James Naigus

As a dedicated teacher, active performer, and prolific composer, Dr. James Naigus seeks to inspire the next generation of musicians and creative thinkers through artistic empowerment and enthusiastic innovation. He is Assistant Professor of Horn at the University of Georgia and hornist with the Georgia Brass Quintet. He is co-founder of the Cor Moto Horn Duo with Dr. Drew Phillips, and co-editor/contributor of the Creative Hornist and Technique Tips columns in the Horn Call, the journal of the International Horn Society. In 2024 he was awarded the prestigious Michael F. Adams Early Career Scholar Award from UGA.

He frequently plays with the Atlanta Symphony and Charleston Symphony, and has played with the Wichita Symphony, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony, Orchestra Iowa, Brevard Symphony, Gainesville Chamber Orchestra, Valdosta Symphony, and Ocala Symphony Orchestra. In 2019 he was selected to perform with the WCIT World Orchestra in Yerevan, Armenia. He has toured Europe in 2017 & 2014 and South America in 2011 as a member of the American Chamber Winds. He has also performed on recitals at the MidNorth, Midwest, Midsouth and Southeast Horn Workshops, as well as the 2018, 2015 and 2013 International Horn Symposiums.

Naigus has been a member of the faculty and staff at the prestigious Kendall Betts Horn Camp for the last six years, which included designing and teaching an aural harmony music theory course. Additional teaching interests include music theory, concert and commercial composition, film music, and technology.

Naigus' compositions have been performed throughout the United States and beyond, with enthusiastic reception and rave review. Venues of note include the New York Philharmonic, the West Point Band, Music Academy of the West, and the Rafael Mendez Brass Institute. He is also an award winning film composer, and has written commercial compositions for clients such as Google. He currently has a catalog of over eighty published works.

He is a graduate of the University of Iowa (DMA) studying with Jeffrey Agrell, studied horn and composition with Paul Basler at the University of Florida during his masters degree, and while attending the University of Michigan for his undergraduate degree studied with Soren Hermansson, Bryan Kennedy, and Adam Unsworth. Prior appointments include the University of Central Missouri and the University of Iowa.

James Naigus is a Yamaha Performing Artist.

Visit http://jamesnaigus.com and http://cormotohorn.com for more info!