Collaborations

Session violinist, collaborations & theatre projects.

James works with artists, bands, producers and theatre companies on live performance, recording and larger creative projects — from electric violin and piano to arranging, rehearsal support, band assembly and musical direction.

Discuss a collaboration

James Taylor performing live with Anya Goel — Live artists, theatre, sessions and creative projects.

Live projectsArtists & live workViolin, piano and performance support.

DirectionMusical directionArrangements, rehearsals and live coordination.

TheatreOrchestral & ensembleProfessional theatre and ensemble work.

SessionsRecording supportRemote recording and multi-instrument parts.

Featured collaboration

Anya Goel — from guest performances to Wild Live.

A long-running creative collaboration spanning live performance, arranging, band building and the practical delivery of large-scale events.

Wild Live at Yorkshire Wildlife Park

A major highlight was Wild Live at Yorkshire Wildlife Park in 2025, where Anya performed to an audience of around 5,000 people. James helped coordinate the wider live operation, assembling the band, preparing the musical set-up and supporting the technical delivery.

The project brought together Matt Jackson on bass, Joe Phipps-Pearson on electric guitar, Dominic Ridler on drums and technical support, Becky Measures in a management role, Anya Goel as featured artist, and James as arranger, organiser and multi-instrumentalist.

James has also performed with Anya at Carefest 2025, Sheffield City Hall and private events at Yorkshire Wildlife Park.

5,000Wild Live audience

Live + studioperformance and arranging

Multi-rolemusic, planning and direction

Anya Goel Wild Live band and team — The Wild Live team.

James Taylor opening Wild Live on electric violin — Opening Wild Live.

James Taylor playing piano during Wild Live — Multi-instrument performance.

Live artistsGuest performances and shared stages

ArrangingParts shaped around the artist

Band buildingMusicians assembled around the project

Musical directionRehearsals, set-up and live coordination

Charity, community & international work

Projects with a purpose.

Collaborative work also takes James into fundraising, community performances and international projects where the music is part of something bigger than the performance itself.

Eva-May Menzies

Performance, charity and community projects

James has collaborated with Eva-May Menzies across live performances, charity events and fundraising work, including Derby Cathedral in 2026 supporting Russell Watson, with producer Mike Moran also at the event.

Projects with Eva-May and Becky Measures have connected with melanoma awareness, breast cancer awareness, Homecare’s Got Talent, Glastholmbury and other local community performances.

James Taylor performing in Germany for a children's hospice collaboration

International collaboration

Germany children’s hospice project

James has performed and sung as part of a Germany-based charity collaboration with Jess von Nebenan, Ducci and others, raising money for a children’s hospice.

The collaboration brings together musicians from different backgrounds around a shared charitable purpose, with James contributing both violin and vocals rather than appearing only as a featured instrumentalist.

For projects like this, the musical role is deliberately flexible: learning and adapting material for the wider line-up, responding to the people involved and making the performance serve the fundraising event as a whole.

A further performance is planned for Palais Wittgenstein, Düsseldorf in April 2027, continuing the international collaboration.

Theatre & orchestral work

Easy Street Theatre Company.

James performs as first violin with Easy Street Theatre Company, bringing orchestral discipline, score reading and ensemble experience to live theatrical productions.

Credits include The Phantom of the Opera at Sheffield Cathedral and Les Misérables at The Steamworks, Sheffield.

Theatre work calls for a different kind of collaboration: rehearsals, fixed cues, following the musical direction and making the instrumental part sit precisely with the wider cast and orchestra night after night.

Unlike a standalone performance, the violin has to function as one part of a much larger production. That means reading from the score, listening closely across the ensemble, matching dynamics and phrasing, and supporting singers and dramatic moments without pulling focus away from the stage.

It also demands consistency. Rehearsal changes need to be absorbed quickly, cues have to land reliably and the musical shape has to remain secure across a run of performances. It is collaborative work built around precision, responsiveness and trust between the players, musical direction and cast.

James Taylor with the Easy Street Theatre Company orchestra

James Taylor rehearsing with Easy Street Theatre Company musicians

StageLive performance and ensemble playing

StudioRemote parts and recorded layers

Multi-instrumentViolin, piano and beyond

Project supportPreparation, rehearsals and direction

Session musician & multi-instrumentalist

More than violin.

James has composed, performed and recorded for hundreds of tracks for musicians in more than 20 countries. Depending on the project, that work can extend well beyond electric violin.

Hundredsof recorded tracks

20+countries worldwide

Instruments & project support

ViolinPianoOrganGuitarBass guitarBanjoUkuleleMandolinViola

Session work can include arrangements, layered strings, melodic hooks, piano parts and bespoke instrumental lines written around the track. The aim is not simply to add another instrument, but to find a part that supports the song, leaves space for the vocal and adds something distinctive to the finished arrangement.

That flexibility can continue into live work too: adapting recorded material for the stage, moving between instruments where a line-up needs it, preparing parts for other players, supporting rehearsals and helping shape the practical flow of a one-off show or longer-running project.

James Taylor at the piano during a live event — Piano and multi-instrument work.

James Taylor performing electric violin in formal concert dress — Electric violin performance.

A long-running band collaboration

To Hell or Verona.

Alongside session, theatre and guest work, James performs with Damian John Farrell in the Yorkshire-Irish act To Hell or Verona. The core duo combines electric violin, guitar, vocals and stomp, with an expanded line-up for larger stages and events.

Explore To Hell or Verona →

Work with James

Have a project in mind?

For live performance, musical direction, theatre, recording sessions or a project that needs a flexible multi-instrumentalist, send over what you are making, where it needs to happen and the role you need James to play.

Live performance · Recording · Theatre · Arranging · Musical direction

Start a conversation