James Akins is an American

tubist This is a list of tuba players with articles on Wikipedia. See also *Lists of musicians This is a list of lists of musicians. Genre The following are lists of musicians by style or music genre. 0–9 * List of 1970s Christian pop artist ...

, music professor, and both a player and maker of Native American flutes.

Education

Akins studied the tuba with Ronald Bishop of the Cleveland Orchestra, Arnold Jacobs of the

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenure ...

, Robert Ryker of the

Montreal Symphony The Montreal Symphony Orchestra (french: Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, or OSM) is a Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The orchestra’s home is the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts. It is the only orc ...

, Fredrick Schaufele Jr. at Lakewood High School, and Robert LeBlanc of

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

. He received his

Bachelor of Music Bachelor of Music (BM or BMus) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree, and the majority of work consists of prescr ...

in 1978 and Master of Music in 1982 from Ohio State University.

Career

Akins is associate professor of tuba and euphonium at Ohio State University and has been principal tuba of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra since 1981. He is a member of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra Brass Quintet, and the Ohio Brass Quintet. Akins is also a clinician and consultant for the Tuba Exchange in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

, and has been a design consultant for various tuba companies including the G+P Instrument Company in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. As a consultant for the United Musical Instrument Company, he collaborates in the development of professional tubas, developing several new designs. As a clinician for these companies, Akins has given tuba masterclasses and recitals for high schools and colleges throughout the United States. He has also presented masterclasses with the Native American flute and is himself a flute maker. He has taught several tubists, including

Carol Jantsch Carolyn Mae "Carol" Jantsch (born on March 8, 1985) is an American tuba player. She is the daughter of a medical doctor and a Kenyon College vocal-music teacher, Nancy Jantsch. She began to study piano at age 6, and the euphonium at age 9. She ...

as a beginner. His studio at Ohio State University is one of the largest in the country.

References

American classical tubists Euphonium players Native American flute players Flute makers Ohio State University faculty 20th-century American musicians 21st-century American musicians Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences alumni American music educators 21st-century tubists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century flautists 21st-century flautists {{flautist-stub