James Madrilejo (b. 2003) is a Filipino-American composer and pianist. He is in his fourth year of undergraduate study at the Royal College of Music, where he studies composition with Deirdre Gribbin and Haris Kittos.  

James started composing at 14, and was mostly self-taught until his arrival at the RCM in 2021. He was heavily influenced by theater traditions from around the world, and his resulting interest in words, voices, and storytelling has led him to write several works for vocal ensembles as well as solo singers. His choral works have been performed by the City High Jeweltones and the West Michigan Choral Lab in his hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and his dramatic setting of the 8th-century poem Donal Og for mezzo-soprano, viola, and piano was recently performed in London at St Mary Le Strand, as part of a concert for the Strand Contemporary Music Series.

His instrumental work has been heard in venues across London and in the EU. In addition to several premieres at the RCM, his piece First Flight was premiered earlier this year by the Camden Youth Orchestra at LSO St Luke’s, and he recently workshopped a set of string quartet miniatures with the Dublin-based Ficino Ensemble.