Teacher Profile: James Malles

About James Malles

James Malles is a musician from Wyoming who specializes in classical piano. He began studying music at age fourteen, and took every music class he could get his hands on. In high school, he started taking piano lessons, playing the flute in concert band, piano in jazz band, and sung in the top choir class. During that time, he made Allstate choir and gained a new exposure to the world of singing. He was completely engrossed in music. Through the help of some amazing teachers he landed a full ride scholarship to Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington. There, he studied Classical Piano Performance.

James spent three years of his young adult life on a passion that wasn’t music. He worked as a Care Professional for the developmentally disabled. He knew the developmentally disabled had a big place in his heart at an early age. As a child he befriended and looked after a developmentally disabled boy that went to the same church as him. James has explored the idea of being a music therapist to use the healing power of music to help people.

James has experience with students of all skill levels and ages. He enjoys teaching classical piano the most but doesn’t discredit other genres. Bach, Beethoven, Rachmaninov, and Chopin are his musical idols. He says it’s because of their ability to teach technique and musicality through their compositions. He uses their compositions to encourage a passion for classical music in his students. Coming from a dense theory, history, and technique background, he strives to give students the ability to create new music and the technical ability to play it. He uses the same concept to give students the tools to have their own interpretation of music from the past.

He is charismatic and passionate about teaching music. He believes the lack of exposure to classical music in his generation and the ones after, is a huge disservice. He wants to make positive impacts on people’s lives through teaching. He believes as teachers it is our duty to pass down the knowledge our teachers so generously gave us.