchestra, Denmark’s Aalborg Symphony and the Wrocław Philharmonic Choir, and he collaborated with the Netherlands Radio Choir earlier this season. Opera credits include ENO, ETO and Garsington Opera, where he received the 2008 Leonard Ingrams Award. Past leadership roles have included serving as Choral Director of the Hallé (2002-2009), where his work culminated in the 2009 Gramophone Choral Award (The Dream of Gerontius).

A passionate advocate for young musicians, James directed Schola Cantorum of Oxford (2002-2017), creating its conducting scholarship in 2011. He founded the Hallé Youth Choir in 2003 and the Boston Symphony Children’s Choir in 2018. He has been a regular faculty member at the Prague Summer Nights Festival, and in 2017 was the honoured guest conductor of the National Youth Choir of Japan.

James’ growing portfolio of compositions is published by Wise Classical. The Lost Words (2019) was co-commissioned by the Hallé and the Boston Symphony, and has been performed at Tanglewood, the BBC Proms, and by the RSNO. James’ output includes arrangements for the Boston Pops, orchestrations for American folk legend Arlo Guthrie, and choral works which have been widely performed, broadcast and recorded by groups including the BBC Singers, The Sixteen, Voces8 and the King’s Singers.

A former head chorister of Westminster Abbey, James was a choral scholar at St John’s College, Cambridge and a professional singer before studying orchestral conducting with Frederik Prausnitz and Gustav Meier at the Peabody Conservatory.