Tenor: James Hancock

James was born in Melbourne. A graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts, he was a Victoria State Opera Young Artist and was awarded the Opera Foundation Australia German Operatic Award, granting him a contract at Oper Köln in the Opera Studio. He also received the Dame Joan Sutherland Scholarship, Tait Memorial Trust Scholarship, Australian Opera Auditions Committee Scholarship, Australian Musical Foundation London grant, American Institute of Musical Studies Scholarship, and a Bayreuth Bursary.

He has worked with numerous companies, including Victoria State Opera, Melbourne Opera, Opera Australia, Siegmund (cover), Meistersingers Ltd, and Pocket Opera Nürnberg (Der Ring in einem Abend arr. David Seaman) at Covent Garden and the Bath Festival. Additionally, he has collaborated with the Cambridge University Opera Society (Bill, Maschinist Hopkins at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Brand; Der Mann Schwergewicht, Krenek; and The Mayor Der Held, Mosolov) and UCL Opera (The King, The King and the Marshal, [Drot og Mask], Heise). His roles include Siegfried/Siegmund (cover) at Longborough Festival Opera, Siegfried & Götterdämmerung with Edinburgh Players Opera Group (recorded), and Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos with Abbey Opera at St John's Smith Square.

James boasts an extensive concert and recital repertoire, featuring works like Verdi’s Requiem, Dvorak’s Stabat Mater, Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Creation, Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and Bach’s Weinacht Oratorium. His song repertoire includes Winterreise, Die schöne Müllerin (Schubert), Dichterliebe, Liederkreis (Schumann), Brahms Vier ernste Gesänge, Butterworth's Shropshire Lad, and Vaughan William’s Songs of Travel.