photo gallery

About James Paradies:

James has been playing the trumpet professionally since graduating from SUNY Purchase in 1985. While at Purchase, he had the distinction of being the first trumpeter to win the senior concerto competition. (James also graduated in 3 years.)

James has performed live on both Hudson Valley television and radio as a classical soloist and has played with area organizations such as the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, Woodstock Chamber Orchestra, Hudson Valley Opera, Northern Dutchess Symphony Orchestra, and the Vassar College Orchestra. In addition to his classical playing, James has performed with many theater groups including the Yorktown Stage, County Players, the Gilbert & Sullivan Society, Tri-Arts, Rinebeck Theater, and Up in One Productions. James recently became a member of the Tudor Brass Players of New York, one of New York's premier brass quintets. James and his wife Julie (on violin), Violist Ryan Hall, and cellist Jay Shulman comprise the Paradies Ensemble and have performed at hundreds of events in the tri-state area. James' CD "Piccolo" and new recordings made with the Paradies Ensemble are available on the web at jimparadies.com When time permits, James teaches private lessons.

"The highlight of my career was the day that Alan Menken walked in to see me after a show. He came right up to me an told my how great I was. Especially my sound. Alan Menken is one of the most admired and prolific musical talents working today who won a Best Song Oscar for "Colors of the Wind" from the movie Pocahontas. He's also won many other awards including eight Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and a Grammy. All of us love him for his score to Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Little Mermaid. For me it was "A Whole New World" when this great man called me great. I will forever be grateful for that simple moment of time where I felt like I was on top of the world."

James teachers:
Here are some of my Pre-college trumpet teachers.

• Bob Fuller (He got me off to a great start and has been an inspiration my whole career!)
• Joe Vadala (Yes, brother of the famous Chris Vadala... Joe will always be the greatest to me!)
• Diane Mathie (Hudson Valley Philharmonic member, daughter and daughter in-law of two outstanding music teachers from SUNY Potsdam. Diane taught me the value of practicing hard. )

College trumpet teachers.

• Grant Cooper (Fredonia Trumpet instructor in 1983, current Artistic Director & Conductor of the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra )
• Ron Anderson (Principle of the New York Ballet Orchestra)
• Bob McCoy (Screamer behind Doc Severinsen on Johnny Carson's Tonight show)

Some comments:

If you want to contact me, please send an e-mail to paradiestrumpet@gmail.com

The midi files are just for fun. The songs were originally created on a Yamaha v50 synth where they sound great! However, those original songs had to be converted into midi to save space. Midi files sound different on every pc, because your sound card re-generates the sounds. These files were made to sound as generic as they can so they sound ok on most pc's. You can send an e-mail request if you want to receive a wav file.