With 36 years extensive professional teaching, conducting, performing, examining, strategic and personnel management, together with Regional, State and National adjudicating experience, James has is currently employed at the Knox Grammar School as the Head of the Knox Academy of Performing Arts, leading a team of 45 dynamic and highly experienced Australian educators and tutors, involving 700+ boys, for which he has built since his appointment in 2007.
After his successful performance career as the Principal Euphonium/ Trombone and Tubist with the R.A.A.F. Air Command Band - Sydney (1996-2007), James was appointed Musical and Artistic Director of the Castle Hill RSL North West Wind Ensemble and Youth Wind Orchestra, in 2005. Since this time, James has led these bands, together with his Knox Grammar School Bands & Orchestras to 81 NSW State and National Championship performances, together with International success, inclusive of seven separate international performance tours to the USA (twice), Eastern Europe, China, New Zealand, Spain & Portugal and most recently to Croatia, Slovenia and Italy in December 2023.
James has performed, conducted and produced many recordings of note, inclusive of his solo CD, ‘Symphonic Variants for Euphonium’, recitals for 2MBS FM, together with two professional international CD releases ‘Wild Nights’ and ‘No Strings Attached!’ with the North West Wind Ensemble, generously assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts. Further to this, in recent years, James has successfully attained synchronisation/distribution rights for the release of many large-scale recording projects featuring the Knox Grammar School’s extensive Band and Orchestral Program, Castle Hill RSL Youth Wind Orchestra and North West Wind Ensemble throughout 2008-2026.
James is currently the NSW Band Association Chair of NSW Music Advisory Board, having been a member of this team since 2007, with responsibilities in selecting State & National Syllabus selections for bands and soloists. He has written pedagogical feature articles on Adjudication, Recruitment and Retention, Australian Repertoire, and in 2022, James initiated ‘Australian Sounds 2022’ – A Spotlight on Australian Composers, presenting a live and digital concert, showcasing nine Australian Works for Wind Orchestra, inclusive of three World Premiere performances.
In 2023 and again in 2025, ‘Australian Sounds’ explored further opportunities to Showcase Australian Publishers (2023) and composers, focusing attention on the music graded 0.5 to level 5.0 repertoire, the largest portfolio of music composed for developing, aspiring and highly experienced ensembles. In 2025, the new additional chapter of ‘Youthful Voices 2025’ was created in showcasing the compositional voices of our newest, youngest emerging Australian Composers.
James was also appointed Musical Director of the NSW State Youth Concert Band in 2012 and has been a seasonal guest conductor with the Monash University Wind Symphony throughout 2012-2017. James is also a Brass Examiner for the Australian Music Examinations Board – AMEB NSW, joining the team in 2017.
In 2020, James was proudly awarded ‘Life Membership’ of the Band Association of NSW for his distinguished service, professional and voluntary commitment to the NSW Band movement over many years.
Finally, on the 26th January 2022, James was exceptionally grateful and immensely humbled to have been awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his service to Music Education and Performance, an honour for which he is tremendously proud to have received.
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