Brian James, Second Oboe/English Horn

Brian James has performed as Principal Oboe with the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, the Windsor Symphony Orchestra and was a member of the faculty of music at Wilfrid Laurier's School of Music in Waterloo, Ontario before joining Symphony Nova Scotia as second oboe and English horn in 2005. Brian is also a member of the Toronto Chamber Orchestra.

He spends his summers performing in Parry Sound, Ontario at the Festival of the Sound and has also performed at the Orford Music Festival in Quebec, the Edinburgh Festival with the Canadian Opera Company, the Brevard Music Festival in North Carolina, the Todi Opera Festival in Norfolk, Virginia and the Grand River Baroque Festival in Ayr, Ontario. 

He was raised in a musical family in Washington D.C. and received his degrees in music performance from Florida State University and Carnegie Mellon University.

Brian James has recently recorded a set of new wind serenades attributed to Mozart with the Festival Winds from Parry Sound for CBC records as well as several new recordings of early classical and baroque symphonies with the Toronto Chamber Orchestra for the Naxos label.

Q&A with Brian

How long have you played the oboe?
Since I figured out that my dad (a professional oboist) would be forced to pay more attention to me if I asked him to teach me the oboe. I figured that out at the age of nine, so 20 years too long.

Do you teach music?
I taught oboe at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo Ontario before moving to Halifax and now I am building a private studio at home. Anyone need a lesson?

Why do you play the oboe?
It's the thing in my life that is the most difficult and the most rewarding. I have to have something like that to occupy my time.

How did you get interested in classical music?
My mom and dad, step-mom and step-dad are all professional musicians. My life as a child was falling asleep backstage at one concert after the next. I guess things never change.

If you couldn’t be a musician, what would you like to do?
I've always thought an anthropology or an ethnomusicology degree would be an interesting pursuit, or maybe even a professional crash test dummy. That would probably pay really well.

What do you like to do in your spare time?
I spend a lot of time exploring new places on my motorcycle.

What’s a fact that nobody would know about you?
I might have wound up in jail if it hadn't been for the oboe.

What’s something someone would be surprised to hear about you?
I still might wind up in jail if I'm not careful.

What’s your favourite indulgence?
Those things that might wind me up in jail.

Who’s your favourite person in the world?
Michelle James.

What’s your favourite movie of all time?
Unequivocally, Young Frankenstein!

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