OLY CHAMBER BRASS
JAMES HARPER
French Horn
James Harper is the band director at Tumwater Middle School in Tumwater, Washington. Mr. Harper received the Bachelor of Music (Cum Laude) in Music Education from Washington State University in 2007 and the Master of Arts in Band Conducting from the American Band College of SHSU in 2015. Since earning his degrees, Mr. Harper has had the opportunity to guest conduct middle school and high school ensembles across Western Washington. In addition to his demanding teaching schedule, Mr. Harper remains an active performer. He is currently the principal horn with the Olympia Symphony Orchestra and has played with other ensembles throughout the state, including the Washington-Idaho Symphony, Federal Way Symphony, Northwest Wind Symphony, and Washington Wind Symphony. He also currently plays horn with the Olympia Chamber Brass.
PATRICK HARVEY
Trumpet
Patrick Harvey plays Utility Trumpet in the Olympia Symphony Orchestra. He has a degree in Music Performance from the University of Puget Sound and Teaching credentials from St. Martin’s University. His trumpet teachers include Charles Butler, Geoffrey Bergler, Keith Benjamin and Peter Margulies. Patrick is a humanities teacher at Griffin Middle School in Olympia.
Meet the musicians
JOHN WELLS
Trumpet
John Wells is a Seattle-based freelance trumpet player, with a varied pallet of musical styles, who has performed across the United States and around the world. He has performed with a number of symphonies throughout the Northwest and is currently second trumpet in The Olympia Symphony. A member of The Oly Chamber Brass and Brass Unlimited, John also performs with local theatre companies and other small ensembles for weddings, parties, and other engagements, including solo works at numerous venues throughout Washington. John is also the first-call bugler at Emerald Downs.
RYAN WAGNER
Trombone
Ryan received his Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from Pacific Lutheran University and his Masters in Brass performance from the University of Washington studying under Don Immel. Since 2000 he has been an active freelance musician in Seattle and throughout the state of Washington. In 2005 he won the principal trombone position in the Olympia Symphony Orchestra; he has also been playing principal trombone with the Federal Way Symphony since 2006, and is a member of the Seattle Rock Orchestra. In 2002 he joined the Left Coast Brass and has performed with them throughout the U.S. and Japan. Ryan is also in demand as an educator. He has taught elementary band, given lectures on trombone pedagogy, offers trombone masterclasses and clinics regularly, and maintains a low brass studio. His students have won numerous scholarships and awards.
EDGAR PHILLIPS
Tuba
Edgar Phillips has been prominent freelance Tubist in the Puget Sound region for more than thirty years. Formerly Principal Tubist for the Bellevue Philharmonic, he has also performed with the Seattle Symphony, NW Ballet Orchestra, Tacoma Symphony, Yakima Symphony and others. He is currently principal tuba with the Olympia Symphony and performs regularly with the Pacific Brass Quintet, Tacoma Revels and the Bavarian Village Band. He has recorded a number of motion picture and video game sound tracks and has recorded with the Emerald City Brass Quintet and the Cascadia Brass Ensemble among others. A graduate of the University of Washington and Manhattan School of Music, he currently resides in Tacoma with his wife and daughter.