JAMES WOOMERT is the Director of Orchestras at Marriotts Ridge High School in Howard County, Maryland. Prior to arriving at Marriotts Ridge, James served as Director of Orchestras at Atholton High School in Columbia, Maryland, and Associate Director of Orchestras at the nationally recognized Carmel High School Orchestra Program in Carmel, Indiana. Originally from Toronto, Canada, James moved to Indiana to study at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he completed a Bachelor of Music in Viola Performance and a Master of Science in Music Education. While attending IU, James studied string pedagogy with Dr. Brenda Brenner and Mimi Zweig and was a member of the founding staff of the Fairview Violin Project, a pilot musical outreach program providing violin instruction to at-risk elementary school students. As well as conducting and coaching various southern Indiana youth wind and string ensembles, James also taught music introduction and methods courses at Indiana University as an Associate Instructor.

In addition to his classroom and private studio teaching, James has been a freelance violist in the Indianapolis area, performed as a member of the Owensboro (KY) Symphony Orchestra from 2008-2012, toured with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, and was selected to participate in three summer seasons with the National Academy Orchestra. James has also held leadership positions in the orchestras of Indiana University, performed with almost every regional orchestra in Indiana, and enjoyed the opportunity to work with such renowned musicians as Leonard Slatkin, Sir Andrew Davis, Jaime Laredo, and Joshua Bell. Orchestras under James’ direction have recently had the honor of being selected as featured performing ensembles at the Maryland Music Educators Association State Conference, and the Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference. James has served on the faculties of the Howard County Youth Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestra, and the L.A. Philharmonic’s National Take a Stand Festival. In 2018, James received the Outstanding Music Educator award from the Maryland Music Educators Association. James was a contributing author for Teaching Music Through Performance in Orchestra, Volume 4, which was published by GIA Publications in 2021.