Born and raised in Greater Boston, James Lorusso is a pianist and vocal coach with professional experience in everything from opera and art song to jazz improvisation and musical theater. James studied collaborative piano at the New England Conservatory of Music, where he worked in the voice and opera department and appeared regularly in the school’s Liederabend series. His notable festival credits include a fellowship in the Aspen Music Festival’s Opera Theater and Vocal Arts program and a summer at Hogfish Artist Residency, where he helped coach and perform the company’s flagship production of Poulenc’s Les mamelles de Tirésias. He was also a staff accompanist for the College Light Opera Company, where he helped the vocal company open nine shows in a single summer and played keyboard in the pit orchestra. Other recent opera theater collaborations include NEC’s graduate opera production of Die Fledermaus and Valkyrie Productions’ premiere of Sea Fever: A New England Tale.

A firm believer in cultivating the arts at the local community level, James joined the staff of Boston Children’s Chorus in 2024, and has worked as a collaborator and coach for many other Massachusetts-based organizations and schools. In addition to song premiere performances and opera rehearsal work with the activist opera company White Snake Projects, he has performed in Boston Lyric Opera’s Street Stage series, as well as its school outreach program, Opera Stories. During the school semester, James is on staff at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he plays and coaches in the voice department and saxophone studio. He is also the choral accompanist for Wayland Public Schools and the organist and keyboard player at St. Irene’s Parish in Carlisle.

James holds degrees in piano performance from Ithaca College and McGill University, and his mentors include Cameron Stowe, Jonathan Feldman, and Tanya Blaich.