Youngstown State University
Dr. James Umble is Professor of Saxophone at Youngstown State University. He is a nationally recognized teacher, clinician, soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. A concert at the Cleveland Museum of Art led Cleveland Plain Dealer critic Donald Rosenberg to write "...Umble must be one of the most elegant exponents of his instrument...he was virtuosic in every way..."
Dr. Umble was Guest Professor at the celebrated AMERICAN SAXOPHONE ACADEMY at The University of Iowa in 2017, joining distinguished colleagues from The University of Michigan, the Eastman School, Indiana University, the Hartt School, and the University of Iowa in teaching advanced collegiate saxophonists from around the country. He is to be the featured Guest Artist at the upcoming Single Reed Workshop at the University of Mississippi in March 2018.
He has performed as a concerto soloist with the United States Navy Band in Washington D.C. the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra, the Firelands Symphony Orchestra, The University of South Carolina Wind Ensemble, and at recent Conferences of The North American Saxophone Alliance. He has joined the wind section of the Cleveland Orchestra under conductors Franz Welser-Most, Pierre Boulez, David Zinman, Giancarlo Guerrero and many others. He served on the faculty of the 2014 CLARISAX Festival in Medellin, Colombia and the Xi’an (China) Clarinet and Saxophone Conference and as well was a featured soloist at the State University of Potsdam (NY) First Annual Single Reed Conference. He was recently a Guest Professor (short-term sabbatical replacement) at Indian University in Boomington, and has presented master classes at The Sydney (Australia) Conservatorium, The Queensland Conservatorium, The University of Miami (FL), The University of Oregon, The University of Southern Oregon, Illinois State University, New Mexico State University, The University of New Mexico, SUNY Potsdam (NY) and many other institutions.
His acclaimed reference book, “Jean-Marie Londeix, Master of the Modern Saxophone”, which describes the life and pedagogy of one of the world’s most beloved French saxophone artist/teachers, is a standard reference text in use around the world. The Second Edition is going to be released in 2018. His recording of works for saxophone “Déjeuner sur l’herbe” has been warmly received. He can also be heard on compact disc performing the music of Florent Schmitt (AUR) and Evan Chambers (Cambria). His recording of Marilyn Shrude’s Concerto with the YSU Wind Ensemble under the direction of Stephen Gage is on that groups CARNIVAL recording.