James Garlick teaches violin and chamber music at Macalester College and performs with Minnesota Orchestra. He has performed concerti from Tchaikovsky to Piazzolla with orchestras including the Northwest Sinfonietta, Everett Philharmonic, Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Cascade Symphony, and Philharmonia Northwest. This season, he returned to Medellin’s Orquestra Sinfonica EAFIT performance to perform the Barber Violin Concerto, and made his third visit to Cuba to teach and perform with American and Cuban musicians. James attributes his love of music to his many teachers and mentors in Port Angeles. He began lessons with JoDee Ahmann at age five and also worked closely with local music educators Phil and Deborah Morgan-Ellis, Nico Snel, Helena Emery, and Ron Jones. As a proud graduate of the strings program in Port Angeles, James believes in encouraging and fostering music in public schools—not only to nurture young musicians but also to enrich the entire community. James earned degrees in violin performance from Oberlin Conservatory and neuroscience from Oberlin College as well as a graduate degree from The Juilliard School. He’s currently completing his fourth season as a full-time member of the violin section of the Minnesota Orchestra and also performs regularly with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Seattle Symphony. As concertmaster, James has led Orchestra Prometheus Chicago, the Amarillo Symphony, Juilliard Orchestra, Northwest Sinfonietta, Cascade Symphony, Bellevue Philharmonic, and others. He performs on a 1991 Samuel Zygmuntowicz violin. With his wife Emily and child Arthur, he divides his time between Minneapolis and Port Angeles.
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