James Moore
MM '06 (Jazz Studies)
Dr. James Moore MM '06 (Jazz Studies) is the Dean of the Faculty at West Virginia Wesleyan College. He was named to the post in 2017 after serving as an associate professor, director of jazz ensembles, and instructor of trumpet. Since 2011 he served as the chairperson of the Department of Music at WV Wesleyan and worked to build one of the most vibrant collegiate jazz programs in the region. Dr. Moore is an active member of the Pittsburgh jazz community where he is a member of RH Factor – the Roger Humphries Quintet, and the 21st Century Swing Band, and he leads his own quartet. In addition to his work in Pittsburgh, he performs regularly with the Norman David Eleventet in Philadelphia as well as many other collaborative ventures in that city. He has performed with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, the Bob Mintzer Big Band, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Ahmad Jamal, Sheryl Bailey, Tim Warfield, and the Lars Halle Jazz Orchestra. Moore appeared on Bob Mintzer's GRAMMY nominated album For the Moment, released on the MCG Jazz label in 2012.
Dr. Moore studied trumpet with Bonnie Miltenberger, Neil Stalnaker, John Swana, and Tim Hagans. He holds an MM in Jazz Studies from the University of the Arts and a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. He is the first recipient of the Ph.D. in Jazz Studies from Pitt, where his advisor was Dr. Nathan T. Davis, founder of the original Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra.