James Sparrow is Associate Professor of Music and Coordinator for Instrumental Music at Mars Hill College. He teaches music education, trombone, euphonium, and brass chamber ensembles. He is principle trombone with the Asheville Symphony Orchestra and the Asheville Lyric Opera, and performs with the Asheville Jazz Orchestra, the Palmetto Posaunen, and “The Eighth Position”.
He has been a certified music educator since 1984 when he became Assistant Director of Bands at Hardaway High School in Columbus, Ga. In addition to public school band and orchestra, he has also taught trombone and music education at Columbus State University and Cameron University, and taught music education methods courses at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
Dr. Sparrow earned the DMA at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, with other graduate work at Columbus State University and the University of Northern Colorado. He earned the Master of Arts in Trombone Performance from the University of Denver and the Bachelor of Music in Music Education at Columbus State University. He has performed and conducted in the U.S., the Bahamas, Japan, and Russia. He presented a research paper at the International Trombone Festival in Boulder, has performed at the Eastern Trombone Workshop in Washington, D.C., the Midwest Clinic in Chicago, at national conventions for MENC, IAJE, and at state conventions in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Colorado. He is the founding director of the Low Brass Retreat at Mars Hill College, an educational weekend dedicated to the development of low brass students of all ages.
His extensive commercial performance career includes professional work with Clay Aiken, Pat Boone, Debbie Boone, Dave Brubeck, Diahann Carroll, The Mills Brothers, The Temptations, Mel Torme, Dionne Warwick, and many others. He has spent considerable time working in recording studios, including the last seven CDs with the Cincinnati Wind Symphony, Eugene Corporon, conductor.
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