James Billson, baritone, is an emerging young artist. He holds a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Music (Opera Performance) from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, where he studied under the direction Jane Davidson, and the tutelage of Stephen Grant.
James has honed his craft through both national and international training. In July ’24, he performed in the Vienna Opera Summer Festival where he understudied the role of Guglielmo in Mozart’s ‘Così Fan Tutte’. This year, James will take part in Opera Scholars Australia’s graduate program.
His recent roles include Father in Humperdinck’s ‘Hansel und Gretel’, Papageno in Mozart’s ‘Die Zauberflöte’ and David in Barber’s ‘A Hand of Bridge’ with the Conservatorium; The Giant in Joe Twist’s ‘The Grumpiest Boy in the World’ and Bundjil in Deborah Cheetham’s ‘Parrwang Touches the Sky’ with Victorian Opera; and as a chorus member in Wagner’s ‘Götterdämmerung’ with Melbourne Opera.
Since 2016, Hoang formed his own company and started to present his own concerts. Besides his performances here at the Recital Centre, he has presented recitals in major venues around Australia including in Sydney at City Recital Hall and Adelaide Town Hall. In concerto performances, Hoang has performed in the past with the major symphony orchestras of Melbourne, Queensland, Tasmania and Canberra as well as community orchestras including the Zelman, Geelong, South Melbourne and Heidelberg.
Hoang has travelled and performed widely around the world and studied at the Australian National Academy of Music, Manhattan School of Music, and Royal College of Music in London. His teachers throughout the years were Rita Reichman, Marc Silverman and Dmitri Alexeev.
