James W. Doyle is a percussionist, educator, and collaborative artist based in the Pacific Northwest. He serves on the musicology faculty at the University of Puget Sound, the graduate music education faculty at Adams State University, teaches world music and percussion at Pierce College, and teaches percussion at Saint Martin's University and the University of Puget Sound’s Community Music program. James is a member of the Seattle-based contemporary percussion and multimedia group, Striking Music, is co-owner of Pacific Edge Multimedia, and maintains a performance and artist-in-residency schedule throughout the United States and abroad.

James is excited to introduce his newest endeavor, Miscellany Music, in the spring of 2023. Miscellany forges artistic collaborations through the curation of solo and chamber percussion-forward concerts, in unconventional venues, and in collaboration with moving image, food and beverage, light/sound design, visual/physical arts, poetry/spoken word, nature, and movement.

His research areas include chamber music settings with silent film, the commissioning of new works for percussion and unique chamber orchestration, the development of equitable pedagogy focused on inclusive excellence, and the lineage of music from throughout the world and its evolution and synthesis in popular and contemporary music. James has presented and performed at several Percussive Arts Society International Conventions, and has articles published in Percussive Notes, the official journal of the Percussive Arts Society.

As a classical, contemporary, commercial, and jazz artist, James has performed throughout North America, Europe, Australia, Africa, and Asia, and has recorded over 40 albums for Austin, Nashville, and Southwest-based commercial artists. He annually tours with the Apricity Trio for flute, clarinet, and marimba, and collaborations with sculptor Koshi Hayashi. Appearances include university residencies in the U.S. and Japan, performances in preeminent concert halls in Tokyo, salon concerts in the American Southwest, and performances at the Japanese international arts festival, the Nakanojo Biennale. The Apricity Trio’s latest CD, “Sandhill Crane” was released in 2019 and includes commissioned works composed by Ippo Tsuboi.

His recent appearances include performances with Symphony Tacoma, the Northwest Sinfonietta, Olympia Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Collaborative Orchestra, Lake Washington Symphony Orchestra, Yakima Symphony Orchestra, Vashon Opera, Federal Way Symphony, Lake Chelan Bach Fest, Bellevue Symphony, Inverted Space Ensemble, and with contemporary music and world music ensembles in the Pacific Northwest.

James is a regular artist-in residence at Gunma University in Japan, has taught at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the Australia National Drum and Percussion Camp, the Ted Atkatz Percussion Seminar, Western Colorado University, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, and has been in residence at more than 50 universities and conservatories. He’s been a member of the Percussive Arts Society University Pedagogy Committee and Drum Set Committee and is a consultant for public and private music programs throughout the United States.

Before moving to the Pacific Northwest, James served for 15 years as Professor of Music at Adams State University where he taught courses in percussion, world music, music business, and music education. In addition, he directed the percussion ensemble, steel pan, Brazilian, and jazz ensembles, and founded the Music of the Americas Project—an ensemble dedicated to exploring and performing the music resulting from colonialism and forced migration to the Western Hemisphere. He was principal percussionist with the Music in the Mountains Festival Orchestra, principal percussionist with the San Juan Symphony Orchestra, performed regularly with the New Mexico Philharmonic Orchestra, and was a freelance performer in Las Vegas, NV, the Rocky Mountain region, and the American Southwest.

Prior to his positions in higher education, James served as principal percussionist with the United States Air Force Band of the Golden West where he spent six years touring, recording, and performing throughout the United States while maintaining an active freelancing schedule in the San Francisco Bay area. He then served six years with the Air National Guard Band of the Southwest in Fort Worth, TX, and the US Air Forces Central Command Band in Doha, Qatar. Preceding his military service, James was a member of the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra and freelanced in the Gulf Coast region. 

James earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in Percussion Performance from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, a Master of Music in Percussion Performance from Louisiana State University, and a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Central Missouri. He is a Marimba One, Black Swamp Percussion, Beetle Percussion, and Vic Firth product endorser, artist, and educator.