James Sherlock took over as conductor of the Lea Singers in March 2009.  He is a versatile musician, working regularly as pianist, conductor and organist. A winner of 2007's BBC Fame Academy: The Next Generation, and Gold Medallist of the Marcello Galanti International Organ Competition in 2005, he is in increasing demand as a performer and communicator.

As a pianist he gives recitals around the UK, regularly performs series on cruise ships, and gives concerts and leads workshops as a member of the Live Music Now scheme, the largest outreach group of its kind in the UK. He works extensively as an accompanist, and has a large solo and concerto repetoire. His recent CD of David Earl's Cello Sonata was awarded runner-up in best new disc of 2007 by International Piano Magazine. He also plays the lighter side, and has performed in venues including the Ivy, the Belvedere, the Grosvenor hotel and for numerous private functions.

As a conductor, he was Musical Director of Figaro 2006, a project in Cambridgeshire that oversaw 50 workshops amongst schools in Cambridgeshire, culminating in an acclaimed production of Le Nozze di Figaro. He has directed a number of other ensembles, including the Cambridge University Musical Society, Baroque and Symphony Orchestras, the Royal Academy Players and the choir of Trinity College, Cambridge.

As an organist, James has given solo recitals in the festivals of Ravenna, Rimini, Windsor, Olomouc, La Verna, and at the Cathedrals of Westminster and St Albans. He was formerly organ scholar of Winchester Cathedral and Trinity College Cambridge, and is now assistant organist of St Bartholomew the Great in Smithfield, London.

James studied at Chetham's School of Music, Eton College, Trinity College, Cambridge and continues to study the piano privately with Joan Havill.

See more on James at his website.