James Fletcher

James Fletcher is an oboist studying on the Masters of Music programme at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance as the beneficiary of scholarships from Chelsea Arts Club Trust and the Derek Butler Trust. He previously trained as an undergraduate at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and as a participant on the Erasmus+ exchange scheme at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. James performs regularly as principal oboist for University of London Symphony Orchestra, Trinity Laban Symphony Orchestra and Norwich based chamber music group Ensemble East. In the past he has played oboe with Birmingham Opera Company, East Anglia Chamber Orchestra and as principal oboist for Norfolk Symphony Orchestra and Ely Sinfonia. James is an avid singer. He is currently a Choral Scholar with Old Royal Naval College Chapel Choir in Greenwich and has performed as a soloist with the Chelsea Arts Club Singers for their recent performance of Mendelssohn’s oratorio Elijah. James has collaborated with students at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, accompanying the late Donnie Sanderson’s students on piano. In 2017, he began working with vocal and operatic students at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge as a visiting piano accompanist and coach. In 2020, he was appointed an associate lecturer in music at Anglia Ruskin, leading the entrepreneurship programme whilst continuing to play for performance projects. In 2022 James won the Trinity Laban’s annual Evelyn Barbirolli competition for solo oboe. He plays a French Marigaux 901 oboe and a Stanesby model baroque oboe made by Richard Earl.