James' Music Studio Giftly

A native of Rochester NY, I began piano lessons at age 5 with my mother. Over time I studied at a variety of private studios including the famous Eastman School of Music. After high school, I entered SUNY Fredonia as an organ major, transferring to Stetson University in Deland FL. While raising a young family, I entered Peabody Teacher's College in Nashville. Later I trained as a Navy broadcast journalist, and once a civilian again, I spent five years as a classical radio announcer & producer at WPLN. In 1984, while leading the VBS music program at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church, I dropped "Jim" and "Jimmy" and started using Mr. James, which stuck. In 1985, I completed a bachelor's degree in church music at Belmont College (cum laude) and returned for a master's in music education, conferred in 1991. The area of emphasis for my M.M.E. degree was Elementary/Primary Pedagogical Methodology (translation: how to teach music to kids in K-8). My internship was at Montessori Academy.