Rising Stars in...Artist Management

James Egelhofer
Project Manager, First Chair Promotion

In mid-2012, James took leave of a managerial position after eight years with IMG Artists to focus on strategic projects for artists he admires that he feels cannot be realistically pursued within the structure of a large commercial management.

Now working as a freelance project manager in association with Amanda Ameer, founder of First Chair Promotion, James has assumed managerial responsibilities for violist Nadia Sirota, singer/pianist/composer Gabriel Kahane, flutist Claire Chase, and composer David Lang. He has also developed a special projects association with artists such as Hilary Hahn, Jonathan Biss, Johannes Moser, and Chris Thile, who have come to respect and greatly value his ability to think “out of the box” and lend structure and financial feasibility to the development of some of their special artistic goals. Nadia Sirota told me: “My performing life is kind of a patchwork quilt of collaborations and solo projects; it involves strange venues and radically different contexts. James is a great match for me because he is comfortable with a whole array of presenters, styles, and genres. He’s very smart and understands why I feel that reaching all of these audiences is important.” Presenters also respect James’s judgment and insight. Jeremy Geffen, director of artistic planning at Carnegie Hall, said: “He possesses enormous integrity and is a great facilitator with ideas.”

James played a variety of musical instruments as a youngster and started writing music and producing musicals while at Brown University. Feeling strongly that he wanted to be close to artists and involved in the music industry, he applied for an entry-level job at IMG Artists. His intelligence, enthusiasm, and openness to any type of job responsibility were evident from the start. While at first handling mostly logistics for Hilary Hahn, he developed a closer relationship with her through his appreciation of Josh Ritter, a singer songwriter with whom she sought to tour. He went on to manage her for nearly five years while at IMG. He also helped her produce her “Encores” project, a collection of 27 new short pieces commissioned from contemporary composers.

It is very hard to put James’s work in a concise category. Yet one thing seems very clear. As we witness the barriers between classical music and other musical genres fade away and artists increasingly wanting to curate their own careers, James would seem to be a natural go-to person as artistic partner for general or project management. His future looks bright indeed.

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