James Barralet - Cello

With a rare gift for communication through his instrument, cellist James Barralet is an open-minded musician, as equally passionate about Bach and contemporary music as Hindustani Ragas and Hungarian Folk Music. He has enthralled audiences at most of the major UK venues, including the Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, Purcell Room and Bridgewater Hall, throughout Europe and globally. Winner of the 2007 Landor Records Competition, James’s debut recording of virtuosic solo pieces of the twentieth century was released in 2009, the first in his ongoing partnership with the Landor label. James won the 2008 Philip and Dorothy Green Award; he has been a Making Music Artist, a Park Lane Group artist, and a Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist. During his studies, first with Hannah Roberts at the Royal Northern College of Music and then with Thomas Demenga at Basel Hochschule für Musik, James received many prestigious awards including the RPS Julius Isserlis Scholarship, the Muriel Taylor Cello Scholarship and the Hattori Senior Scholarship, and graduated first from the RNCM with a first class degree and two diplomas and later from Basel in 2006 with the renowned 'Soloists Diploma'. He is a regular at the International Musicians' Seminar in Prussia Cove, which is an important source of inspiration for him. James is developing a reputation for being the kind of musician who welcomes challenges and likes to push boundaries. His duo with tabla player, Sankar Chowdhury, has been making waves at the major UK festivals, performing Indian music in an illuminating and mesmerizing way. Educated in Indian music first in Kolkata and Varanasi and then with sarod master Ken Zuckerman in Basel, James has performed with the London Sitar Ensemble and others. James recently founded the Beatson-Gould-Barralet Piano Trio, comprising three of the finest musicians of their generation. He is joined by pianist, Alasdair Beatson and violinist, Thomas Gould. James also composes and his works for cello octet have been performed at festivals throughout the world. James would like to thank his supporters: the English Speaking Union, the Royal Philharmonic Society, the Muriel Taylor Cello Scholarship, the Swiss Government, the Myra Hess Trust, the Tillet Trust, the Park Lane Group, the Bromsgrove International Competition, the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, the Hattori Foundation, the Martin/Philharmonia Orchestra Musical Trust, the Sir John Barbirolli Cello Competition, the Denne Gilkes Trust, and the Haverhill Competition. James's Web Site Press Reviews Repertoire List Sample Programmes