Born in 1984, James Turnbull began playing the oboe aged 7. After a period of private tuition, James studied with Irene Pragnell at the Junior Guildhall School of Music and Drama, before learning with Melanie Ragge at the Junior Academy of Music. In July 2005 he graduated with First Class Honours in Music from Christ Church, Oxford University. The following year he completed his Postgraduate Diploma in Performance and LRAM Teaching Diploma at the Royal Academy of Music. While at the R.A.M. James studied concurrently with Celia Nicklin, Tess Miller and Chris Cowie and took masterclasses with Alexei Ogrintchouk, Ingo Goritzik, François Leleux, Hansjorg Schellenberger and Douglas Boyd. Since September 2006, James has been studying with Professor Nicholas Daniel at the Trossingen University of Music in Germany.

As a soloist, James has performed live on BBC Radio 3’s ‘In Tune’ programme and appeared as solo oboist on BBC TV’s ‘Songs of Praise’. Aged 18, James was awarded an English Speaking Union ‘Menuhin Banff’ scholarship to further his studies with an intensive masterclass course under American oboist Richard Killmer in Banff, Canada. As well as recitals, James has performed several concertos. In 2001 he performed the Bach Concerto for Oboe and Violin in St. John Smith’s Square and also on tour in Japan. Recently, he performed Mozart Sinfonia Concertante K297b with the Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie in Germany.

James is also an active chamber musician and has recently formed a new ensemble in Germany that is currently commissioning several new works from young composers. In 2004 James performed Mozart’s Quintet K406b with the Allegri Quartet as part of their Jubilee Season. James has also performed ‘Gran Partita’ for 13 Winds at the Cheltenham Festival under the direction of Douglas Boyd. Most recently, James performed in the festival orchestra at the Oxford Chamber Music Festival in 2006 appearing with Natalie Clein and Priya Mitchell amongst others.

James’ orchestral experience includes three years in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain (2000-2). While he was Principal Oboe in 2002, James played under Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Colin Davis and Andrew Litton. During his study at university James was Principal Oboe in the Oxford University Orchestra before playing in the LSO training scheme in 2006 whilst at the R.A.M.

James is grateful for the generous support he has received from the Countess of Munster Trust, Musicians Benevolent Fund and AHRC in funding his postgraduate education.

Craig White

Craig studied music at St Catherine's College, Oxford, completing his degree in 2005. At Oxford he held the Répétiteur Scholarship with New Chamber Opera and also working as a repetiteur for the Oxford Baroque Soloists and Oxford City Opera. He was also a regular chamber music performer at the Holywell Music Room, Oxford, including a performance with the Allegri String Quartet at their Golden Jubilee Concert in 2004. Craig has recently performed at the Schubert festival at Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Street, and given recitals in Cambridge, Windsor and Bristol. He has also performed internationally, in South Korea with the violinist Young-Kyung Yu and in Brussels with his piano trio, The Olive Trio. Last year Craig was accepted on the Live Music Now! Scheme with the cellist Edward Furse and they have recently toured in South Wales. In 2007 Craig completed a post-graduate piano accompanist course at the Royal Academy of Music, London, learning with Michael Dussek and Diana Ketler. He was also awarded the Daniel Kelly and Evelyn German Accompanist prizes while at the Academy. Forthcoming engagements include concerts in Yorkshire, Oxford, and Birmingham.