James Giles, Coordinator of the Piano Program and Director of Music Performance Graduate Studies at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, maintains an active international performance and teaching career. He has recently performed in Paris, Naples, Budapest, Manchester, Toronto, and Denmark, with upcoming appearances in China, Italy, Portugal, and at top U.S. conservatories including Yale, NEC, Michigan, and Indiana. This season, he performs Stravinsky with the Northwestern Symphonic Wind Ensemble and serves on the jury for the 2024 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition.
An advocate of both traditional and contemporary repertoire, Giles has premiered works by composers such as William Bolcom, Stephen Hough, Ned Rorem, and Augusta Read Thomas. His albums include American Virtuoso (Albany Records), works by Schumann and Prokofiev (Master Musicians), and recordings with the Chicago Chamber Musicians and the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic. Giles has performed in major venues such as Wigmore Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and London’s South Bank Centre. Critics have praised his “riveting intelligence” (London), “elegant pianism” (Helsinki), and distinctive interpretive voice (New York). He has appeared as soloist with orchestras including the Kharkiv Philharmonic, London Soloists, and New York’s Jupiter Symphony, and at international festivals including Shanghai, St. Petersburg, and the Amalfi Coast.
As a chamber musician, Giles has collaborated with members of leading quartets (Pacifica, Cassatt, Ying, Escher) and orchestras (Chicago and National Symphonies), as well as singers Aprile Millo and Anthony Dean Griffey. He has given live broadcasts on major public radio stations and regularly presents master classes and lecture-recitals at institutions across the U.S. and abroad.
Giles studied at the Manhattan School of Music, Juilliard, Eastman, and Oberlin, with teachers including Byron Janis, Jerome Lowenthal, Nelita True, and Robert Shannon. He was a Fulbright Scholar in Italy, received the Christel Award from the American Pianists Association, and won top prizes at the New Orleans and Joanna Hodges competitions. His writing has appeared in Piano & Keyboard magazine, and he frequently adjudicates competitions and presents at national music conferences. In addition to his Northwestern appointment, he directs the piano program at the Amalfi Coast Music Festival and has taught at summer festivals including Gijon, Bowdoin, Brevard, Interlochen, Art of the Piano, and Pianofest. Internationally, he has taught at Seoul National University, Sibelius Academy, Royal Danish Academy, Royal College of Music (London), and Chopin Academy in Warsaw.