James Thatcher, horn, played his first professional job at age 16 with the UNAM Orchestra in Mexico City, with Eduardo Mata as conductor. He soon played with the Utah Symphony, Phoenix Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. In Los Angeles, Thatcher has played principal horn with the Royal Danish Ballet Orchestra, Bolshoi Ballet, American Ballet Theater, Pacific Symphony, Opera Pacifica, Los Angeles Music Center Opera, Pasadena Symphony and New West Symphony. As a studio musician, Thatcher has played principal horn on over 3500 recording projects with composers like John Williams, Randy Newman, Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, James Newton Howard, Alan Silvestri and Dave Grusin, to name a few. He has played Guest Principal Horn with the Cincinnati Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Vienna Chamber Symphony and London Symphony Orchestra where he received special mention on BBC radio after a performance of Mahler’s 7th Symphony. Thatcher recently performed and recorded James Horner’s “Collage” for four horn soloists with David Pyatt, John Ryan and Richard Watkins, accompanied by the London Philharmonic Orchestra (Decca Label recording). His teachers include: Vincent DeRosa, Fred Fox, Don Peterson, Herman Baumann and his uncle, Gerald Thatcher.
Meet the musicians
