Tait Administration
Administrator – James Hancock
James was born in Melbourne, Australia. A graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts (now part of the University of Melbourne), he was a Victoria State Opera Young Artist and later toured Australia in the Aboriginal award-winning musical, Bran Nue Dae singing the role of Father Benedictus.
James was awarded the Opera Foundation Australia German Operatic Award which gave him a contract at Oper Köln in the Opera Studio. He was also awarded the prestigious Dame Joan Sutherland Scholarship, theTait Memorial Trust Scholarship, Australian Opera Auditions Committee Scholarship, an Australian Musical Foundation London grant, an American Institute of Musical Studies Scholarship and a Bayreuth Bursary.
Companies he has worked for include: Victoria State Opera; Melbourne Opera: Opera Australia; Siegmund (cover), Die Walküre; Meistersingers Ltd; Pocket Opera Nürnberg Der Ring in einem Abend arr. David Seaman, performances in Nürnberg and the Covent Garden and Bath Festivals; Cambridge University Opera Society Bill, Maschinist Hopkins at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Brand; Der Mann Schwergewicht, Krenek; and The Mayor Der Held, Mosolov; UCL Opera The King, The King and the Marshall, [Drot og Mask], Heise. Siegfried/ Siegmund (cover) Die Walküre, Siegfried Longborough Festival Opera; Siegfried & Götterdämmerung; Edinburgh Players Opera Group (recorded) and Bacchus Ariadne auf Naxos with Abbey Opera at St Johns’ Smith Square.
James founded London Lyric Opera in 2008 and successfully mounted several concert operas at the Barbican and Cadogan Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Lionel Friend and Madeleine Lovell. LLO secured sponsorship from American Express, Black Card and a West End design agency, Wardour, who provided first class media and publications. Operas performed included Der fliegende Holländer, Fidelio and Die Fledermaus.
James joined the Tait in August 2013 as the Administrator under the direction of the Trustees and the Chairman.