James Fankhauser

James Lee Fankhauser (August 26, 1939 – June 13, 2025) was an American conductor, tenor and educator who was primarily known for his work within the field of choral music in Canada.

Life and career Born in Lyons, Kansas, Fankhauser began his professional studies at Purdue in 1957 where he studied engineering. He entered the music program at Southwestern College in his native Kansas in the Fall of 1958 and transferred after two years to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where he obtained a Bachelor of Music in 1962. He was awarded a Fulbright Grant which enabled him to pursue graduate studies in vocal performance in London at the Royal Academy of Music and choral conducting with Sir David Lumsden at New College, University of Oxford in 1962–1963.

Fankhauser returned to the United States to attend the University of California, Berkeley where he studied musicology from 1963 to 1966. After the first year he was appointed Director of the UC men's Glee Club and women's Treble Clef, touring yearly throughout California. He sang several tenor roles in the Berkeley production and professional recording of Monteverdi's opera, L'Incoronazione di Poppea. Graduating in 1966 with an M.A. in musicology, he received the Eisner Prize for outstanding musical talent. In the summer of 1964 he studied voice on a scholarship at the Tanglewood Music Center where he gained the opportunity to perform as a soloist at the Tanglewood Music Festival.