Professor Virginia Thompson has taught at West Virginia University since 1990, and served as Director of Graduate Studies in Music from 1996 to 2000. She is an active horn soloist, recitalist, and clinician with a special interest in performing, commissioning, reviewing, and promoting new music. A former president of the International Horn Society, she has performed and presented throughout the world. She held positions in the Orquesta Sinfonica de Xalapa in Mexico and several metropolitan orchestras throughout the USA before pursuing a career in higher education. Her CD, Colors: Music for Horn, features dramatic compositions written for her.