JAMES DECKER BIO

James Decker, horn, has held first horn contract positions in the Hollywood studios at Columbia, Fox, Paramount and CBS television. He was first horn for many seminal symphonic recordings, including the Columbia Masterworks recordings with Igor Stravinksy and Bruno Walter. Professor of horn at USC since 1952, Decker has also served on the faculties of The Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara for 18 years and Bowdoin Summer Music Festival in Brunswick, Maine for 5 years. From 1970 to 1980 he was first horn with Neville Marriner and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and for twenty years was first horn with the California Chamber Orchestra, which he reorganized into a professional orchestra. He also managed the Glendale Symphony.

Mr. Decker became a member of the Board of NARAS (Grammy Awards) and can be heard on hundreds of film soundtracks and recordings. He served as judge for the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts (the organization that selects the annual awards of the Presidential Scholars) from 1990-1995.

He is the author of a very successful book entitled "The Master Series for Horn" and is currently working on a series of books with the authors for trumpet, trombone and tuba. He is the inventor of the IVASI System (Interactive Video Audition Service International), a conducted DVD set of orchestral discs to help the serious musician better prepare for a career in a symphony orchestra. This system is currently being used in many international clinics.

In 2003 at the annual meeting of the International Horn Society, he was nominated to join an honorary list of the most distinguished members of the horn-playing community.