James Williams

James Williams is the Managing Director at the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. James has been with the organization since July of 2008 and has been in their current position since May of 2016. Prior to their work with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, James was with the Philharmonia OrchestraLondon from July of 2008 to May of 2016. During their time with Philharmonia, James served as the Director of UK Programme and Creative Projects. In this role, they were responsible for devising and programming over 50% of the Philharmonia’s schedule across the UK (c. 85 concerts per year). This schedule featured the world’s leading artists including Esa-Pekka Salonen, Riccardo Muti, Gustavo Dudamel, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Lang Lang, Joshua Bell and Yefim Bronfman, alongside the Orchestra most ambitious cross-arts projects including Tristan und Isolde (with visuals by Bill Viola), Vienna: City of Dreams and a digital installation staging of Bartók’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle.

In addition to their programming responsibilities, James was also responsible for developing existing and negotiating new Residencies for the Philharmonia in Leicester, Bedford, Canterbury, Basingstoke and Three Choirs Festival, with sole responsibility for devising and leading the wider community engagement and audience development programmes. This included negotiating local authority contracts for multi-year funding and devising long-term strategies for

James Williams graduated with a BA Hons in Music from the University of York. James then went on to study for an MA in Music at the same school. After completing their studies, they gained a certification from ILM in ILM Level 3 Certificate in First Line Management.