James Beddoe

James hails from Southwell, Nottinghamshire, where he began his musical pursuits as a cathedral chorister. He is a graduate of the Artist Masters programme at Guildhall School of Music and Drama supported by a Leverhulme Scholarship. In 2023, James has performed Britten’s ‘Nocturne’ with Cardiff Chamber Orchestra as well as ‘Rodolfo’ in performances of ‘La bohème’. He reprised the role of ‘Prince Ramiro’ in ‘La Cenerentola’ for a UK tour with Barefoot Opera, which featured at the Grimeborn Festival, and he covered ‘Vittorio’ in the world premiere of Bottini’s ‘Elena e gerardo’ with Random Opera. Roles in 2022 included ‘Nemorino’ Donizetti ‘L’elisir d’amore’ (Scherzo Opera), ‘Prince Ramiro’ Rossini ‘La Cenerentola’ (Barefoot Opera & Aylesbury Opera), ‘Schoolmaster’ Janáček ‘The Cunning Little Vixen’ (HGO), ‘Lensky’ Tchaikovsky ‘Eugene Onegin’ (Guildford Opera), ‘Aeneas’ Purcell ‘Dido & Aeneas’ (HGO). James regularly performs as an oratorio soloist and as an Evangelist, with recent performances including Rossini ‘Messe Solenelle’, Handel ‘Joshua’ as ‘Joshua’, UK premiere of Lidarti ‘Ester’, Bach ‘St John Passion’, and ‘Haydn Creation’. He is looking forward to his first solo performances of Britten ‘St Nicholas’ and Puccini ‘Messa di Gloria’ in the coming months, as well as ‘Messiah’ performances at Manchester Cathedral, Temple Speech Room, Rugby, and St John’s Smith Square, London.