James Dobinson is a New York-based Australian music director, conductor, orchestrator and record producer. With a particular eye to the development of new musicals, his work has been seen on stages in New York, around the United states, in London and across Australia.
As music supervisor or conductor, his work includes the original New York and London companies of The View UpStairs, Tim Finn’s Twelfth Night for Queensland Theatre, and the original New York company of Clinton, which led to a long-standing collaboration with composer Paul Hodge in both the US and Australia. He has also led productions for Joe’s Pub at the Public Theatre, New York, the Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, The Crown Uptown in Wichita, Kansas, as well as developmental productions for the Goodspeed Opera House, Berklee Repertory Theatre, Opera Queensland, QT and QPAC, among many others. He is currently developing Paul Hodge’s new opera Riot for Opera Queensland and La Boite.
As arranger and orchestrator, his work includes The View UpStairs (for which he also co-produced the original cast recording), Clinton, the 2015 US national tour of Guys and Dolls, Twelfth Night and Joh For PM!, as well as several years of contributing orchestrations to Queensland’s Carols In The City concerts. In recent years, he has been arranging and orchestrating for Midtown Man and original cast member of Jersey Boys, Michael Longoria, including on the single Like They Do In The Movies, and his forthcoming motown-influenced album to be released in 2021.
He has played keyboards for broadway touring productions, major musical productions in the US and Australia, and for television productions and studio albums in both the US and Australia, as well as for jazz singer (and father of Amy) Mitch Winehouse. He is a sought-after accompanist for cabaret, musical theatre and concert work.