James Dutton studied at the Royal College of Music in London, winning prizes for orchestral, solo and chamber music performances. He has also been awarded two Worshipful Company of Musicians' Silver Medals and a Fellowship in Flute Performance from Trinity College London.
As a Park Lane Group Young Artist, he gave a recital at the Purcell Room which included the world premiere of "The Colour of Pomegranates” for alto flute and piano, written for him by the leading British composer Julian Anderson.
Since 1997 he has been principal flute of the Band of the Scots Guards in London. He has appeared with them as a soloist many times including concerts at the Royal Albert Hall and Cadogan Hall in London, many European cities and tours across Australia and South Korea.
Over the last twenty years he has appeared in numerous recitals, performing everything from classic works to contemporary repertoire. He also appears on many recordings both with his own band and as a guest performer, and has given live radio and TV broadcasts. In December 2016 he first visited Minneapolis and gave a series of recitals and solo performances, and he is delighted to be returning. He has also recently been invited to perform for both the British Flute Society and the Norwegian Flute Festival. In November 2017 he appeared in recital together with Tom Ottar Andreassen, co-principal flute of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. February 2018 saw the release of his debut album “Idyll” with Oliver Davies on the MPR label. Later this year James will be retiring from his position at the Scots Guards Band and moving to Oslo in Norway to join his wife and daughter, and concentrating on a career as a recitalist and teacher.