James Moore

James Moore is a composer, guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, and bandleader who has earned the titles of “local electric guitar hero" by Time Out New York and "model new music citizen" by The New York Times. He enjoys an active career writing, performing, and collaborating with an eclectic community of artists, bringing in influences from classical, folk, jazz, indie rock, and experimental music. 

Moore’s concerto for electric guitar and orchestra, Sleep is Shattered, which he premiered as soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s MusicNOW series, was praised by the Chicago Tribune as “… a highlight among highlights, not only for Moore’s sharp-eared handling of the solo guitar lines and loop pedals but his remarkable orchestral writing.” In this piece–originally written for the influential guitarist Marc Ribot–as in many of his projects, Moore enjoys bringing together unique entities and developing a collective language. 

Moore is a founding member and director of Dither, an electric guitar quartet specializing in contemporary composed and improvised music. The quartet has presented hundreds of new compositions and garnered international acclaim for “sophisticated, hard-driving, and stylistically omnivorous music making.” (NY Times) He also leads the The Hands Free, a lively acoustic group with fellow performer-composers Caroline Shaw, Nathan Koci, and Eleonore Oppenheim. The Hands Free’s debut album on New Amsterdam Records has been described as “an eclectic and whimsical release that allows the listener a glimpse into the joyful after-hours music making of this wildly talented quartet.” (I Care If You Listen) 

Moore can also be found playing with the avant-grunge/sloppy-math rock band Forever House (“weird fun house architecture where everything tips and distorts and unsettles” - Dusted Magazine), in duo with violinist compatriot Andie Tanning. (“virtuoso performers, fusing their disparate instrumental voices” - SF Gate), and as a member of an extensive roster of ensembles led by his friends and colleagues. 

Moore’s first solo recording, a new interpretation of John Zorn's notorious collection of guitar etudes The Book of Heads, was released on Tzadik in 2015. He has also worked closely with Zorn to develop many of his improvisational "game pieces," culminating in the release of Dither plays Zorn, which was dubbed a "top avant album" of the year by Rolling Stone. Other recording highlights include Ted Hearne’s Sound From the Bench, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in music, performed by The Crossing Choir with Moore as a featured electric guitarist; and Mason Bates’s GRAMMY-winning opera recording of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, performed by the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra with Moore as steel-string guitar soloist. 

Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Moore received his B.A. in Music from The University of California, Santa Cruz; his M.M. in Guitar Performance from Yale University; and his Ph.D. in Music Composition from Princeton University.