James Woodrow

James Woodrow is a guitarist, active primarily in classical, contemporary classical music and jazz fields, and equally adept on classical and electric guitar.

Woodrow was born in 1961 and trained at the Royal Northern College of Music. After graduating, he rapidly became established as one of the country's leading electric and classical guitarists in contemporary and classical music in London, as well as a performer on mandolin, lute and bass guitar.

Since 1991 he has been a leading member of the ensemble Icebreaker, where he has been joint Musical Director since 2006. With Icebreaker he has performed at the Carnegie Hall in Stewart Wallace's concerto for Icebreaker, The Book of Five, as well as appearances at the Lincoln Center in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, London's South Bank Centre and extensively in the UK, Europe and the USA.

In 1993 he was invited to join the Gavin Bryars Ensemble and in 2001 he became a member of A Change of Light, an ensemble project set up by Icebreaker's cellist Audrey Riley with Icebreaker keyboard player Andrew Zolinsky.

Other ensembles he has performed with as soloist and ensemble member include the London Chamber Symphony, the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, London Sinfonietta, Lontano, the LSO, Almeida Opera, Music Projects London, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Singers and The New London Chamber Choir. He has been associated with the music of Bang on a Can composer Michael Gordon, David Lang and Julia Wolfe in performances with Concerto Cologne and the Basel Sinfonietta of Decasia,Lost Objects and Shelter. He is also a member of former Microdisney and Fatima Mansions front man Cathal Coughlan's new band, Grand Necropolitan Quartet.

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