James Bolle was born in Evanston, Illinois. He studied French horn and violin, and began organizing and conducting groups while still in high school. He continued his studies at Harvard, Aspen, Antioch (BA) and Northwestern University (MM), and was awarded the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters by both Franklin Pierce and Notre Dame colleges. A composition student of Darius Milhaud, he studied conducting with Joseph Rosenstock and Richard Lert. His compositions have been performed in the US, Israel, and Canada, and include an opera which was recorded on Serenus Records. He was director of the Chicago Community Music Foundation for seven years and has served as conductor of the Saskatchewan Jubilee Festival and the Musica Viva series in Chicago and New York City. In l966 he founded Monadnock Music, and in 1974 he was asked to organize and direct the New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra and served as its Music Director for 28 years. He has been guest conductor in the US, Israel, Europe, and most recently in Russia. He has recorded for Musical Heritage, Monitor, Titanic, Serenus, CRI, Albany, Gasparo, and Koch International and has served on advisory panels for the Massachusetts Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1987 he received a special award from Artisjus, the Hungarian Music Publishing Bureau, and he is the recipient of Columbia University's prestigious Ditson Conductor's Award. He has been guest lecturer at Duke University and Boston University. He was Artist Laureate of New Hampshire from 2000-2002.