James Bader

James Bader has been an instructor and cello coach for the Colorado Springs Youth Symphony Association since 2010, working with the cello sections of the Amadeus, Allegro, and Vivace String Orchestras as well as the Ovation Youth Orchestra and Colorado Springs Youth Symphony. Receiving his B.A. in Music Performance from Fort Lewis College and M.M. in Music Performance from the University of New Mexico, he has played in regional orchestras such as the San Juan Symphony (which his great uncle co-founded in 1985) and the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Bader has also played in various ensembles throughout Colorado and New Mexico such Trio Con Brio, the Abe Frank String Quartet, the Dead Composers Society, Soli Deo Gloria and the Ute Pass Chamber Players. He has also performed at the annual Durango Bach Festival, and participated at summer festivals such as Music in the Mountains in Gmunden, Austria and Valley of the Moon in California, where he studied non-classical folk styles from Scotland, Ireland, and Canada as well as American folk styles such as Newgrass and Old Time. Mr. Bader’s true passion is for teaching young students, and he has studied pedagogy of the Suzuki Method at the Intermountain Suzuki Institute in Sandy, UT. Mr. Bader also enjoys sharing his joy for music with college students, and he has been an instructor of cello and chamber music at Pikes Peak State College since 2017, often collaborating and performing with his students in a wide array of musical genres. In his spare time, he enjoys yoga, reading, playing chess, drinking coffee, and listening to vinyl records.