James Oxley studied as a cellist at the Royal College of Music and later gained a scholarship to Oxford. He subsequently developed his singing, studying privately with Rudolf Piernay. He sang Missa Solemnis (Beethoven) with Heinrich Schiff and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Renard (Stravinsky) at the BBC Proms, Creation (Haydn) and Great Mass (Mozart) with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Alexander Feast (Handel) with Northern Sinfonia and Nicholas McGegan. His engagements have taken him throughout Europe, especially to France where he has worked with Philippe Herreweghe, Hervé Niquet and Christophe Rousset. He has also worked with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Academy of Saint Martin's in the Fields, Les Talens Lyriques, The Sixteen, Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra conducted by John Eliot Gardiner, the Gabrieli Consort and Players and others. Opera productions include L’incoronazione di Poppea (Monteverdi) for English National Opera, King Arthur (Purcell) at the Opéra Comique de Paris, Werther (Massenet) for Wexford Festival, Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Mozart) at the Spoleto Festival conducted by Richard Hickox and Ariodante (Handel) for Covent Garden Festival. He appears regularly at the Opera de Rennes, where productions have included operas by Tchaikovsky, Wagner, Britten, Schumann, Strauss and Mozart.