James’ recent recording of the Kenneth Fuchs Bass Trombone Concerto with the Sinfonia of London and John Wilson received critical acclaim in major international publications. He has commissioned solo and chamber pieces for bass trombone and has performed four contemporary concertos with orchestra, including a world première.
Before his appointment at the Academy, James was a professor at the Royal College of Music, having previously been Assistant Professor to Ian Bousfield at the Hochschule der Künste Bern. He has given masterclasses at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Royal Northern College of Music, Trinity Laban, Universidade de São Paulo, Hochschule für Musik, Trossingen and Wells Cathedral School.
James has played internationally as guest principal with the San Francisco Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, European Philharmonic of Switzerland, Orchestra of Europe and the National Symphony Orchestra, Ireland, as well as orchestras throughout the UK. He has performed extensively in the West End and has featured on numerous film, television, game, pop and classical recordings.
James studied at the Academy, obtaining a first-class honours degree and a Licentiate, and is a former member of both the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and European Union Youth Orchestra. In 2018 he was made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. James will succeed his former professor, Bob Hughes, who is retiring after 36 years of service, and begins his new role in September 2025.
On his appointment, James said: 'I am incredibly excited to be returning to the Academy as the Professor of Bass Trombone, joining a formidable and utterly world-class roster of trombone and brass professors, led by Mark David. The Academy was my home as a student and gave me every tool I needed to develop a career that I could only have dreamt of. It is an honour to succeed Bob Hughes, my teacher and a hero of mine, and it is my ambition to build on his legacy.'
Professor Mark David, Head of Brass, said: 'Over nearly four decades, Bob Hughes' peerless pedagogical approach and the nurturing class environment he created has produced many of the UK’s finest professional bass trombonists. Appointing Bob’s successor was a daunting task but in James Buckle we have an extraordinary musician capable of developing and forging new pathways and opportunities for Academy brass students.'