James Terrell is a guitarist, composer and music educator currently based in Athens, Georgia. He holds degrees in music from Columbus State University (B.M. Performance, guitar, 2007) and the University of Massachusetts (M.M. Composition, 2011) and is pursuing the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Georgia (Performance, guitar).

As a composer-guitarist, even his earliest musical activities sought to combine these impulses. This first took the form of experimental guitar compositions recorded in the bedroom: plaintive atmospheric textures built out of dozens of layers of guitar sounds. At the same time he was learning classical guitar and developing a technique capable of accommodating even the most virtuosic music in the repertoire. Composition and guitar take turns as the dominant force in his musical life.

As a guitarist, he is an active performer both as a soloist and in chamber ensembles, and his repertoire spans the history of the guitar, from the Renaissance to new music. As a composer, he has written concert music for all manner of ensembles and soloists as well as orchestral music and works for fixed media. His principal teachers are Andrew Zohn and Daniel Bolshoy (guitar), and Bruce MacCombie, Salvatore Macchia and Adrian Childs (composition).

James has been teaching music nearly as long as he has been playing. This has taken the form of private instruction in guitar most often, but he has also taught composition, music fundamentals, music history (popular music and jazz) and classroom guitar. Recent teaching engagements have been with the Montgomery School of Music (Montgomery, Alabama) and the UGA Community Music School.

Hear him at Sound Cloud or YouTube