James Whitbourn was born in Kent and educated at Skinners' School before winning a scholarship to Magdalen College, Oxford,[1] where he gained his first two degrees.
The work was later re-scored in an alternative chamber version which was premiered in The Netherlands on what would have been Anne Frank's 80th birthday by the British violinist Daniel Hope and the American soprano Arianna Zukerman.
Whitbourn wrote a number of works for the late British tenor Robert Tear, with whom he also collaborated as librettist, including a festal setting of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis for King's College, Cambridge, a cantata for the St Endellion Festival and three Christmas carols.
In 2010 the Oxford-based chamber choir Commotio released a disc of his choral music on the Naxos label, Luminosity, which attracted much attention especially in the USA.
2013 saw the release on Naxos of Annelies, with Arianna Zukerman, The Lincoln Trio, Bharat Chandra and the Westminster Williamson Voices under James Jordan.