James Baur, Guitar

Biography

James Baur is part of a musical family: his father is a composer, his mother a
flutist. Born in 1976, he was constantly exposed to a variety of musical styles. Beginning his musical studies on the violin, he
turned his attention to the guitar at the age of 12. Throughout high school in Memphis, Tennessee he studied with the prominent
guitarist Lily Afshar.

In 1999 he received both his Bachelors and Masters degrees from Northwestern University, under
the direction of Anne Waller. While at Northwestern, he was selected to perform in the masterclasses of Oscar Ghiglia, Pepe
Romero, Manuel Barrueco, Paul O’Dette and Scott Tenant.

He was awarded First Prize in Guitar in the 1998 Society of American Musicians Competition. In 2000 he was selected to perform on both
the Chicago Classical Guitar Society’s Local Artist Showcase and The Friends of the Windows Second Saturday Concert Series,
to which he was invited to return in 2001. Recent performances include appearances on series at Sherwood Conservatory of Music, the
Northbrook Public Library, and The Ukranian Institute of Modern Art with the MAVerick ensemble. As a chamber musician, he has performed
with Ensemble Noamnesia and Northwestern University's Contemporary Music Ensemble.

In February 2001 he premiered his father John Baur’s Etudes for Guitar and Songs of Love for Soprano and Guitar at the
Imagine Festival in Memphis, Tennessee. In April 2003 he gave world premiere performances for Chicago composers Bjorn Berkhout and Robert
McDonald. In November 2003, he played the electric guitar in Virgil Moorefield’s ensemble work Things You
Must do to Get into Heaven. In March 2004 he performed “fa/sil” by Bjorn Berkhout at the New Music Festival at Western Illinois
University in Macomb, Illinois. Recent concert programs include “A History of the Guitar: The Twentieth Century,” a series of 4
concerts chronologically exploring significant works from the guitar’s repertoire.

Mr. Baur is also a member of The Avanti Duo, a flute and guitar duo with flutist Kim Sopata. His current projects include two CDs: the first
tentatively entitled Made of String, including works by Benjamin Britten, John Anthony Lennon, J.K.
Mertz, Mauro Giuliani, and Albert Roussel; and, a second a recording of works exclusively by Chicago composers.

Also active as a teacher, Mr. Baur is on the faculty of Sherwood Conservatory of
Music, The Suzuki-Orff School for Young Musicians, and The Lake Forest Symphony Music School.