Artists.
Artists.
Meet our co-founders, Natalie Burch and James Way:
Natalie Burch
Born and raised in Devon, and having benefitted from some wonderful local teachers and musical experiences, Natalie is passionate about bringing song to local audiences. An alumnus of Chetham’s School of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Natalie Burch is a Gramophone Award dedicated song pianist, programmer and writer, and advocate for female collaborative pianists. She was Associate Artistic Director of the Oxford International Song Festival in 2024 and has contributed a chapter on the songs of Elizabeth Maconchy to an upcoming Cambridge University Press compendium on the composer’s life.
Recent and future projects include her debut at Leeds Lieder Festival alongside Kitty Whately, a performance of ‘Schwanengesang’ with Roderick Williams at the Oxford International Song Festival and her debut at the Barbican Centre alongside a line-up of emerging talent including Lotte Betts-Dean, James Way and Hugh Cutting. She recently released two disks with Delphian Records: ‘Our Indifferent Century’ and the complete Britten Canticles and has a third on the way in 2026.
James Way’s work spans a variety of music both as performer, artistic director and educator. Having followed his initial passion for baroque music through the young artist programmes of Les Arts Florissants and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment he immediately became in demand as a soloist for conductors including William Christie, Rene Jacobs, Harry Bicket and Trevor Pinnock.
James has a growing discography including Handel L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato with Les Arts Florissants and William Christie and Stanford Requiem with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, on Hyperion, ‘Songs of Faith, Love and Nonsense,' a disk of Stanford songs recorded with Roderick Williams and Andrew West, Purcell's Fairy Queen with Gabrieli Consort, conducted by Paul McCreesh and King Arthur, which won BBC Music Magazine's Recording of the Year. His latest album with Delphian alongside pianist Natalie Burch of Britten’s Canticles was been nominated for a 2025 Gramophone Award.
James is Head of Vocal Studies at Highgate School, Deputy Director of Performance on the Music Faculty at Cambridge University and has worked as a vocal coach for Glyndebourne Youth Opera. Bringing music to new audiences and getting local communities actively involved in music making is his ambition for the revival of Devon Song, 2026 and beyond…
Featured artists
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