Lauded as performing “like a gladiator” and with a “phenomenal color palette” (Radda Rise), cellist Tyler Michael James stands out as an ebullient artist of his generation. He is a top prize winner at the Radda International String Competition and regularly performs as an international soloist and chamber musician. A champion of new music, Tyler just released the official recording of “Loisaida, My Love” by Jessie Montgomery, resident composer of the Chicago Symphony, on the Monday Music Label.  

Tyler has appeared as a soloist with several orchestras including the Handel Society, Orchestra Flex, the Fermata Chamber Soloists, and the Citizen’s Artist Chamber Orchestra. He regularly performs as a chamber musician and soloist with the Hornby Island Chamber Music Festival, the Red Door Chamber Music Series, Lyrica Boston, and the Boston Healthcare for the Homeless program.

Tyler is a founding member of the Lyrica Boston String Trio and the Opus87 Piano Quartet. He has had the pleasure of concertizing with the Horzowski Trio, Castle of Our Skins, and Doris Stevenson.

 Upcoming performances include piano trio concerts with pianist Byron Ziu and violinist Thomas Cooper sponsored by the United Nations’ UNITAR initiative, the Dumky Trio and the Beethoven C Major Sonata with pianist Craig Combes on the Red Door Chamber Music Series, and a performance with vocalist Nina Kasper on WOMR Public Radio.  

Born in Virginia, Tyler did his initial studies at the Governor’s School for the Arts under the tutelage of Leslie Frittelli. Tyler received his Bachelor’s degree from New York University’s Steinhardt School on full scholarship under esteemed pedagogue Marion Feldman. Tyler was awarded a prestigious joint Master’s Degree and Artist Diploma with Terry King, protégé of the legendary cellist Gregor Piatigorsky, on full scholarship from the Longy School of Music of Bard College. Tyler is currently a fully-funded M.B.A. Candidate at the College of William &. Mary studying how to rethink classical music education for financially underprivileged students.