James Hewitt read music at Girton College, Cambridge, and continued his studies at the Royal Conservatoire, The Hague: baroque violin with Pavlo Beznosiuk, and composition with Martijn Padding, Cornelis de Bondt and Guus Janssen. He completed his masters there with research in improvised counterpoint. He plays in ensembles such as Estehaagse Ensemble, Simkchat Hanefesh, and the Scroll Ensemble, which specializes in programmes inspired by improvisatory practices of the baroque period. In 2021, he was awarded the Gaël Liardon grant for improvisation research by Lausanne Festival, Didactic Duos as a Model for Improvisation, and presented at the Sweelinck conference in Amsterdam (On developing Improvisations Inspired by Sweelinck). since 2018 he has taught historical improvisation at the Royal Conservatoire, Den Haag, and has given improvisation workshops at Yiddish Summer Weimar, and at the conservatoires of Bydgoszcz and Katowice in Poland. His compositions include works for Cambridge University Opera Society, Ely Cathedral Choir, Modello Ensemble, the Fokker Organ in Amsterdam Muziekgebauw aan't IJ, and the Nordic Early Keyboard Festival. He also works with interdisciplinary projects combining music with movement, dance, and theatre.