Classical Music Consultancy

Independent consultancy in classical music, education, recording, and artist management

James Brown

James Brown was born in Yorkshire and studied the viola with Frederick Riddle at the Royal College of Music, during which time he was also selected for the European Community Youth Orchestra. During a six-year career as a professional violist he was a member of the BBC Philharmonic, BBC Radio and London Philharmonic orchestras.

He founded the artist agency Hazard Chase Limited in 1990. From 1993-1999 he was also a Partner of N.W. Brown and Company. In 1999, as Managing Director, he led a management buy-out of Hazard Chase. From 2012-2018 he was a director of Ekkehard Jung Artists and Projects in Berlin, representing Hazard Chase, a co-owner of the business. Since 2017 he has been a director of Artium Media Relations Limited. In 2020 he founded James Brown Management Limited. He retired as an artist manager in 2026 but remains active within the International Artist Managers’ Association (IAMA) as Chair of the Media Committee and within the industry more widely as a consultant.

James has been a speaker at numerous international conferences including Midem Classique, the Association of British Orchestras, the China Shanghai International Arts Festival Forum, the American Symphony Orchestra League and IAMA.

James was Chairman of IAMA from 2003-2005. In May 2007 he became an Honorary Member of the Royal College of Music and in April 2012 he was made an Honorary Life Member of IAMA. In January 2013 he received the Association of British Orchestras/Classical Music award for 2012 for Artist Manager of the Year.

Clients & Partners

James has worked with a wide variety of clients and partners over the years including artists such as Julian Bream, Augustin Dumay, Michael Collins, Benjamin Grosvenor, Boris Berezovsky, Isabelle Faust, Jennifer Pike, Alpesh Chauhan, Laura van der Heijden, Emma Johnson, Stephen Layton, Andrew Litton, the Endellion Quartet, the Brodsky Quartet, the Tallis Scholars, the Hilliard Ensemble, Michael Nyman, Carl Davis and Guy Barker and organisations such as the Temple Music Foundation, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Royal College of Music, Cadogan Hall, University of Cambridge, BBC Radio 3, Orchid Classics, Decca Classics, Sony Classical and Pancreatic Cancer UK.

He was closely involved in the Temple Music Foundation’s commissioning of “The Veil of the Temple” – Sir John Tavener’s all-night vigil, which was premiered in London in 2003, broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and released commercially on RCA Red Seal. He founded the Choral at Cadogan series, the Beverley Chamber Music Festival and the Temple Winter Festival and established the Endellion String Quartet residency at the University of Cambridge, which ran for nearly thirty years.