James Wigfull is a young and dynamic trombonist with a passion for performing music from several different centuries. His natural flare for the sackbut has won him positions in a range of international ensembles including Les Traversées Baroques, Trondheim Barokk, Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra and His Majesty’s Sagbutts and Cornetts. This has led him to touring in Europe and further afield. James has extensive experience performing a diverse repertoire from Renaissance composers such as DuFay, Gabrieli and Monteverdi to more modern composers such as Wagner and Stravinsky and enjoys playing any new piece put in front of him!
James graduated with a honours degree for the Bass Trombone from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama under the tutelage of Alan Swain. Here, he participated in many different productions varying from Friday Night is Swing Night, with the lead trombonist of the BBC Big Band, Gordon Campbell, to Brahms’ Ein Duetsches Requiem. During this time he was also the Bass Trombonist for two years with the National Youth Wind Orchestra of Great Britain.
It was at RWCMD that James was introduced to the Bass Sackbut by Kevin Price and soon fell in love with the instrument. In his first year he participated in Adam Woolf’s Venetian Virtuosi at Llandaff Cathedral, Cardiff, and it was from the springboard that his Sackbut career took off. While still at RWCMD he performed in many courses, held by HMSC’s founder Jeremy West, with the college’s new Cornett and Sackbut ensemble which he Co-Founded with Conor Hastings (Cornetto player of the English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble). It was also during this time when he performed a recital with HMSC on BBC Radio Three’s Early Music Show.
James went on to study under Adam Woolf at the HKU Conservatorium, Utrecht. During the time, James took part in a variety of courses and productions throughout the Netherlands, most notably a course led by Adam and Wouter Verschuren working on pieces from the Regensburg Wind Ensemble manuscript.
Since finishing at HKU Conservatorium James has travelled around Europe, the Middle East and South America performing early music with numerous different ensembles. He regularly performs with French group Les Traversées Baroques, joining them in their production of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo and recording their most recent CD San Marco di Venezia: The Golden Age. Soon after, James travelled to perform Monteverdi’s Vespro della Deata vergine with Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra under the direction of Andrew Parrott: this was the first time this piece has ever been performed in full in this country. He has also just completed another CD recording Psalmi, Missa et Alia Cantica which is celebrating 400 years wince the death of Tomaso Cecchino with Croatian Ensemble Responsorium: which is due to be released in summer 2019.
James is a member of two different early music ensembles: Copper & Zink (based in the Netherlands) and Concerto Dell’ Ombra (based in Switzerland).
As well as performing, James teaches both modern and renaissance trombones. Most notably he travelled to Bogota, Colombia with members from Schola Cantorum Basiliensis to both perform in the Festival de Música Sacra and to teach sackbut to numerous modern trombonists over there.
James recently performed Monteverdi – The Other Vespers with I Fagiolini for the Næstved Early Music Festival in Denmark and Larmes de Résurrection with La Tempête in Périgueux, France. Along with this, James also performed with the W’en Band and Hieronymus at the Utrecht Early Music Festival 2018.
James’ upcoming projects include Monteverdi Vespers in Split (Croatia), premiering his new fusion renaissance ensemble (2019) and playing with Les Traversées Baroques in Arsenal de Metz, France.
