Click here for a link to the Ohio University Saxophone Studio.

Matthew James, Professor of Saxophone and Jazz Studies at Ohio University, teaches saxophone, saxophone repertoire, saxophone pedagogy, saxophone quartets, jazz theory, jazz arranging, and directs Jazz Ensemble I.  A native of Northbrook, Illinois, he holds undergraduate degrees in music and journalism from Northern Illinois University, and the M.M. and D.M.A. in saxophone performance from the University of North Texas, where he was a teaching fellow and lead alto saxophonist with the acclaimed One O’Clock Lab Band. He has studied saxophone with Stephen Duke and James Riggs.

As a classical saxophonist, James has performed at national and regional conferences of the North American Saxophone Alliance.His numerous clinics include presentations at Ohio Music Education Association state conferences, and recitals and masterclasses at Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (Mendoza, Argentina), Conservatorio Nacional de Musica (Buenos Aires, Argentina), and the University of Bergen (Bergen, Norway). He has served on the faculty of the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, and was a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Toledo prior to joining the Ohio University faculty. He is also a member of the touring chamber ensemble UpBeat Brass, which commissions and performs works in a variety of styles.

As a jazz artist, James performed as lead alto saxophonist for 1-1/2 years with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, touring the U.S., Canada, Japan and South America and appearing often on radio and television. James also performed as lead alto saxophonist with the Phil Collins Big Band, which in 1998 toured 26 cities in the U.S. and Europe, including jazz festivals in Montreux, Nice, The Hague, Milan, Copenhagen, and Pori, Finland, and performances in Carnegie Hall. A live CD of the ensemble, A Hot Night in Paris, is available on Atlantic Records. His freelance work has included performances with the Toledo Jazz Orchestra, the Dallas Jazz Orchestra, the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, Mel Torme, the Temptations, Lou Rawls, Donna Summer, The Four Tops, Rosemary Clooney, Jim Nabors, the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, the Four Freshmen, Toledo Symphony, the Ohio Valley Symphony and many others. James is a member of the Latin Jazz sextet Los Viejos Blanquitos, the Jazztet, and frequently performs with Columbus, Ohio-based ensembles, the New Remnants Jazz Orchestra and the Famous Jazz Orchestra.