James Welburn grew up in York and started playing the piano at the age of seven. He studied music at City University, London and specialised in composition, sound recording and production and music business. As part of his degree programme he studied piano performance with Laura Roberts at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
James composes for solo piano and in 2019 published Musical Escapades, a collection of fun pieces for the intermediate pianist, with Editions Musica Ferrum. The publication was rated ‘outstanding’ by leading piano blog Pianodao.com, with reviewer Andrew Eales commenting that “this book really does stand out from the crowd with its highly enjoyable mix of musical styles, all with catchy tunes and rhythms.”
Reflections in Waltz – James’ second book of solo piano compositions – was published in March 2020 by Musica Ferrum. Inspired by the works of Fryderyk Chopin, whose waltzes are among the most beautiful pieces ever written for piano, each piece explores this wonderful genre and pays homage to the great Romantic composers whose music still captivates listeners and performers all over the world today.
Since graduating James has worked for ABRSM, where, as Regional Development Executive he works closely with music hub leaders, schools and teachers to look at how best to serve the music education community. His previous roles with ABRSM have taken him on educational visits to Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.
James and his wife Austra live in North London, where they enjoy playing tennis, hanging out with friends and serving in their local church.
Photo by Tuuli Platner