Inspired by Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, James Umber began violin lessons at age seven with Barbara Pettey.  After further studies with Kevin Roy, he was a scholarship student of Elaine Richey at the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he was a winner of the school concerto competition.  A pupil of Yumi Scott and Jaime Laredo, Mr. Umber is a 1990 graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music.

Before joining the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in 1991, Mr. Umber was a substitute player with the Philadelphia Orchestra and a member of the Concerto Soloist Chamber Orchestra.  A participant in the Bowdoin, Taos and Grand Teton Festivals, he regularly appears as a recitalist and chamber music performer.