Staff & faculty

Equally at home as a soloist, collaborator, presenter, and educator, Dr. James Palmer is a dynamic musician based in Houston, Texas.

Described as “one of those artists who can make classical music such great fun” (Sedona Red Rock News), James performs all over the United States and abroad as a soloist and chamber musician. His wide-ranging musical appetite has led to a diverse performing career, comprising traditional recital performances and innovative projects featuring new music. Recent and upcoming appearances include the 2026 Los Angeles Scriabin Festival, solo recitals in Houston and Philadelphia, and James’s second appearance at the Piano on the Rocks International Festival in Sedona, Arizona in May 2026.

James is the artistic director of the performing arts series Point of Departure, which will debut in Houston in fall 2026. Active in the Houston music scene, James has performed with leading organizations like Musiqa, Loop38, and Context. An avid performer of new music, James has commissioned and premiered numerous works by renowned composers Pierre Jalbert, Karim Al-Zand, Nicky Sohn, Sam Wu, Alex Berko, Bahar Royaee, and Badie Khaleghian.

James is a Lecturer at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, where he teaches several pianos majors as well as the Master’s-level Piano Literature course. He is also a faculty instructor in the Shepherd School Preparatory program. James leads the Summer Piano Intensive at AFA, a summer festival for talented high school musicians in the Houston area.

A noted Scriabin interpreter, James sits on the executive board of the Scriabin Society of America (SSA), a national organization dedicated to promoting the music and legacy of the great Russian composer Alexander Scriabin. The SSA regularly organizes performance events and produces scholarly publications.

James completed his DMA in 2025 at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, where he studied with Dr. Robert Roux. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, studying respectively with Émile Naoumoff and Menahem Pressler. As a pre-college student, James studied with pianist-composer Sandrine Erdely-Sayo in his native Philadelphia, PA.

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