James Baillieu Piano

Biography

Winner of numerous international art song and Lied competitions, South African pianist James Baillieu appears regularly in solo recital and chamber music performances at many of the world's leading concert venues, including Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Metropolitan Opera House, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, the Vancouver Playhouse, Berlin's Konzerthaus, Vienna's Musikverein, the Barbican Centre, the Wiener Konzerthaus, Bozar in Brussels, Cologne Philharmonie, the Vienna State Opera and the Fundación Juan March.

He collaborates with a wide range of singers and instrumentalists, including Benjamin Appl, Jamie Barton, Ian Bostridge, Allan Clayton, Louise Alder, Tara Erraught, Lise Davidsen, the Elias and Heath Quartets, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Adam Walker and Pretty Yende. As a soloist, he has performed with the Ulster Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra and the Wiener Kammersymphonie. Highlights of the 2026–2027 season include tours with Benjamin Appl and Lise Davidsen, with performances at venues such as the Vienna Musikverein, Opernhaus Zürich and the Grand Théâtre de Genève.

James Baillieu also returns to Wigmore Hall with recital partners including Allan Clayton, Roderick Williams and Ericka Baikoff, as well as to the Oxford International Song Festival, Snape Maltings and other venues. He is Associate Director of the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, an Honorary Professor at the Royal Academy of Music, a vocal coach for the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme at the Royal Ballet and Opera, Head of Training for the Samling Foundation, and Director of the Vocal Programme at the Verbier Festival Academy's Atelier Lyrique.

His discography includes Forbidden Fruit (Alpha Classics), Winterreise (Alpha Classics), Heimat (Sony Classical), the complete works for violin and piano by C. P. E. Bach with Tamsin Waley-Cohen (Signum Records), as well as recordings released on Chandos, Opus Arte, Champs Hill, Rubicon and Delphian Records.

Paris Opera debut

Currently in

Immerse in the Paris Opera universe

Corporate Partnerships