James often appears with leading orchestras and collaborators, among them Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra; the American Bach Soloists, Philadelphia's Lyric Fest, the Gamut Bach Ensemble, Tempesta di Mare, and the Washington Bach Consort. In May 2018, he made his Carnegie Hall solo debut in Bach's B Minor Mass with the New York Choral Society, directed by David Hayes. Of that performance, the New York Classical Review wrote, "the high, easy tenor of James Reese...floated beautifully on its own over the long, gentle lines of the Benedictus." In June 2018, he made his European debut with ensemble Seconda Prat!ca. An advocate for new music, James is a founding member of Philadelphia vocal sextet Variant 6 (variantsix.com). He has premiered works by Caroline Shaw, Ted Hearne, John Luther Adams, Joanne Metcalf, Judd Greenstein, Joel Puckett, and others. James sings frequently with leading ensembles, including The Crossing, Seraphic Fire, and Gallicantus. He has recorded on the ECM, Innova, and Albany labels; including The Crossing's release of Gavin Bryars' The Fifth Century, which won a Grammy award for Best Choral Performance in 2018. He also sang on 2016 Grammy-Nominated Bonhoeffer, released by the Crossing. James is the 2018 winner of the Margot Fassler Award for the Performance of Music at Yale University, and the 2019 winner of the Career Advancement Grant from the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia.