Acclaimed by the Toronto Star as “Canada’s pre-eminent clarinetist and wind soloist”, James Campbell has performed solo and chamber music concerts in 25 countries, has been soloist with over sixty orchestras, including the Boston Pops, the London Symphony, the Russian Philharmonic, and the Montreal Symphony and has performed Copland’s Clarinet Concerto five times with Aaron Copland conducting. He has appeared with over thirty string quartets, including the famous Amadeus Quartet when he replaced an ailing Benny Goodman for a tour of California.

He has made over forty recordings, including the Debussy Rhapsody with Glenn Gould, the Philharmonia Orchestra of London, and the première recording of the Berio arrangement of Brahms’s F minor Sonata with the London Symphony. His recording of Brahms’s Clarinet Quintet was chosen by the BBC and The Times in London as the best available. He has been awarded a Juno (Canada’s Grammy), Canada’s Artist of the Year, the Queen’s Jubilee Medal, and Canada’s highest honour, the Order of Canada. James Campbell has been Professor of Music at Indiana University since 1988 and Artistic Director of the Festival of the Sound since 1985.