American tenor James Flora, hailed for his “resonant, impeccably-trained voice and fearlessness to his singing", has received acclaim in repertoire ranging from Verdi and Wagner to works by Carlisle Floyd and Daron Hagen where he sang Louis Sullivan from Hagen’s Shining Brow at Frank Lloyd Wright’s 20th century masterpiece: Fallingwater.  James has sung with the Metropolitan Opera Chorus under Maestro Donald Palumbo in their most recent productions of Die Meistersinger von Nürenberg and Fidelio. He made his Pittsburgh Opera debut as Fenton in Falstaff, and has since returned for seven productions, including Carmen, Turandot, Lucia di Lammermoor, and most recently as 2nd Jew alongside the Salome of Patricia Racette. James has performed leading roles in opera companies across the United States, including Alfredo (La traviata), Tamino (The Magic Flute), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Rodolfo (La Bohème), Don José (Carmen), appearing with companies including Washington Concert Opera, Arizona Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Opera Company Middlebury, Opera Columbus and others. Equally at home on the symphonic stage, he has sung with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Reno Philharmonic, Erie Chamber Orchestra, and Buffalo Philharmonic, and recently debuted with the La Voz Humana: Lenguajes Múltiples festival in Cuba with Maestro Leo Brouwer and guitar virtuoso Joaquin Clerch. James' recent performances include a debut as Florestan in Fidelio with Opera Company Middlebury and Indianpolis Chamber Orchestra, where has previously been seen as Cavaradossi (Tosca) and Mitch (A Streetcar Named Desire).

This season, saw James sing Mozart in Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera Mozart and Salieri and the tenor soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with the New Mexico Philharmonic. Next, he sang the tenor solos in Brahm’s Liebeslieder Walzer with Chatter ABQ and the tenor solos in Puccini’s Messa di Gloria and Bach’s Magnificat with the New Mexico Symphonic Chorus. This spring, Flora comes to University of Redlands to sing the tenor solos in Verdi’s Requiem for the Defiant Requiem project.  Finally, he will sing Don José in Opera Southwest’s Spanish production of Carmen with Opera Southwest.  

In 2010, James was a Richard Tucker finalist. James was a Young American Artist with Glimmerglass Opera, a Resident Artist with Pittsburgh Opera, and a Marion Roose Pullin Studio Artist with Arizona Opera where he made his operatic debut as Malcolm in Verdi’s Macbeth. He holds voice degrees from The Ohio State University (B.M. in Vocal Performance, Summa cum laude) and Florida State University (M.M. in Vocal Performance). 

He is currently on the voice faculty of the University of New Mexico and has served on the faculties of Arizona State University, University of Nevada, Reno, Central Michigan University, Otterbein University, and Point Park University and is a member of The National Association of Teachers of Singing and The American Guild of Musical Artists. James has students performing on and off Broadway and has students in many prestigious young artist programs and graduate schools.