The rhythm of the North – James Sherlock on finding harmony in his craft

By Signe Hansen

Raised and trained in Britain but forged on Finnish podiums, James Sherlock has found his creative home in the North. Now living and thriving in Denmark, the conductor is about to embark on an extraordinary year that will take him across the region – from the Danish National Opera and the Norwegian National Opera, to the Finnish National Opera and the Baltic countries – culminating in a daring production of Die Walküre, performed inside a Viking longhouse.

Sherlock’s mental move northwards began with a simple realisation: time matters. “In London, the pressure on musicians is immense,” he explains. “The schedules are relentless, and you are constantly pushed into fight-or-flight mode. You rehearse for just a few hours and are expected to deliver miracles. Here, in the North, you start on Monday and perform on Thursday – there’s room to breathe, to listen, to live.” That difference in tempo, he believes, transforms not only the sound of the orchestra but also the way musicians interact. The culture of rehearsal in Scandinavia allows for refinement rather than rescue – a chance to shape ideas instead of merely surviving the clock.

Sherlock conducting the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra and Latvian State Choir. Photo: Anete Rudmieze

Copenhagen now provides the anchor to a schedule that stretches across the Nordic and Baltic regions. Life in the Danish capital, with his wife, celebrated Danish operatic soprano Sofie Elkjær Jensen and their kids, brings balance to the international pace of his career. The coming year will have a distinctly northern arc: new productions with the national opera companies of Denmark, Norway and Finland, with guest symphonic engagements across the Nordic/Baltic region as well as further south. “The North has a rhythm that makes sense to me,” Sherlock reflects. “The level in London is extraordinary, but the nervous system runs hot. Here, the pace allows for depth, for detail, and for a kind of honesty that only comes when you’re not rushing.”

Born and trained in Britain, conductor James Sherlock has found his creative home in the North. Photo: Janis Porietis

The Finnish method

If Denmark has offered Sherlock the space to live, Finland has provided the means to grow. Sherlock’s time studying at the prestigious Sibelius Academy in Helsinki reshaped his understanding of the conductor’s craft, not only technically but philosophically. “You can’t truly learn conducting without an orchestra – and hiring one is expensive,” he says. “That’s why I compare it to pilot training: you need thousands of flying miles.” In Helsinki, that metaphor became literal. Students work with a full orchestra week after week, every session video recorded with successes and failures analysed afterwards. “You crash the plane, then you go into a room and study the flight footage. Next week, you fly again,” he laughs.

The rhythm of the North – James Sherlock on finding harmony in his craft

Photo: Cēsis Concert Hall.

The Finnish system is unique, treating time with the orchestra as a necessity rather than a luxury. No other conservatory offers young students as much podium time in front of an orchestra. It is demanding, expensive (though covered by the state), and brutally honest – yet it produces conductors with individuality who can speak through gesture. Here, Sherlock studied with some of the biggest names in the business: Jorma Panula, Sakari Oramo, Susanna Mälkki, and in particular Hannu Lintu, whose combined influence shaped not only his technique but also his musical philosophy. “Players read intention instantly,” Sherlock explains. “You have to say more by doing less. If your eyes and hands aren’t clear, no amount of talking will save you.”

Rehearsal. Photo: Janis Porietis

Roots, setbacks, and a new direction

Before the North, there was England – and a foundation steeped in tradition. Sherlock’s formative years were spent in choirs and conservatoire corridors: piano and organ at Chetham’s, choral rigour at Eton, and later Trinity College, Cambridge, where keyboard fluency and musicological training shaped the discipline that still underpins his work today.

Completing his training as a pianist at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Sherlock had a flourishing performing career before life intervened. “In late 2016, I was mugged in London,” he says, without drama. “I spent several months recovering, unable to play the piano, and something shifted in me.” The incident accelerated a shift that had been brewing for years. Conducting, once a distant idea, became the obvious path, and his acceptance into the Sibelius Academy – which admits only one student to its conducting programme each year – confirmed that he had chosen the right one.

Photo: Janis Porietis

Sound, space, and the year ahead

Sherlock’s approach to conducting is grounded in communication and trust – to help the musicians feel confident and unified, not constrained. “A conductor’s job is to enable the orchestra to give its best,” he says. “You can’t force anything; you can only create the conditions for good playing.” For him, that balance of passion, precision and space is what allows the music to live and breathe.

The upcoming season reflects this philosophy. Alongside his renewed collaborations across Scandinavia and the Baltic, Sherlock is developing a production of Wagner’s Die Walküre at Lejre’s Viking hall, Kongehallen. In this exceptional place, Wagner’s Norse-inspired mythical vision fuses with real Nordic history and traditional craftsmanship. With scenery and costumes made on site using traditional methods, and performed in-the-round, “it’s about forging connections – bringing the community and the audience up close to this universal music and epic drama.”

Between opera projects, a busy schedule of symphonic concerts takes him across Northern Europe and further afield. He feels a special connection to Latvia, with annual visits in recent years as both a soloist and a conductor with the Latvian National Symphony. “Music is such a part of the life-blood, in the nation of singers, where almost everybody’s life is somehow touched by the act of making music.” This is reflected in the nation’s outstanding concert halls, internationally renowned orchestra and state choir, and passionate audiences.

The harmony he has found in the Nordic way of life and music seems to have become a source of creative strength – a rhythm that shapes both his art and his outlook. “I was never the child prodigy, more a slow-burner,” he reflects. “But people felt the power that came from loving what I was doing. Finding that flame within is our daily search as artists: to move beyond what you need to learn technically, beyond being seen as good, and sharing what is alive inside you.”

Concert with Danish National Symphony Orchestra. Photo: Christian Larsen

The next 12 months: highlights from James Sherlock’s programme in the Nordics/Baltics

Danish National Opera – La Traviata (tour continues throughout November 2025)

Danish Chamber Orchestra - Christmas Tour (18 concerts around Denmark, December 2025)

Royal Danish Opera / Athelas Sinfonietta – Lisbon Floor (January 2026) and L'Heure Espagnole (March 2026)

Seinajöki Orchestra – Piano soloist & conductor, Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 (February 2026)

Latvian National Symphony Orchestra – Piano soloist & conductor, Rhapsody in Blue and Enigma Variations (February 2026)

Norwegian National Opera – The Rape of Lucretia (June 2026)

Wagner in a Viking hall @ Lejre Kongehallen – Die Walküre (June 2026)

Finnish National Opera – title to be announced (October/November 2026)

Lahti Symphony Orchestra – programme to be announced (November 2026)

Full calendar can be found at www.jamessherlock.me
Instagram: @sherlockconducts