“A shining tenor,” (New York Classical Review) James Reese delivers dynamic performances that facilitate intimate connections between audiences and the art, with a voice the Washington Post calls “bright, agile, and full of heart.” Reese’s ability to impart emotional immediacy on music from Bach to the present day has earned him overwhelming critical acclaim over the course of a fast-rising career.
In the 2025-26 season, James will enjoy a wide range of projects and repertoire, giving performances throughout the United States and Canada. Of particular note: Messiah with the Kansas City and Baltimore Symphonies, as well as St. Thomas Fifth Avenue (NYC) and the Apollo Chorus of Chicago; a featured recital with soprano Maya Kherani at Opera Lafayette; A Bach Celebration with Tafelmusik alongside soprano Myriam LeBlanc; and a series of recitals with his collaborator, lutenist Brandon Acker. He also looks forward to working with the Apple Hill String Quartet, recording and giving the world premiere of Gregory W. Brown’s Rural Hours.
James is a noted interpreter of baroque music and other early repertoire, giving performances that are both “splendid” (San Francisco Chronicle) and “captivating” (Broad Street Review). After his 2025 debut with Opera Lafayette, Opera Gene wrote, “James Reese has an engaging, lively stage presence that stands out… and a crisp tenor voice that makes [his performances] pleasing and affecting.” Following a performance of Messiah with the American Bach Soloists, Classical Sonoma wrote, “It would have been nearly impossible to find a more satisfying solo quartet than the young singers who graced this performance…tenor James Reese sang with telling dramatic urgency and effortlessly produced fioritura.“
An advocate for new music, James has given the world premiere of over a dozen songs and arias for tenor, by composers such as Daron Hagen, Gregory W. Brown, Reena Esmail, and James Primosch. He was a founding member of Philadelphia vocal ensemble Variant 6, and performed with them until 2022. During his time with the ensemble, they premiered over 25 works for vocal sextet and released two records of contemporary vocal music. James sings frequently with other leading choruses and vocal ensembles, including Tenebrae, Blue Heron, Seraphic Fire, The Crossing, and Gallicantus.
As a recording artist, James won a GRAMMY award as a soloist singing the music of Edie Hill on the record Born, released by The Crossing. James has recorded on a number of labels, including ECM and Harmonia Mundi. He appears as a soloist on several discs released on the Hyperion Label, including singing the Evangelist in Heinrich Schütz’s Christmas Oratorio on Historia der Geburt Christi ‘The Christmas story’, SWV435, released in 2019. Of that performance, The Academy of Sacred Drama wrote, “A series of scenes was connected by a single narrator, the Evangelist; the bulk of the singing lay with Mr. Reese, who impressed with his agile voice and penetrating timbre.”