James Wilson was born on September 27, 1922 in Islington in London. His chemist father died when he was only four days old, leaving his widowed mother to bring up three sons alone.

Without any family background in music (the only real interest was his mothers slight interest in playing the piano), Wilson began piano lessons in 1931, continuing them until 1938.

By his early teens, Wilson attended many operas fostering his interest in music. After school, and without any formal higher education Wilson entered the Civil Service, after having passed their entrance exam. He served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, from 1942 till 1946.

After seeing out his military service, Wilson began attending weekly musical composition classes at the Trinity College of Music in London. It was around this time that he left the Civil Service to pursue a full-time career in music. He also moved to Ireland where he had been stationed in the latter part of his naval service.

He has written many pieces of music for opera and is involved with the annual Ennis Summer School for music. The majority of Wilson’s works have been performed in Ireland and he has also worked extensively in Denmark. His output is both large and varied, including a number of concertos, two symphonies, choral and instrumental works, about two hundred songs, several ballets and seven operas.