James H. Moore

Music always played a significant role in the life of James Moore, president and associate professor of music at West Virginia Wesleyan College (WVWC).

“My folks both have great taste, and there was always good music on at the house,” the Westover, WV, native says. “My dad is a nice tenor and was a good trumpet player in his day, so I gravitated to music in a big way as I got to be about 10 years old.”

On his first day of band in fifth grade, Moore realized his own talent. Despite playing his grandfather’s “old, musty, silver horn from the 1920s,” as he calls it, the director praised him in front of the class. It was then he knew he’d found his calling.

“I was the best at something,” Moore says. “I walked out of there that day and told myself that I would play the trumpet for a living.”

Following in the footsteps of his mentor, Curtis Johnson, a jazz musician and professor, Moore planned to play professionally and teach others who wanted to do the same.

Moore earned a Master of Music in jazz studies from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and a Ph.D. in music with a concentration in jazz studies from the University of Pittsburgh. While completing his master’s degree, Moore received a call from Melody Meadows, WVWC’s music department chair, asking if he’d be interested in a faculty position.

“I jumped at it, and I am still here,” Moore says.

Starting as a junior faculty member in 2006, Moore worked his way up to associate professor and music department chair. He transitioned to administration in 2017, starting as vice president for academic affairs and now, president.

“Jazz music, my teachers who guided me to it and my students who taught me how to teach it, are all the reasons that I’m here,” Moore says. “I’m the president of a college that has, since 1890, produced leaders who serve. I get to be a part of that legacy.”

Moore credits his students as his motivation and greatest successes and Meadows for teaching him how to be a true educator and mentor.

“I know that whatever success I’ve had as a college president is because of the confidence she instilled in me and the love that she taught me to have for this amazing college,” he says.

In addition to serving WVWC, Moore is a member of the Upshur County Development Authority and the Rotary Club of Buckhannon-Upshur, a lay member of the West Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church and a part of the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild Youth Advisory Committee. He also sounds “Taps” at veterans’ funerals throughout the region and adjudicates at music festivals and competitions regionally and nationally.

For Moore, the best way to give back is through music and education. His love for West Virginia also drives his involvement.

“I try to ask what will make someone’s life better right here, in our backyard, and what skills or talents I can lend to that work,” Moore explains. “The impact that one can make in our state is tangible, and the people are the kindest you’ll find anywhere. I love the perseverance that our fellow West Virginians exude.”

Moore aims to continue improving his craft throughout the rest of his life.

“I am not the musician I want to be yet,” he explains. “I don’t sound like the best version of myself. I’ll be chasing that until I’m gone.”