Acclaimed tenor James Gilchrist will be performing at the annual Gustav Holst Birthday Concert this Saturday.

James will be joined on stage at St Andrew’s Church in Cheltenham by the Cheltenham Choral Society as they pay tribute to Gustav Holst by playing some of his lesser known pieces of work. There will also be music from Bach, Vaughan Williams and Mozart on what is one of the great nights of classical music in Gloucestershire.

James, one of the leading tenors in the country, says the concert is one he always looks forward to with real enthusiasm.

He said: “It’s going to be a fantastic occasion. I’ve taken part in this concert before, but this year’s event is going to be particularly special as we’ve discovered some of Gustav Holst’s songs that he wrote that have never been published, so this will be the first time they’ve been heard.

“Holst isn’t really known as a writer of songs, if you talk to people about him they’ll often mention his symphonies. Some of the songs written by Holst have never been heard in public, it’s tremendously exciting to be able to be involved in such a momentous concert.”

James spent his early career working in medicine, but his singing took over, so much so that he changed careers just over two decades ago.

James explained: “It’s been more than twenty years since I switched careers, so it almost feels like another life! I was passing my medical exams when I took a bit of time away from the working environment to have a think about what direction I wanted to go in next.

“Singing is something I’ve done from a very early age, I was part of a choir at school and even when I was doing medicine I was working with professional groups, so it wasn’t a total 180-degree career change in that sense. I do rather miss medicine, I very much enjoyed it. I’m now self-employed and I do miss the team environment of being in a hospital, but singing is what I love doing so I have no regrets.”

Having performed at some of the world’s most iconic venues you might be surprised to discover James’ favourite venue is a much smaller and intimate church, nestled on an island in Scotland.

He continued: “There’s been so many special moments. If I were to name one I’d say a performance I did up in the isle of Iona on the west coast of Scotland. I performed in the abbey church in the middle of summer, it was the most wonderful setting with an audience that seemed to really enjoy my performance.

“I’ve always been somebody who just gets on with the task in hand, I’m not a deeply reflective person. Where I’ve ended professionally is where I would have expected to be when I started singing professionally I suppose.

“One of the highlights of this year’s performances came earlier in the summer when I performed at the Vaughan Williams Festival in Down Ampney which was a tremendously exciting event. It was such a success and I understand it’s going to be held again next year which is such good news.

“There’s an incredible amount of work that goes into organising an event like that, from seeking sponsorship to booking all the musical acts. Down Ampney is a beautiful place, it was such a well-run festival that presented such interesting work.

"Funnily enough one of the organisers for the festival asked me whether I knew any of Gustav Holst’s songs, so there’s a good chance audiences will be able to enjoy his music at next year’s festival.”

When James isn’t travelling the length and breadth of the country singing to thousands of people he’s nurturing the next generation of musical talent here in Gloucestershire.

James continued: “I’m pleased with the way my career is going at the moment, I don’t want to change anything really. I’ve done some teaching in the last couple of years, it’s something I find very rewarding and I feel like I’m getting better at it. I’d love to do more in the coming years.

“When I’m teaching my students they often ask me what’s the best way to combat pre-performance nerves. I remind them that I’ve been singing for over two decades and I still get nervous ahead of every single performance!

“I remember when I was quite young I heard a musician say that the day they don’t get nervous will be the day they stop performing, that’s something that’s always stuck with me. Nerves are part and parcel of the job, having them is not the issue, it’s how you deal with them.

“The greatest performers seem to be able to use that build up of nervous energy to good effect, that’s the example I try to follow, whether I succeed or not is anyone’s guess!

The funny thing about nerves is that they can be totally unpredictable. Sometimes I can be doing a concert in the most prestigious of music festivals, in front of thousands of people and I won’t be particularly nervous, yet the next concert might be in a small parish church somewhere in front of a few dozen people and my heart is racing!

“I can’t really explain it. Sometimes the hardest people to perform in front of are the people who you know, whether that be friends or family members. I often tell my students that performing in front of people you know is the trickiest audience you’ll ever have, if they can do that they can do anything.”

James has a busy schedule for the next few months, and he’ll be hoping to avoid the coughs and colds that seem to be passed on in such regularity at this time of the year.

James continued: “It’s very easy to become totally neurotic and sacrifice too many things in an attempt to protect my voice. I try not to get too fussed about it, everyone has problems, coughs and colds come and unfortunately there are occasions that I’ve had to cancel the odd engagement because I’ve got too bad a cold and I just can’t sing. It’s just part of the job unfortunately.”

Performing in front of thousands of people has become second nature to James, who has ambitions to do more work in the creation side of music.

He added: “About a year ago I was involved in an exciting programme at the Wigmore Hall. I got involved in the creation of new compositions which was a marvellous thing to be a part of. I suppose that sort of thing is perhaps where my career is headed because I got so much enjoyment out of it.

“What I value most about my career is the great people I’ve worked with and the warmth and gratitude I’ve felt from audiences. I’ve got a busy schedule leading up to Christmas which is pleasing. To get the chance to sing at new venues is always tremendously exciting.”