Having been brought up playing the cornet in brass bands, James Fountain enjoyed a fruitful 5 year spell as Principal Cornet with the Virtuosi GUS Band, in his early teens, whilst also holding the same position with the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain for 9 consecutive courses. Before moving to London in 2012, to study trumpet art the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, James also spent a year as Principal Cornet with the Grimethorpe Colliery Band.

In November 2014, at only 20 years of age, James was appointed as the Principal Trumpet of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London. Alongside its regular performances in London, the orchestra has an intense touring schedule throughout which often includes regular trips to Asia, North America and Europe. Now into his 2nd season with the RPO, James looks forward to performing Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto with them in October 2017 at the Cadogan Hall in London.

As a soloist, he has performed around the world in Australia, North America, Asia, South America and all over Europe. James was delighted to return to the NYBBGB as guest soloist on their Easter Course, 2015, working again with Maestro Bramwell Tovey. And in August 2015, James was a featured soloist in the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, performing Aaron Copland’s ‘Quiet City’ with the RPO.

James regularly performs with the highly acclaimed brass septet ‘Septura’ and the ‘SuperBrass’ Ensemble. And commercially, has been fortunate enough to work with composers such as Alan Menken, Howard Shore and Henry Jackman.