James Pattinson
James Pattinson was born in West Bridgford, Nottingham, where he began learning the violin at the age of 12. Five years later he was offered a place at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester where he studied his undergraduate degree with Steve Wilkie and went on to complete his Masters with Yossi Zivoni.
While at the RNCM he won a number of awards for chamber music, and represented the college with his string quartet performing at the House of Lords. After graduating he began working as a freelance violinist with orchestras including the Hallé, BBC Philharmonic and English National Opera. In 2014 he accepted a full-time position with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
Career highlights include orchestral tours to Japan, China, the Seychelles, across Europe and Scandinavia, as well as regular performances at the BBC Proms. Last year he led the orchestra for the International Eisteddfod in Llangolen performing alongside KT Tunstall, as well as a programme of the music of Hans Zimmer.
As a session musician, James has toured with pop artists such as Sting, played in the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest and for the BRIT Awards held recently in Manchester, and he once found himself playing 60ft up in the air on a cherry picker during the Liverpool City of Culture celebrations in 2008 – although the performance had to be cut short when the tilt-alarm went off!
In addition to orchestral and session work, James also enjoys any opportunities to perform as a soloist with orchestras, and has previously performed concertos by Beethoven, Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart, and Mendelssohn.
He is delighted to have been asked to lead the Blackburn Symphony Orchestra for tonight’s concert..