Jim Boston, bassoon

Jim is a physician by trade, a career he came to after pursuing a number of other careers and selling his bassoon at age 49 to return to medical school. He finished his residency at age 56. When he moved to Wilmington about 10 years ago, he attended a Wilmington Symphony concert. Although he hadn’t played in 15 years, it made him think about playing music again. He describes his first rehearsal about one year later, “It was not easy trying to play at age 60 after not playing for 15 years. At my first rehearsal with the symphony, I felt overwhelmed and lost a good portion of time. Steve and the other players were all so friendly and supportive that I knew I wanted to continue.” Nine years later, he is still playing with the symphony.

His mother was not a musician, but came from a family of banjo players and thought he should play a musical instrument. After he became a Doctor in Internal Medicine, his wife Nancy encouraged him to buy a used student instrument and start playing again.

While growing up and in college Jim performed with multiple groups and studied predominately with Ferdinand Del Negro of the Philadelphia Orchestra and studied with members of the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Opera, Sacramento Symphony, and University of California Berkley. He performed with symphonies, small chamber groups, and pit orchestras while working day jobs and raising a family.

When not playing the bassoon, he is learning how to play a “Wind Controller” which is a wind synthesizer. He also enjoys bicycling, swimming and triathlons. He and his wife are involved in El Salvador, assisting in medical and health projects, as well as free clinics and schools here in the U.S.

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