Born in California in 1978, James began his music education in Wisconsin.  After studying with John Downey and Ronald Foster, he returned to the Southwest in 2001 to continue his studies with Stephen Hartke, Jody Rockmaker, James DeMars, and Rodney Rogers.  He was the recipient of the 2006 BMI Pete Carpenter Film Scoring Fellowship, a Meet the Composer Grant, the 2007 Kappa Kappa Psi Alpha Beta Chapter Commission Competition, a residency at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, and a Fellowship at the Virginia Arts Festival John Duffy Composers Institute. 

As a concert pianist, James Woodward has performed in many recitals and concerts including a guest soloist appearance with the Classics Philharmonic (San Diego, CA) and the Cobb Symphony (Marietta, GA) where he performed his children's work, "When Rebecca Woogie Came to Town."  James went on to perform his Piano Concerto, "Downey's Groove" with the Cobb Symphony.  His tuba concerto, featured on the debut CD of Alan Baer, Principal Tuba of the New York Philharmonic, was called a "Tour de force...a great piece!" by Sergio Carolina of 'Tuba News' and the Oporto National Orchestra (Portugal).    

As an Assistant Professor of Music Theory and Composition at Jacksonville State University (Alabama), James is writing and performing for various films, projects, and commissions.  His works are published by Daehn Publications, Tuba-Euphonium Press, GIA Publications, and Cimarron Music Press. Recordings of his works are available on Mark Records and Baer Tracks Music.  Whenever he finds a moment to get away, he escapes to a beach to go surfing.