WHEELING, W.Va. - April 16, 2013 – Renowned conductor of Pittsburgh’s popular River City Brass, James Gourlay, DMA, has been named director of Instrumental Music and University Bands at Wheeling Jesuit University (WJU). Gourlay’s appointment is the University’s latest step in continuing to develop its music program in connection with Mount de Chantal’s Sisters of the Visitation.

Over the past two years Gourlay has been assisting the University in developing the WJU Symphonic Band and serving as its conductor. That role will be supplemented now with responsibilities that include teaching, student recruitment and community outreach.

“We are delighted to introduce Maestro Gourlay as our new director of Instrumental Music and University Bands,” said WJU Executive Vice President and President Designate Rev. James J. Fleming, S.J. “The Symphonic Band is the cornerstone of the expanding music program, and we could not have asked for a more ideal individual to help it grow. With his great talent in conducting and playing, his mentoring abilities and his enthusiasm, James will be integral to the program’s continued development as he becomes more involved.”

Formed two years ago as an ensemble in residence, the Wheeling Jesuit Symphonic Band performs three concerts on campus per year with the River City Brass, whose members act as mentors to the student musicians. The band played to a standing-room-only audience at its December 8 concert in WJU’s Troy Theater and now is preparing for its May 4 spring concert. Gourlay’s larger role with the symphonic band will enable it to expand and further develop. The University expects additional instrumental ensembles to develop in addition to its symphonic band.

“I’m honored to be named the director of Instrumental Music and University Bands at Wheeling Jesuit,” said Gourlay. “It has been such a joy to work on this project and I am looking forward to recruiting musically minded students. We started the symphonic band just two years ago, and now we’re planning for a conservatory of music. To see it grow from day to day is wonderful.”

Of the students, Gourlay said, “They learn so much more sitting next to a top professional – almost by osmosis. But it’s a two-way street, as the enthusiasm of the student rubs off on the professional.”

Rachel Wadell, a freshman instrumentalist at WJU, agreed. “Playing with the River City Brass is very exciting – all of the members are so talented, and several have played on Broadway,” she said. “It’s a great opportunity to be exposed to people who have such vast musical talents.”

Gourlay assumes his new duties at WJU immediately. He also will continue as Conductor and General Director of the River City Brass, which performs throughout Western Pennsylvania and tours internationally. The Band also maintains a River City Youth Brass Band comprising Western Pennsylvania’s most talented brass and percussion middle- and high-school players.

A native of Scotland, Gourlay began playing tuba at an early age and soon became Scottish national solo champion. He studied at the Royal College of Music in London and went on to play with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and then spent a decade with London’s BBC Symphony Orchestra as principal tuba. For nine years he played principal tuba with the Zurich Opera House Orchestra, developing his conducting skills while in Switzerland. He went on to become head of the wind, brass and percussion department at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England, and then to the royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama as deputy principal (music). Gourlay also has performed on the sound tracks of films such as Superman II and III, Batman, Yentl and others.

Gourlay holds a DMA from the University of Salford, and a MMus from the University of Leeds. He is a Fellow of the Royal Northern College of Music and the London College of Music.

As one of 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States, Wheeling Jesuit University is a global leader in academic excellence, undergraduate research and service learning. The University's 19 men and women's NCAA Division II athletic teams, plus its USA Rugby Division I varsity program, have won 62 championships. With 47 Academic All-Americans, WJU promotes excellence on the field and in the classroom. WJU is home to the NASA-sponsored Classroom of the Future, a Challenger Learning Center, the Clifford M. Lewis Appalachian Institute and the Erma Ora Byrd Center for Educational Technologies.