Jamie Walton was born in Germany before moving back to the UK at an early age. Noted for his rich, powerful sound with purity of tone and emotionally engaging performances he was one of the great William Pleeth’s last students who said of him: “He is a cellist of outstanding performance ability. Combining warmth of tone with a technical command that reaches dazzling proportions, he leaves little doubt as to the success that lies ahead of him - he is a musician of great integrity whose performance give great pleasure” and has already been compared by some reviewers to great cellists of past times with his distinctive sound and clean interpretations marking him out as a true individualist. Jamie plays on a Guarneri instrument dated 1712.
In the UK Jamie Walton has performed concertos with London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic and Philharmonia Orchestras. He gave his BBC National Orchestra of Wales debut with a Radio 3 broadcast of the Elgar concerto and has appeared throughout much of Europe, the USA, New Zealand, Australia and the UK performing concertos, recitals and giving broadcasts in some of the world’s most eminent © Wolf Marloh venues and festivals. He recently performed the Lutosławski concerto in Poland and made his Finnish debut with Bloch’s Schelomo alongside Bach and Britten Suites at the Riihimäki Summer Concerts Festival before returning for a series of Walton concertos with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra/Damian Iorio at the Sibelius Hall. As a recording artist for Signum Records he has recorded ten concertos with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, including those of Dvořák and Schumann with Vladimir Ashkenazy. He has also recorded much of the sonata repertoire for Signum to significant critical acclaim, as well as the solo suites by Benjamin Britten which he also made into a film with Paul Joyce, released on DVD through Signum Vision and premiered on Sky Arts.
Jamie Walton is as passionate about chamber music as he is with concerto work and has performed in many of the world’s great concert halls in both capacities, including Lorin Maazel’s Chateuaville Foundation in Virginia through personal invitation. The Washington Post review by Robert Battey after his debut with Finghin Collins at The Phillips Collection said: “Walton is a major cello talent. He sports a particularly strong left hand – dead-center intonation and a wonderful, lithe vibrato that’s alive in every register. Though relatively young, he plays with the dignity and reserve of a wellseasoned artist.” His activities as a player are accompanied by his role as Founder and Artistic Director of the North York Moors Chamber Music Festival which he started in 2009. The festival has exceeded all expectations in selling out every year and is now established as an annual event during the last two weeks of August with its artistic excellence reflected when, in summer 2011, being shortlisted by the Royal Philharmonic Society in the festival category of its ‘Concert Series and Festivals’ award. Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, its patron, wrote a work specifically for the festival (for cello, baritone and string quartet), given its world premiere at the 2015 festival. Jamie is also setting up a record label affiliated with the festival, launched late in 2015.
Jamie Walton won a scholarship to Wells Cathedral School in a period which he says remains at the soul of his music making and where his first inspirational cello teacher was Margaret Moncrieff before continuing his studies with William Pleeth. He is a member of the Worshipful Company of Musicians and has been elected to the Freedom of the City of London. Jamie was awarded a Foundation Fellowship by Wells Cathedral School for his outstanding contribution to music.

The Philharmonia was founded in 1945 by EMI producer Walter Legge, originally as a recording orchestra for the growing home audio market. We have worked with a who’s who of 20th- and 21st-century music. Herbert von Karajan, Otto Klemperer, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Arturo Toscanini and Riccardo Muti are just a few of the great artists to be associated with the Orchestra, and we have premiered works by Richard Strauss, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Errollyn Wallen, Kaija Saariaho and many others. We have always pioneered the use of technology to reach broader audiences for orchestral music. During the Coronavirus pandemic, we continued to create outstanding performances designed to experience online. We played for lifelong fans and first-time listeners in Brazil, Sudan, Indonesia, India, and high above the Arctic Circle in Norway.

Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, in the heart of London, has been our home since 1995. We also have residencies at venues and festivals across England: Bedford Corn Exchange, De Montfort Hall in Leicester, The Marlowe in Canterbury, Anvil Arts in Basingstoke, the Three Choirs Festival in the West of England, and Garsington Opera. Central to all our residencies is a Learning & Engagement programme that empowers people to engage with, and participate in, orchestral music.

The Philharmonia is a registered charity. We rely on income from a wide range of sources to deliver our programme. We are proud to be supported by Arts Council England, and grateful for the generosity of the many individuals who make up our supporter family, as well as the Trusts and Foundations who underpin our work. In the US, the Orchestra’s American Patrons generously support the Philharmonia Foundation, a US-registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organisation.