James Thompson, a member of the Eastman Brass and Professor of Trumpet at the Eastman School of Music since 1998, was Principal Trumpet of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra from 1990-1998. He was formerly Principal Trumpet of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra for 14 years and held corresponding positions with the Phoenix Symphony, the Orchestra of the State of Mexico, and the National Symphony of Mexico. Born in Frankfurt, Germany, he was raised in Phoenix, Arizona where he began trumpet studies at the age of ten. His principal teachers include Richard Longfield and Roger Voisin of the Boston Symphony. He has been very active as an international teacher, having been on the faculties of the Northern Arizona University, National Conservatory of Music in Mexico City, and McGill University in Montreal, Canada. As a soloist, he has performed with orchestras in North and South America as well as Europe. In 1979, he was a prize winner in the first Maurice Andre International Trumpet Competition.    Solo recital tours have been in Japan, Canada, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Norway, and Latin America.  As a guest artist, he has appeared with the Summit Brass (comprised of members from Americas finest orchestras) and the Music of the Baroque in Chicago. In 1996 he was seen by over 3 billion people when he performed a jazz/gospel trumpetsolo for the opening ceremonies of the 1996 Olympic Games held in Atlanta. Mr. Thompson has also actively encouraged new compositions for the trumpet. In 1987, he performed the world premiere of Malcolm Forsyth's Concerto for Trumpet, which was composed for him and the Montreal Symphony.  In 1990 he performed the Quebec premiere of Jacques Hetus Concerto for Trumpet, and in March of 1992, he gave the world premiere performance of the Glenn Buhr Concerto written especially for him and the Montreal Symphony.  Recordings on the Chandos label include the Vivaldi Concerto for Two Trumpets and the critically acclaimed Shostakovich Concerto #1 for Piano, Trumpet and Strings, both recorded with I Musici de Montreal. Mr. Thompson is a Yamaha Performing Artist.