Beginning in Southern California as a composer/arranger/keyboardist, James' central mission is to realize the potential of music-learning and music-making as forces for social change, community building, and personal wellness. This mission led James to pursue a PhD at the University of California, San Diego in Integrative Studies of Music, while teaching at several institutions including UC San Diego, Azusa Pacific University, and the Hall-Musco Conservatory. His academic work, which blends music theory and musicology with cognitive psychology, has been published by the College Music Symposium and presented at conferences for the American Musicological Society, the Society for Music Perception and Cognition, the Society for Education, Music and Psychology Research, and others. James also operates in the non-profit sector to support underserved schools and communities through music, most recently partnering with refugee musicians in San Diego. Currently James is a Frederick Douglass Teaching Scholars Fellow at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, and, when possible he enjoys playing ultimate frisbee and planning his wedding with his fiancé.