Conductor and percussionist James Beauton is currently the Director of Orchestra and Classical Music Studies at the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts in San Francisco. 2023-24 marked his debut season as the Music Director and Conductor of the Winchester Orchestra of San Jose. He also holds faculty positions at San Francisco State University and the San Francisco Conservatory Pre-College.
As a concert percussionist, James was the grand prize winner of the 2012 Southern California International Marimba Competition, and performed as a member of Steven Schick’s renowned percussion ensemble, red fish blue fish, from 2015-2020. He now performs regularly as a member of the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, while continuing to perform the most demanding music in the solo percussion repertoire.
James earned his Doctorate in Contemporary Music Performance from UC San Diego, a Master of Music in Percussion from SUNY Stony Brook, and a Bachelor of Music from Michigan State University. James is a Yamaha Performing Artist.